Curtains in Penha de Franca: Custom & Expertly Installed

The reason to live on the riverside road in Britona is the view across the Mandovi, so a curtain on a river window has an awkward job: cut the glare that bounces off the water without hiding Panjim and Chorão on the far bank. A sheer does this well. Pick one in a slightly open weave, and put the heavier curtain on a second track to be drawn only at night. Humidity is constant this close to the river, and a thick lined curtain left closed against an outside wall will smell by the end of the rains, so choose linings that unhook for washing. The steady breeze argues for a little weight in the hem.

• Large river-facing windows in the newer houses: a sheer on the front track for daytime glare, with a detachable-lined curtain behind for night.
• Old family homes along the riverside road: light cotton or linen hung above the frame and off the wall, so that air passes.
• Bedrooms on the mangrove side: quick-drying curtains that clear the mosquito nets, since these rooms hold humidity longest.