we'd like to paint the same colors on this porch ceiling and floor

lizapetra

14 years ago

can you give me the colors / brands? Thanks so much!

Greensboro House · More Info

Featured Answer

Sheree Plumb

13 years ago

Many Southerners suggest that blue porch ceilings originated out of the fear of haints. Southerners, especially in the area of South Carolina, have a name for the ceiling paint used on porches – the soft blue-green is referred to as 'Haint Blue.'

“Haints are restless spirits of the dead who, for whatever reason, have not moved on from their physical world,” says Sawaya.

Haint blue, which can also be found on door and window frames as well as porch ceilings, is intended to protect the homeowner from being “taken” or influenced by haints. It is said to protect the house and the occupants of the house from evil.
:)

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Comments (7)

PRO
Coggan + Crawford Architecture + Design
14 years ago
The blue ceiling we don't know. It is kind of a traditional color used on porch ceilings to keep away the mud dauber wasps called haint blue. The floor is basic benjamin moore epoxy deck paint. We often use the platinum gray, but here we used the one that is next darkest. I haven't checked that paint lately for VOCs, so I don't know if we'd use the paint again.
PRO
Coggan + Crawford Architecture + Design
13 years ago
It may be an urban myth, but we've also heard several different people say that the blue keeps away the mud daubers - they see the blue as the sky. I don't know enough about the optical physiology of wasps to confirm or deny this. Nice story about the spirits, though, and better than mud daubers.
lmaas2
13 years ago
Is haint blue from Benjamin Moore or sheer win Williams
PRO
Coggan + Crawford Architecture + Design
11 years ago
Haint blue is more of an idea than a specific color name from a paint brand. a lot of different light blues have been used.
Linda Young
10 years ago
The Significance of Haints

Blue ceilings are popular and have been popular in the South for centuries. “Porch ceilings have always been blue in the South,” says Lori Sawaya, an independent Principal Color Strategist. “People continue to paint their porch ceiling blue because that's what their grandmother did, and that's what her grandmother did.”

But many Southerners suggest that blue porch ceilings originated out of the fear of haints. Southerners, especially in the area of South Carolina, have a name for the ceiling paint used on porches – the soft blue-green is referred to as “Haint Blue.”

“Haints are restless spirits of the dead who, for whatever reason, have not moved on from their physical world,” says Sawaya.

Haint blue, which can also be found on door and window frames as well as porch ceilings, is intended to protect the homeowner from being “taken” or influenced by haints. It is said to protect the house and the occupants of the house from evil.
Linda Young
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
This is the reason I was always given for why our ceilings are blue. :)