Before wallpaper goes up anywhere in Aquem, the question is how high the house stands. On the higher ground of Aquem Alto, and on the upper floors of the apartment blocks, walls are dry and take most kinds of paper, textured and 3D designs included. Down in Aquem Baixo, water stands after heavy rain and ground-floor walls can draw damp; paper there will lift, and a PVC wall panel is the honest answer. The older family houses add a second caution: their lime-plastered walls should stay painted, with paper kept to a later brick partition. Smooth vinyl suits rooms that collect dust from the station traffic.
- Upper-floor flats: one papered wall behind the bed or the sofa, in a textured vinyl, since these walls stay dry through the monsoon.
- Ground-floor rooms in Aquem Baixo: no wallpaper until the wall has been checked for damp; where it fails, PVC panels on a frame instead.
- Divided family houses: paper a newer partition wall where the house has one, and leave the original outer walls in ordinary paint.
Aquem lies on the eastern side of Margao, around and beyond the Madgaon railway station, and is usually spoken of as Aquem Alto on the higher ground and Aquem Baixo below. It is an old, settled residential area where family houses stand next to newer apartment blocks.
Older Aquem houses are single-storey family homes with a front balcão, wooden windows and tiled roofs. The newer blocks are compact flats. A common request here is to furnish one floor of a family house that has been divided between generations, where each room has a different window size.
Aquem is inland and fairly sheltered. The lower parts hold water after heavy rain, and ground-floor rooms there can be damp, so we check walls before recommending wallpaper. Train and road traffic near the station bring dust.
Apartments and town flats
In a flat, one papered wall behind the sofa or the bed changes the room for little cost. Shared walls with a neighbour's bathroom or kitchen should be checked for damp. Vinyl wallpaper wipes clean, which suits homes with children.
Old Goan houses
Old walls are lime-plastered and need to breathe. Sealing them under vinyl can trap moisture, so a wall is tested first, and loose or powdery plaster is made good. Often the answer is to paper a later partition wall and leave the old lime walls painted.
