Based on your test samples, I prefer the topmost colors. In this light, the lower samples look more taupe. Don't neglect to paint your foundation, steps and lattice work. Your porch is adorable.

Love your house and you can see from the DeWitt redo that multiple trim colors really brings new life to a house. I also love a blue porch roof.

The blue porch roof is one of those historic remnants that we love. It is said that because is mimics the sky wasps won't build nests on it. I don’t know if that is true.

In the south the blue ceiling is known as "haint" blue and is believed to protect the occupants from ghosts.

http://www.squidoo.com/haintblue

warding off ghosts and wasps....nice

Painting the ceiling of the porch absolutely does protect from wasps, maybe ghosts too, but definately wasps. The grey will look very Nantucket (which I like) other colors will feel more tropical. It depends on what one is looking to convey.

I would definitely go bold with your bungalow. My neighbors used rust orange, gold and sage green on their architectural features of their brick bungalow and it looks stunning. I'd use the dark gray as one of these accent colors to highlight some of the features of your home. My husband suggests using it on the inner trim of the windows, the door, base of your columns.

Deb - This article and others say blue soffit as a bug deterent is a myth but I like it anyway. http://katesaavedra.wordpress.com/tag/haint-blue/

If you find some scienctific articles showing it works I would appreciate it.

I live in New Orleans and when they fail to paint the underneath of the porches, they get the carpenter wasps. I don't see any scientific articles, but it is common knowledge among painters in the south. I had personal experience when they failed to paint the underside of my porch blue (at my condo). It had to be gone back over with a pale blue. Maybe it's not a northern thing. On the other hand, we have alot of unusual customs here.

Some people believe that blue paint repels insects, leaving a porch bug-free during these long summer days. Most people discredit this belief. Although back then when blue paints were first used on ceilings, they were milk paints, and those paints often had lye mixed into them. Lye is an insect repellent, which would explain why insects avoided nesting on a painted porch ceiling. Many still believe that insects prefer not to nest on blue ceilings because they are “fooled” into thinking the blue paint is actually the sky.

In any case the color really means something, old and traditional and considering the traditional look of your house, it could use some blue on the porch.

I WALKED BY THE MOST ADORABLE HOUSE THIS MORNING. IT WAS A DEEP CORAL. JUST TO DIE FOR.

Deb - I agree and do not wish to interfere in custom. I love it and all the regional flair it brings to discourse, food, and architecture. I found out that you are right about the lye and I also found that smooth surfaces like semi-gloss paint are also hard for wasp nesting. Guess how much I love New Orleans by this pic of my front door. You know where this tradition is from.

This was an interesting discussion for a Northern girl.... I love a good ghost story!

I think De Witt 's interpretation of your home is perfect. The multiple colors are much more interesting.

The greenish gray may look a little off on cloudy days. Personally, the warmer Grizzly Gray is a winner. :) good luck!

Sherwin Williams Wall street

late to pipe in...but try SW Summit Gray. We are currently using it on our home and we love it. We've had tons of compliments as we progress. That said, we dont' have a bungalow. still...it's a darker gray that is pretty...and has no green.

I'm from New Orleans too. Everything Deb says about painting the ceiling of your porch blue is true. It's an ancient local custom for all the reasons she states. And it has spread throughout areas of the deep south.

I live in Seattle and can't wait to paint my porch ceiling blue.

Now, back to topic. DeWitt, has great ideas about introducing bold colors for your bungalow. Bungalows and Victorians can pull them off because of all the detail. But if you're set on grey, I like the bottom paint sample - the greenish grey. Maybe a shade lighter for the siding and Night Owl for the foundation, stairs and porch floor. I think burgundy would be a nice compliment to the greenish grey on the outer window trim and fascia. Ivory for the inner trim, railing and porch posts. I like the idea of refinishing the front door in a rich mahogany stain and yes, a haint blue porch ceiling.

Visually, I can see it looking something like this:

This is a gray from Sherwin Williams called Chelsea Grey. We were down to the same day the painters were starting to paint and I had to make a decision. Thank goodness it worked out. We love it.

Search the Valspar Paints. I only just the other day picked up a card of theirs at Lowe's which provides photos and color choices for houses such as yours, and Victorian style too. I think you will be please with their choices of combinations of colors.

I just love your house . Has a lot of charming appeal. Makes me want to come have a glass of ice tea and chat a while. I love the upper sample colors as well.

Re: blue porch ceilings: it may well be a Southern custom due to the specific insect population. In other words, "We got more aggravating bugs!"

Great find Manon! Love the way it emphasizes the architecture of the house. That is the thing to love about bungalows... all the detailing.

Thanks, Mary! They did a really nice job with that one. The detailing on bungalows provides so many creative possibilities.

Enjoyed the ghost story. I was looking at the pictures today and adding to my idea books, and added one with a porch or sunroom with a blue ceiling. I am thinking of doing that in my sunroom. I may even do my front porch.....Hmmm

The blue celing paint is typically done to an outside porch or entry area - any underside of any high horizontal surface where wasps like to make their nests. It might look allright if done inside too, but outside is the custom.

PS And other exteriors are done in lighter colors in the south because we want them to reflect the heat of summer.... Lightest grey gets my vote.

our house is only a month old and already hubby has cleaned off mud wasp.. Our house is creamy white and now I just told him we ought to paint the ceiling blue . Seems as hard as he tried he cant get the entire mud nest off. We also have stucco so its even harder.

we live in the east coast of central Fl and many of our friends have blue ceilings By the way everyone I love all the pics about

Deb, I went and looked the pic up and it is a sun room / closed in porch with a blue ceiling.

It looks lovely!

Paulie12 had the colours that came to my mind first..Here are some mixes.. I added a beam along the front to add to the trim under the soffits , which I emphasized .. definitely when you paint, one colour doesn't fit the whole house. Have fun.

were doing grizzle gray on ours, saw a house with it in town. absolutely GORGEOUS gray