Custom Carpets & Rugs in Chapora, Goa

Floors in Chapora's old houses are at ground level and close to the river, and in the monsoon they are damp to the touch. That rules out fitted carpet, and it rules out any rug with a rubber back, which seals the moisture against the tiles. What works is a light synthetic rug or a thin washable mat that can be picked up, hung over a line and dried. Wool and jute would hold both the damp and the salt in the air. Because many rooms are let, and tenants come in from the lanes and the jetty, dark patterned machine-made rugs that hide marks and are inexpensive to renew make most sense.

• Ground-floor rooms by the river: a thin polypropylene rug without rubber backing, lifted and dried whenever the floor sweats.
• Old tiled halls: a flat-woven synthetic rug on a breathable non-slip underlay, leaving the old floor on show around it.
• Letting rooms: small dark patterned rugs beside each bed, easy to wash between one long-stay visitor and the next.