I would stain them to match your front door or a shade lighter.

I would say Haint blue or a sky-ish blue too.

Add another vote for haint blue.

https://www.southernliving.com/home/colors/haint-blue

Love pale blue for porch ceilings! Try BMoore Glass Slipper (1632) or Whispering Sprng (2136-70). Get a large sample and tape it to the ceiling for the best approximation of what the color will look like.

i go back and forth between haint blue (or similar)and just a natural poly or clear stain to preserve the wood. I don't think you could go wrong with either!

We have this decision coming up as well!

Love the haint blue!

Love Haint blue for porch ceilings. I did it on my front porch with Ipe flooring. Just about any shade of light blue can be called Haint Blue.

The pine goes down about 10 inches from the ceiling to the trim on both porches.

Stain it, don't paint it.

I see a bit of similarity between our houses. I have a dark painted house with a deep overhang all the way around. (love it, I can completely encircle my house outside without getting wet feet or being rained on). I vote for a light color or light stain. It doesn't show when driving up to the house, but with all those windows it appears much brighter when inside looking out. The back of my house is mostly glass. I opted for off white for the overhang/outdoor ceilings. I haven't had an issue with wasps. There is no white elsewhere, house, trim, garage doors....deep chocolatey brown.

Our niece bought a house last year that is modest but immaculately maintained. Her porch and overhang ceilings are natural pine with a glossy clear finish, it almost looks like some kind of marine application, a varnish one might use on a boat. Very pretty.

I would also say consider "haint" (slang for haunt). Here are Benjamin Moore's selection.

I would even go the 10 inches down with the same blue or do the band the same dark color on the house's trim.

The other idea is to leave it and clear coat it.

Behr Sky Blue. Absolutely keeps mud daubers away and you will really appreciate that in this location.

I’m with just clear coating it, you can still add the blue in decor etc

Can’t image it blue

Thank you all so much! Would it be weird to Stain the front porch and paint the back porch blue? Irene, do you happen to know what color stain the top photo is? Lori- you picked up on the main source of my concern about the color - the part that comes down from the ceiling- I feel like it needs to be dark to blend in- it is bugging me! Advice?

You could leave a border like crown and here is mock up with Sky Blue. You will be amazed at how this works and how you will never notice it after a few weeks and it will bring the sky into a darker space.

Lori- you picked up on the main source of my concern about the color - the part that comes down from the ceiling- I feel like it needs to be dark to blend in- it is bugging me! Advice?

When color drops like that down, from the horizontal ceiling to the vertical wall, it creates a cap or lid effect. 10 inches is a lot, it's a big lip.

Too much to paint it haint blue IMO.

Alternatively, too much to paint it a "trim" color and then the ceiling only haint blue. Because it will create too many lines of color, 3 colors wall/trim/ceiling is too much visual clutter.

My mantra is edit and simplify as a rule which is why I'd choose a light, natural stain color that makes sense with the other elements in the space. And I'd make sure the product whatever you choose to use is non-yellowing.

Would it be weird to Stain the front porch and paint the back porch blue

Not at all.

Haint blue. My neighbors porch ceiling is haint blue. No bugs.

You could paint the 10" part the same as the siding, and the light blue only on the horizontal plane--the ceiling.

I thought about that too.

But it looks like there's crown and that 10" is set vertical and the siding is horizontal. It's quite the collection of detail, components. Staining it might be the best way to feature all those details and unify and color code what's going on.

But if you stain it all, you still get the "lid" effect, as the stain will be on the ceiling and the crown, but not the siding, right?

I'm thinking it's the details of the wood and design that would break up the lid effect. I think it would feel completely different vs. a opaque Haint Blue.

.... and nobody loves a Haint Blue ceiling more than me ;) but I'm not sure it's the right choice for this porch.