Old carved beds belong to Benaulim houses as much as the carved sofas do, and the same advice holds: keep the wood. An upholstered panel can be made to sit inside the existing frame, or the cane and padding renewed, without a single cut to the carving. Bedroom walls in these houses are lime plaster and show damp in the monsoon, so a headboard fixed to the bed is safer than one pressed against the wall. In the modern villas a wall-hung board works, set slightly off a sea-facing wall with its backing sealed both sides. Near the beach choose leatherette or a synthetic weave over cotton or silk.
- Carved beds in old houses: a padded insert shaped to the frame and fixed to the bed, not to the lime wall.
- Villa master bedrooms: a wide panelled headboard carrying lights and sockets, their positions agreed with the electrician.
- Holiday apartments near the beach: a simple leatherette board that wipes clean and does not hold damp.
Benaulim is a large village just south of Colva, with a long, quieter beach and a village centre around Maria Hall. It has many old family houses, the hilltop church of St John the Baptist at Monte, and newer villas and holiday apartments along the lanes that lead to the beach.
Benaulim is known for its old houses: deep balcões, carved wooden furniture and windows with oyster-shell or wooden shutters. Many have been restored by their families or by new owners. Beside them are modern villas with pools, which want a different look altogether.
The beach side is salty and breezy. The village centre, a kilometre or two inland, is more sheltered but humid, and old lime-plastered walls there show damp in the monsoon.