Hi,

I am looking for some house decorating tips. Specifically, what kind of
window covering to use for our patio door that looks like this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84914799@N00/

It's a pretty typical sliding patio door. As you can see, it's in
the kitchen, and it backs out to our backyard/patio. Left to the patio
door and behind the fridge (not visible in the pic) is another door
that leads to the garage.

The patio door is eastern exposure, so I definitely want some kind of
covering because

(a) I don't want the morning hot Colorado sun beating on the fridge,
(b) For privacy.

So I'm trying to think what my options are. Vertical blinds are out
of the questions, as I hate those. Basically, I'm looking for
something that would be easy to quickly pull open and close, and that
would still allow quick and easy access to the patio door when I want
to go outside. Oh, and it's got to be something that my cats
wouldn't tear apart.

So far, the only idea that I've come up with is regular curtain rod
and curtains. I would appreciate any feedback or advice.

Thanks,
Bubba

P.S. Please let me know if there is a better newsgroup to post this to.