Custom Blinds in Siolim

Where a Siolim window is too handsome to hide behind fabric, a roman blind set within the frame keeps it in view and leaves the shutters usable. Fixing to the frame instead of the wall also spares old plaster. Humidity is the constraint. With the river and the fields close by, mildew finds cotton blinds and real wood warps, so choose a polyester-blend roman fabric and keep wooden venetians and bamboo for upper rooms that stay dry. Faux-wood slats give the look without the risk. The designer villas need something else: sunscreen rollers across wide glass to cut glare off the water, often several in a row and motorised on one switch.

• Tall shuttered windows in old houses: roman blinds fixed inside the frame, each one measured separately because no two openings agree.
• Villas along the river: motorised sunscreen rollers in a row, with the gaps set on the frame members of the glazing.
• Wide balcões: clear PVC monsoon blinds along the rain-facing edge, kept rolled through the dry months so the view stays open.