Drapehaus
Drapehaus
Preparing the room
Drapehaus
Preparing the room
Other Services
Hotels, resorts, villas, restaurants and offices, specified for contract use and for being repeated years later when rooms need refurbishing.
In short
By the Drapehaus studio · How we write
Is it right for you?
In a private house, a curtain has one owner and a handful of users who learn how it works. In a hotel room it has a new user every few nights, is cleaned far more often, hangs in a room that must meet fire regulations and has to match the room next door, and the one being refurbished in five years. Contract furnishing is the discipline of specifying for those conditions.
It suits hotels, resorts and boutique properties, and increasingly rental villas. Any property let to tourists in Goa must be registered with the Department of Tourism, and a villa let to paying guests has the wear pattern of a small hotel, whatever it looks like.
A family house that is occasionally lent to friends does not need a contract specification, and some contract fabrics are plainer than a private client would choose. We use contract standards where the use calls for them and residential ones where it does not, and often mix both within one property.
The details
Contract work runs on different rules. The fabric has to meet fire regulations, the specification has to be repeatable in three years when eight rooms need refurbishing, and installation has to happen around paying guests.
We build and sign off a mock-up room before committing the property, pre-assemble off site and phase installation around occupancy — often into the monsoon low season.
Your options
Each type of space has its own priorities. These are the packages we plan most often, adjusted to the property's brief and operator.
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The honest view
Meets the fire brief
Inherently flame-retardant fabrics keep their performance for the life of the fabric, with certificates to show an inspector or insurer. Nothing depends on a treatment that washes out.
Built for frequent cleaning
Contract fabrics and linings are chosen to survive the laundering and cleaning cycles of a busy property without shrinking, fading or losing their hang.
Rooms can be replaced to match
A documented specification lets one damaged curtain or a whole floor be remade later with the same fabric, lining, heading and dimensions.
Robust operation
Wands, motors and heavy-duty tracks stand up to guests who do not know the room, which cuts down on broken cords and bent tracks.
A narrower fabric choice
Certified flame-retardant ranges are smaller than the full residential world, and some natural fibres and textures are hard to find with the right certificates.
More upfront planning
Mock-ups, specification books and approvals take time before production starts. Properties opening on a fixed date need to begin early.
Fabric continuity is not guaranteed
Even contract ranges are discontinued eventually. A reserve of spare fabric, bought with the original order, is the most reliable protection.
Side by side
Hospitality operators often ask whether a good residential specification is enough, or whether ready-made curtains will do for a rental villa. The difference shows up over years rather than at opening.
| Contract specification | Residential made-to-measure | Ready-made | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire certification | Inherent, certified | Sometimes available | Rarely documented |
| Abrasion rating | Contract Martindale classes | Domestic classes | Seldom stated |
| Blackout performance | Lined and light-sealed | Good, if specified | Gaps at edges |
| Repeatable later | Specification book | If records kept | Stock changes |
| Cleaning cycles | Frequent laundering | Occasional | Varies widely |
| Hardware | Heavy-duty, commercial | Residential grade | Light duty |
| Fit to window | Made to measure | Made to measure | Nearest stock size |
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Many rental villas sit between the first two columns: contract fabric in bedrooms, residential finishes in the living spaces.
Rather see it in your own room?
We bring samples to the house, measure every window, and specify for the light and exposure you actually have.
Room by room
The core of contract work: blackout with edge sealing, a sheer for day, wand or motor operation and certified fabric, specified once and repeated across every room type.
Long drops need motorised, grouped tracks and fabric that hangs true at height. Plan scaffolding access for cleaning and future take-down.
Guests sleep in unfamiliar rooms and often late. Full blackout, robust tracks and a clear, simple switch make the biggest difference to reviews of the stay.
Choose fabrics that clean well and do not hold odours, and keep curtains clear of candles, heaters and service routes.
Sunscreen blinds cut screen glare while keeping the view. Blackout is only needed where presentations happen.
Constant humidity and steam demand synthetic, mould-resistant fabrics and corrosion-resistant hardware. Soft, dim light matters more than full blackout.
Exposed to sun, rain, chlorine and wind. Only outdoor-rated, solution-dyed fabrics survive, and even those should come down for the monsoon.
In depth — tap a heading to read
There are two ways to make a fabric resist ignition. Inherently flame-retardant fabrics are woven from fibres, usually modified polyesters, whose resistance is part of the polymer itself, so it cannot wash out or wear off. Treated fabrics are ordinary fabrics finished with a chemical treatment, which may be reduced by cleaning, by humidity and by time, and may need renewing and recertifying.
For hospitality we specify inherently flame-retardant fabrics wherever the design allows. They come with test certificates to recognised standards. In India the relevant standard for curtains is IS 15741, and many hotel groups also ask for BS 5867-2 Type B or NFPA 701. The requirements for a particular property are set by its fire authority, insurer and operator, and we work to whichever apply.
Keep every fire certificate with the property's records. An inspector will ask for the paper, not look at the curtain.
Upholstery fabric wear is measured by the Martindale abrasion test. Under the common British classification, 30,000 rubs marks general contract use and 40,000 severe contract use, against 15,000 to 25,000 for domestic classes. Lounge seating and banquettes in busy public areas belong at the upper end; headboards and occasional chairs can sit lower.
Curtains in guest rooms are cleaned far more often than in a house, so shrinkage, colourfastness and the way a lining behaves in the wash matter more than the look on the first day. Blackout needs particular care: a blackout lining must extend beyond the window on all sides, overlap at the centre and sit close to the wall or ceiling at the top, or guests will see a line of light at dawn.
Every contract project we handle ends with a specification book: for each room type, the fabric and colour references, lining, heading, fullness, finished sizes, track and bracket type, motor and control details, and fixing positions. It is what allows a single damaged curtain, a floor of rooms or a new wing to be made to match years later, by us or by anyone else.
Fabric itself is the weak link in repeatability. Dye lots vary between batches, and ranges are withdrawn. Buying a reserve of each main fabric with the original order, kept dry and labelled, is the most reliable way to repair or replace like for like. We recommend it on every project and advise on quantities.
Rental villas fall between house and hotel. The owners want the character of a home, but the curtains and upholstery are used by many different people who do not treat them as their own. The most useful changes are practical: blackout in every bedroom, tracks and wands rather than delicate poles and rings, and fabrics that can be cleaned between guests without drama.
The annual rhythm matters too. Many villas close for the monsoon, and those that stay open see fewer guests. We plan for seasonal take-down, repairs and rehang where the villa closes, and keep a specification so a single room can be refreshed without the rest looking tired beside it.
Fitting furnishings around guests is mostly a question of order. Tracks and brackets go in first, room by room, with drilling confined to agreed hours. Curtains and blinds, pre-assembled and labelled to each room, follow in a second, quiet visit. Each room is snagged, cleaned and handed back to housekeeping the same day where possible.
The monsoon low season is often the best window for large programmes. Fewer rooms are occupied, and the work can be completed and settled before the busy months. The limitation is weather on exposed areas, so outdoor shade and terrace work are best scheduled before the rains or after them.
Living with it
Clean curtains and upholstery at the intervals set in the specification, using methods compatible with the fabric and its certification.
Housekeeping should check hems, leading edges, hooks and tracks as part of room turnover and report problems early.
Keep spare fabric rolled, labelled and dry, off the floor and away from sealed plastic, so it is usable when needed.
Wings or villas closed through the rains need the same take-down and storage routine as a private house.
Avoid these
Topical treatments can wash out. Choose inherently flame-retardant fabrics for high-use rooms.
A discontinued range leaves a mismatched room. Buy and store a reserve with the original order.
Light at the edges undermines the whole room. Size and fix blackout to seal the window.
Light tracks and cords fail under guest use. Specify heavy-duty tracks and wand or motor operation.
Without it, every refurbishment starts again. Keep a specification book for each room type.
Checklist
More in other services
The work that keeps a Goan house in good order through the year: storing curtains through the monsoon, motorising windows nobody can reach, shading verandas, and fitting out hotels and villas to a specification that can be repeated.
Our work
From the Journal
All articlesOur process
One team from the first visit to the last bracket, so nothing is lost between the person who specified it and the person who fits it.
FAQ
Yes — inherently flame-retardant contract fabrics, with certification.
Yes. We pre-assemble off site and phase installation room by room around occupancy.
It depends on the property's fire authority, insurer and operator. In India, IS 15741 covers the ignitability of curtains and drapes, and many hotel groups also specify BS 5867-2 Type B or NFPA 701. We confirm the requirement with you before specifying and supply certificates with the fabric.
Under the common British classification, 30,000 rubs is considered suitable for general contract use and 40,000 for severe contract use. Busy public seating should sit at the higher end; headboards and occasional chairs in guest rooms can be lower.
Requirements vary with how the property is registered, operated and insured, so check with your insurer and the relevant authority. Independently of any requirement, we recommend inherently flame-retardant fabrics in guest bedrooms of commercially let villas, because they give lasting protection at little cost in appearance.
Often, if the original fabric is still available or a reserve exists. Where it is not, we can match colour and weight as closely as possible or replace a whole room type so the property stays consistent. A specification book avoids the problem next time.
With a blackout lining sewn or attached behind the face fabric, sized to overlap the window on every side, with an overlap at the centre and a close fit at the top. Some properties add blackout roller blinds in the reveal for complete darkness.
Next step
We start by walking the property with you, your designer or operator, looking at each room type, the public areas and the constraints of operating around guests. We bring certified fabric samples to see in the rooms' own light, and then prepare a specification, a mock-up room for sign-off and a phased programme. Once approved, we make, pre-assemble, install and document everything, and stay available for maintenance and refurbishment. Book a site visit to begin.
