Bedrooms in newer flats are planned tightly, and in a Curti flat the bed often has only one wall it can go against. A headboard fixed to that wall, not to the bed, saves several centimetres of depth and lets a simple box bed sit flush beneath it. It can run wider than the mattress and carry the switches, a reading light and a narrow shelf each side, which does away with bedside tables. The inland air is dry enough for fabric, so linen blends and velvets are both fine. Dust is the thing to plan for: choose a cloth that takes a vacuum brush, and think twice about deep buttoning in a room facing the highway.
- Master bedrooms: a wall-mounted panelled headboard wider than the bed, with shelves built in where side tables will not fit.
- Children's rooms: a low padded board in wipeable leatherette, fixed to the wall so it stays when the bed is changed.
- Road-facing bedrooms: flat panels or shallow channels in a vacuumable fabric, which gather less highway dust than button tufting.
Curti adjoins Ponda on the highway towards Old Goa and Panjim. Once a separate village, it is now the fastest-growing residential part of the Ponda area, with apartment complexes, housing societies and shops along the bypass.
Most Curti homes are flats bought by young families in the last fifteen years or so. They have modern aluminium sliding windows and a balcony, and are furnished step by step as budgets allow.
Curti is inland and warm. New buildings stand in the open with little shade, so upper-floor flats take strong sun, and the highway brings dust and noise.
Inland homes
Drier inland bedrooms suit fabric headboards in linen blends and velvets. Choose a fabric that can be vacuumed, as it gathers dust like any upholstery.
Apartments and town flats
In a small bedroom, a wall-mounted headboard takes less depth than a bed with its own. It can be made the width of the bed or run wider, with bedside shelves built in.