Window Blinds for Panjim Homes & Offices

A blind earns its place in Panjim wherever a window gives onto the pavement. A zebra blind set half open lets daylight into a ground-floor room in São Tomé while people walking past see nothing, and it takes no space in a small front room. The old frames in Fontainhas are seldom square, so the blind generally sits on the wall above the opening, clear of the shutters, and not inside it. Humidity from the Mandovi is the thing to plan for: polyester or PVC-coated roller fabric shrugs off mildew, whereas real wood slats and untreated bamboo belong only in dry upper rooms. For offices near the church square, sunscreen rollers cut glare on screens.

• Ground-floor rooms near the St Inez creek: wipeable PVC-coated rollers, since the damp there after heavy rain would spot a fabric roman blind.
• Bedrooms in 1970s apartment blocks: a blackout roller inside the recess, leaving the sill and the wall below free for a desk or bed.
• Upper rooms of restored houses: roman blinds in a plain weave, which sit well with painted shutters and old woodwork.