Curti is good wallpaper country. The flats are recent, the walls are brick and cement plaster, and the inland air is dry for most of the year, so vinyl, textured and 3D designs all hold well. Two checks are still worth making before a roll is cut. One is the outer wall on the weather side: buildings standing in the open take the monsoon rain directly, and any seepage shows as a stain indoors. The other is a wall shared with a bathroom, yours or the neighbour's. Paper the dry walls and leave those two alone. For a household adding to the home bit by bit, one wall per room is a sensible start.
- Living rooms: one textured vinyl wall behind the sofa or the TV unit, on an inner wall away from the balcony side.
- Children's bedrooms: a wipe-clean vinyl design behind the bed, which can be changed for something older as the child grows.
- Top-floor flats: watch the outer walls through one monsoon before papering them, and use PVC panels on any that show seepage.
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
Dry inland walls are the kindest to wallpaper. Almost any type can be used, including textured and fabric-backed papers. The risk here is a wall that takes the full monsoon rain from outside, which should be checked for seepage before papering.
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.
