Curtains in Dona Paula: Custom Designs & Expert Installation

Floor-to-ceiling glass is the rule in Dona Paula's villas and penthouses, and curtains for it are a matter of engineering as much as fabric. Spans are too wide and too tall to draw by hand comfortably, so a ceiling track with a wave heading, usually motorised, is the practical arrangement; its recess and a power point at one end are best decided while the ceiling is still being built. The headland is open on three sides, so a sheer must have some weight in its hem or it will fly when the terrace doors are open. West-facing glass takes fierce sun: back the main curtain with a lining. Use washable polyester-rich cloth and aluminium track, as salt carries in from the terraces.

• Penthouse living rooms: wave-fold sheers and a lined main curtain on a motorised double ceiling track, stacking clear of the bay view.
• West-facing bedrooms: blackout lining behind a heavier weave, to hold back the late sun on the glass.
• Rooms opening on to terraces: weighted hems and firm tie-backs, with the track screwed into the slab against the wind's pull.