apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

1. double bar with sheers on one bar and then a more substantial fabric curtain in case you want privacy on the outer bar
2. solar panel system from the shadestore

http://www.theshadestore.com/category/drapery/panel-glide-system/selected_index/0

3. smith and noble - also have translucent shades to allow light to come through

My friend's mother found simple beaded curtains with translucent beads that matched her dining room design style, spaced the bead strings out about 1.5inches apart and have them full length on each side of her sliding doors and then shorter strands running along the top of the sliding door with a piece of crown molding hiding the top of the strands.
Light comes in and the door doesn't look naked.

If I had a completely private patio, I wouldn't cover the windows. I would put in a container garden with lots of lush green plants, maybe some flowers, maybe hang a fountain on the wall. And then I'd add some soft uplighting among the containers and curtains inside only around the windows to soften hard edges. The view from your candlelit dining room table would be pretty special.

I do the container garden thing on my balcony and take down the curtains on the sliding glass door in the summer. Then I put some plants in "outdoor" containers on the inside of the door so it look as if I am bringing the garden in, or expanding the room out, depending on how you look at it. The climate and choice of plants determines if you can pull this off in the winter as well.