Home Interiors for Porvorim's Apartments and Family Homes

Porvorim is where much of Goa's government works, and where a great many of the people who work in and around Panjim have chosen to live. Across the Mandovi from the capital, on the main highway north towards Mapusa, it has grown over the last few decades from a cluster of villages into a busy residential suburb. Alto Porvorim and the streets behind the highway are lined with apartment buildings, gated complexes and housing colonies, with older family houses still standing between them in the lanes.

The typical Porvorim home we visit is a two- or three-bedroom apartment in a building of a few floors, often with a balcony off the living room and a smaller one off a bedroom or the kitchen. Many were bought new, and owners call us either at handover, when every window is bare, or a few years later, when the first set of curtains has faded, sagged or grown mildew. Independent houses are less common but still important, and they usually have larger windows, a veranda and a garden to think about.

Unlike the villa villages further north, Porvorim is lived in all year. Most homes are family homes rather than holiday houses, so the curtains, blinds and sofas are used every day, washed often and expected to last. That changes the brief. We look for fabrics that clean easily, tracks that run smoothly after thousands of pulls, and furniture that stands up to children, guests and the long wet months when everyone is indoors. It also means that timing is less about the season and more about the family: we often fit rooms one at a time, around school terms or a move, rather than the whole house at once.

Porvorim shares Panjim's climate closely. From June to September morning humidity at Panjim sits between 88 and 91 per cent, and in a closed flat that moisture finds its way into curtains, mattresses and the backs of sofas. Rain arrives on a west and south-west wind, so west-facing balconies and windows take the brunt of it. Before the monsoon we often see sliding doors that let water in along the track, and curtains that have been hung too close to them.

The higher parts of Porvorim have open views and, with them, strong sun. West-facing living rooms can be hard to use in the late afternoon between November and May, when low light comes straight across the room and heats it. A lined curtain or a solar-screen roller blind makes these rooms comfortable again without shutting out the view entirely. East-facing bedrooms have the opposite problem at dawn, and usually want proper blackout. In a flat with windows on two sides, it is common for each room to need a slightly different answer, and we would rather specify that honestly than put the same curtain on every window.

Homes close to the highway have one more concern: noise and dust. A heavy, lined curtain will not soundproof a room, but it does soften traffic noise noticeably, and it does more than a thin sheer ever will. Dust from the road settles on fabric quickly, so here we steer people towards curtains that can be taken down and washed without fuss, and towards blinds that can be wiped clean in place. Insect screens help here as well, because they let a window stay open for air without inviting in every leaf and insect from the garden below.

Our workshop is in Benaulim, in South Goa, so we visit Porvorim by appointment and usually combine the trip with other visits in and around Panjim. On the first visit we measure each window, look at the ceiling and walls for fixing points, and bring fabric, lining and blind samples to the flat so that you can see them in your own light. We will also ask about your housing society's rules, since some buildings restrict fittings on balconies or on the outside of the building.

Everything is made to measure in our own workshop. When it is ready, we come back and fit it, usually in a single day for an apartment. We protect floors and furniture while we work, clean up afterwards, and show you how each track, blind or screen works before we leave. For new flats we can plan the whole home at handover, including insect screens, blinds for kitchens and bathrooms and curtains for every room, so that you move in once and do not have to redo anything.

Some Porvorim flats are owned as investments and let to tenants, often by owners who live outside Goa. We are used to arranging visits through a tenant or property manager, agreeing choices with the owner by photographs and calls, and choosing fabrics and hardware that will stand up to a change of tenant. After fitting, we remain available for adjustments and repairs, and for monsoon take-down where that makes sense. For a flat that stands empty between tenants, taking curtains down, cleaning them and storing them dry is often better than leaving them to hang in a closed room through July and August.

The most common request is a full set of curtains and blinds for an apartment, often for a family that has just moved in or has lived with poor ones for too long. Bedrooms usually want blackout, living rooms want sheers or a light fabric that gives privacy from the building opposite, and children's rooms want something hard-wearing and easy to wash. Many families also ask us to add Roman or roller blinds to kitchens and study corners where curtains would get in the way.

Insect screens are a close second. Porvorim's greener lanes and the nearby river mean mosquitoes are a real concern, particularly after the rains. We fit pleated, sliding and fixed screens to suit the window, and we make them to measure so that they close properly on aluminium and uPVC frames. For balconies, many people ask for outdoor blinds that shade the space and keep off some of the rain without enclosing it permanently. These are made from outdoor fabrics that dry quickly, and we fit them with fixings chosen to survive the wind and wet that west-facing balconies take each monsoon.

Upholstery completes the picture. After a few years in a humid flat, sofas lose their shape and fabrics start to fade or mark. We reupholster existing pieces, make new sofas to fit awkward walls exactly, and can make rugs to suit a room. Whatever the job, we will tell you honestly what we think is worth doing and what can wait for another year. Many families start with the bedrooms and the living room, and come back to us later for the rest, which is a perfectly sensible way to do it.