Walls in Fatorda are about as friendly to wallpaper as any in Goa. The buildings are recent, brick and cement, well inland, and most rooms are dry all year, so textured and 3D designs can be used freely, not just plain vinyl. Two checks are still worth making. A wall that takes monsoon rain from outside should be looked at for seepage, and in a flat, the far side of your wall may be next door's kitchen or bathroom, passing damp through unseen. Strong sun is the other consideration: a papered wall opposite a west-facing balcony door gets hours of direct light, so a paler design, which shows fading least, is the safer pick there.
- Living rooms in the apartment buildings: a textured or 3D design on the single wall the sofa backs onto, provided it is dry.
- Bedrooms in row houses: a calm pattern behind the bed, in vinyl that wipes clean of fingermarks in a family home.
- Stair walls of independent houses: a large repeat set out from the top, on a wall checked first for rain seepage.
Fatorda is the north-eastern part of Margao, built up around the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and the sports complex. It is one of the newer and better planned residential areas of the town, with wide roads, housing colonies, row houses and many apartment buildings.
Fatorda homes are mostly modern: flats with large living-room windows and sliding balcony doors, and independent houses with a car porch and terrace. Sliding doors suit sheer and blackout curtains on a double track, and terraces are often fitted with awnings or outdoor blinds.
Fatorda is inland and open, so rooms are bright and warm. East and west-facing glass takes direct sun for hours, and heat is the main thing window coverings have to deal with here. Monsoon rain blows onto open balconies.
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.
Villas and gated homes
Large walls suit large patterns and murals, which would be lost in a small room. Double-height walls need the pattern planned from the top so the repeat lands well at eye level. Air-conditioned rooms hold wallpaper very well.
