Blinds for Bungalows in Goa

The verandah is the bungalow's best climate control. Shading its sun-facing side with chik or outdoor blinds stops the heat before it reaches the house walls and windows, and turns the verandah into an outdoor room for the afternoon. On a long verandah, two or three blinds side by side work better than one wide one — easier to raise, less affected by wind.

Blinds work well on the windows where curtains would be awkward — beside a bed, over a kitchen counter, in a stairwell, in a bathroom. A roman blind in the same fabric as the living-room curtains ties the rooms together. Zebra blinds are a practical choice for bedrooms that face the garden or gate.

Wooden blinds suit older bungalows with timber windows and floors; in very damp rooms, faux-wood is a safer choice.

Choose one or two blind colours for the whole house, usually matching the window frames or the walls. Different blind types are fine room to room; different colours everywhere can make a house look unplanned.

Some bungalows have stair windows or double-height rooms where a blind is hard to reach. A motorised blind, or a long cord with a cleat, solves this. On a long verandah, motorising several blinds together makes them easy to raise before the weather turns.

If you do motorise, remember that Goa has power cuts, particularly in the monsoon. Ask for motors that can be raised manually or run on a battery, so a verandah blind is never stuck down in a storm.

Older bungalows often have thick laterite walls, deep window reveals and iron grilles. A blind fitted inside a deep reveal sits neatly and leaves the wall free, but it must clear the casement handles and any stays. Where the window opens inward, the blind usually goes high on the wall above the reveal so the casement can swing beneath it.

Grilles on the outside don't stop a blind on the inside, but they do cast striped shadows; a zebra or roller blind in a soft, light-filtering fabric evens the light out more than a slatted blind would.