In a Caranzalem flat the walls worth papering are the inner ones. The outer wall of a block near the beach takes salt air and, on the west side, the full monsoon; plaster there often shows a white salt bloom, and paper pasted over it lifts at the seams. A wall inside the flat, whether the bed backs onto it or the sofa does, has none of these troubles. Use vinyl-coated wallpaper over an anti-fungal primer, and look at any wall shared with a bathroom, yours or the neighbour's, before work starts. One papered wall is enough to change a practical-sized room. If an outer wall is damp, a PVC panel is the right covering, not paper.
- Bedroom walls behind the bed: vinyl wallpaper over primer on the inside wall, its pattern scaled to a room of ordinary size.
- Walls facing the beach side: leave these painted or panelled in PVC, since salt and damp work on the plaster from outside.
- Children's rooms: a wipeable vinyl design on one wall, which survives crayons and can be cleaned with a damp cloth.
Caranzalem is the residential stretch between Miramar and Dona Paula, along a long, quiet beach lined with casuarina trees. It has grown from a fishing village into a neighbourhood of apartment complexes and housing colonies.
Most homes are flats in mid-rise complexes, lived in by families all year, unlike the holiday flats further north. Rooms are practical in size, and people look for value: blinds for bedrooms, curtains for the living room, nets on the balcony door.
Caranzalem is near the beach and gets salt air and sea breeze. The casuarina belt gives some shelter, but balconies facing west take sun and monsoon rain.
Sea-facing homes
Sea-facing walls take in salt and moisture, and paper lifts at the seams if the wall is not sealed. Use vinyl-coated wallpaper on an anti-fungal primer, and keep it to inner walls or walls that do not face the weather. Check for salt bloom on the plaster first.
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.
