"That seems like an odd choice, wouldn't it just be the house color or something?"
We are doing something different for the porch ceiling. You all saw the barn red for the main house color, black (ebony) stained front door, and white for window trim, shutters and porch railing. But for the ceiling, we're going with a pale blue...
It's a Southern thing dating back over a hundred years. The original color was called "Haint Blue". They think the word haint was a derivation of "haunt". The belief being that it reminded spirits of water and so they couldn't cross. It also meant evil spirits thought it was the sky and they wouldn't enter or cross. A more recent belief is that the pale blue tricks wasps and spiders and even birds into thinking it's the sky and so they won't build nests (or webs) there.
This will be our porch ceiling. We'll have recessed lights and working on a really cool option for a fan, if we can pull it off, will save that for a future post.
And this is the color we've chosen:
It's called "atmospheric" (by Sherwin-Williams). We tried other SW pale blues and settled on this one because it matched so well with our house colors.
We think it will look great and of course keep the porch feeling lighter and brighter. Now whether or not ANY of that is true (though we have read some blogs where people swear it has stopped wasps), we like things that have a great backstory and tradition. In the Heights, where we used to live, so many houses that were a hundred years old or more had these original pale blue porch ceilings and new construction homes followed suit. It'll be a fun story to be able to share with guests.
Here is a link to a SOUTHERN LIVING ARTICLE for more info about the history and here is a link to WIKIPEDIA.
The new abode will look quite patriotic -- red, white and blue! The colors are all very nice and not too bold and brassy!
ReplyDeleteThat's right, red whit and blue, ha. Love it. thanks, we hope when they go on , it will stay less bold, we shall see!
DeleteWhen you mentioned you was going to have a covered/ enclosed porch area; I was going to suggest using a light blue for a ceiling color; for the reasons you had given, plus it's a cool color as well. Be like sitting under a pretty blue sky without the clouds.
ReplyDeleteMy brother in Ohio also had his porch ceiling painted a light, cool blue color. He tells me that it's relaxing.
You both are picking out some nice great colors for you home.
Enjoy your day and have a nice relaxing evening.
that's awesome that we thought the same. We've heard that it's very calming as well and even at night, when the lights are on (we'll have recessed lights) the reflection makes it nice and bright. Thank you!
DeleteYes, haint blue ceiling is perfect ! Do all you can to keep those ghosts, witches and bugs at bay. Can't wait to see more pictures.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Thanks! We can't wait until we can share actual construction pictures but that's probably a couple months away so until then we'll use these little bits and pieces of decisions we've had to make to share the journey. :-)
DeleteYes, this is a wonderful tradition to continue. Our house in South Florida had the porch ceiling this color and we never had bugs or ghosts. It is going to look wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHa, that's good to know. thank you so much!
DeleteI've always wanted a porch with a haint blue ceiling.
ReplyDeleteAs we mentioned, we saw this in our old neighborhood and just loved it and always said we'd do that if and when we had a new porch to do that on.
DeleteI love that you are doing a haint blue ceiling. When we repaint (and that time is near) I am going to do haint blue on both the screened porch and also on the front of the house.
ReplyDeleteIt will be so much fun to see and plus it gives you a great story to share when people come to visit. :-)
DeleteNice colours, don't know if the colour haint blue stops spirits or bugs but it is a nice shade of blue
ReplyDeleteRight? I guess we'll be able to speak to bugs at some point but we'll just have to cross our fingers for spirits, LOL!!!!!!!!
Deletei love blue porch ceilings. i can't wait to see more. joyce
ReplyDeleteThanks, little bits here and there coming, trying to spread it out until actual construction starts and we have REALLY fun pictures to post, ha.
DeleteA lot of us in the north also have blue porch ceilings...love it! Your house is going to be beautiful! 💓
ReplyDeleteAww, thanks for that!! We are hoping!!!
DeleteMy house was built in 1902 and had blue ceilings and gray floor on the porch. Love haint blue!
ReplyDeleteThanks, that's good to know. Our porch will be concrete but it will be gray. We might put down an in outdoor rug. We'll see how that goes. Fun times ahead!
DeleteI LOVE that you are painting your porch ceiling Haint Blue. So traditional! I too have read that it discourages insects, which is so helpful. And I love the historical connection.
ReplyDeleteThe blue in combination with your other color choices is beautiful!
Thanks, it's traditional for sure. And the historical connection is always fun to share. :-)
Delete