Haint Blue Porch Ceiling Makeover

It’s not that we think our house is haunted or anything but…

out latest project involved the color “haint blue”, just in case.  (Wink wink.)

I think just maybe my Southern side is showing today.  I don’t have a very thick accent (despite being raised here in South Carolina). I wouldn’t eat livermush if it was the last edible thing on earth, but a haint blue porch ceiling makes me start belting out Dolly Parton songs.  “Iiiiiii will always love youuuuuu.”

Except I wasn’t loving the porch ceiling in the beginning.

I mean, I really REALLY liked it.  Hello, pretty bead board.  But it wasn’t love.

Like a lot of the trim and ceilings in our house, it was a yellowy beige, which just isn’t how I roll.

These rusted ceiling fans were about to bite the dust too.

(Affiliate links are provided below for convenience.)

Later in the summer, Robert and I have several big cookouts and backyard gatherings planned with family and friends, so this back porch suddenly got bumped up on the priority list.

We have a lot of ideas for our backyard, most of which won’t be happening immediately as we focus on other spaces inside, but we figured a porch ceiling makeover would help perk up the outdoor situation a lot.

I tested out 5 “haintish” blue colors to find the perfect one and landed on Benjamin Moore Palladian Blue.  We tried out a few others too like Sherwin Williams Topsail, Sherwin Williams Pool Blue, Sherwin Williams Rainwashed, and Benjamin Moore Wythe Blue, but Palladian Blue was the winner since I didn’t want it too green or too dark.

And we swapped out the rusted, busted ceiling fans for these two Seahaven fans from Hunter Fan.  I’m totally goo-goo eyed for these babies.  It’s been a scorcher this week, so they’ve been on full blast every time we’re out here and need a good breeze.

My camera really doesn’t do the fans or the ceiling color justice.  We still have a lot of the yellowy beige on the French doors, trim, and porch railings, so I think that bounces around some of that yellow on the ceiling right now.

We’ll eventually cover the beige out here with a bright white, but we’re holding off until we can paint the rest of the house.

By the way, if you’ve never heard of the Southern tradition of painting a porch blue, it came from the Gullah superstition that aqua blue was the color of the dead and could chase evil spirits away.  For a couple hundred years now, Southerners have painted their porch ceilings to keep the “haints” from entering houses.

Some people say it’s to keep bugs and birds off of your porch too, but it’s still plenty buggy out here, unless the fans are on.

For now, we put our World Market outdoor chairs from our old patio out here along with some accessories we moved from the old house until we get a better plan together.

I would love to eventually add a swing out here or an outdoor dining table, so I’m keeping my eyes peeled on Craigslist a.k.a. online thrift shopping.

Have you ever painted your porch ceiling “haint” blue?  Do you have a favorite paint color for it?  Or have any other Southern decorating traditions you use?  (Which reminds me, pineapples are everywhere right now! I think Dolly would approve.)

A big thanks to Hunter Fan for providing fans for this post. 

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