The 12 Greatest Haint Blue Paint Colours

We love a blue porch ceiling (one thing you very generally see – particularly within the south). In reality, we’ve painted our porch ceiling a light-weight blue colour in practically all of our properties! The custom of a blue porch ceiling truly has a reputation – “haint blue” – together with a wealthy cultural historical past and a few very sensible reasoning behind it. So let’s dive into the way it began and why so many individuals love a haint blue porch. We’re additionally sharing a few of the finest haint blue paint colours for those who’re in search of one on your porch.

Along with pictures of our personal properties, this submit additionally options many haint blue porches we noticed on our latest household journey to Charleston, South Carolina. That’s the Airbnb we stayed in proven above.

What Is Haint Blue?

Haint Blue is just not one specific colour. It refers to any mild blue-green paint used on a porch ceiling, particularly in cities within the southern United States – like Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. It’s an interesting colour alternative that additionally has a protracted historical past behind it. Some fashionable haint blue paint colours are Palladian Blue and Woodlawn Blue by Benjamin Moore in addition to Atmospheric by Sherwin-Williams.

Why Is It Known as Haint Blue?

The identify “haint” is a variation of the phrase hang-out. It references the spirits or ghosts that the colour was believed to repel. Lore had it that evil spirits would mistake the blue colour for both water (which spirits couldn’t cross) or the sky (which spirits would cross proper via). So utilizing blue paint on the surface of your private home was regarded as useful for safeguarding its occupants from evil.

Lately the time period largely refers to blue porch ceilings, however traditionally it’s stated that haint blue was additionally used on shutters, doorways, window frames, and different exterior surfaces.

What Are The Origins Of Haint Blue?

The haint blue custom is claimed to have originated inside the Gullah Geechee communities earlier than spreading extra extensively via the South. Though historians be aware that the historical past is tough to pin down. The Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved Africans residing largely within the South Carolina and Georgia low nation. The relative geographic isolation of those communities preserved many features of their wealthy and distinctive tradition, from language & artwork to meals & music. You may be taught extra about them by visiting the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Hall. There’s additionally an awesome article by Atlas Obscura concerning the significance of indigo and the colour blue amongst African cultures, particularly round averting evil spirits.

Do Blue Porch Ceilings Repel Bugs?

Some fashionable householders might not worry ghosts, however many nonetheless select haint blue porches to push back other forms of pests! It has lengthy been rumored that blue porch ceilings deter bugs and birds from making nests as a result of they confuse it with the sky. Though there’s allegedly not a lot scientific proof for this (some consider the rumor is a holdover from when blue paints have been made utilizing lye, a substance that does repel bugs) we are going to say anecdotally that our blue porch on the pink home had zero bees & bugs. Nevertheless, some wasps made a nest on the ceiling of our duplex that was two doorways down (which had a white porch ceiling). So in our tiny personal research… there’s one thing to it!

Why Folks Love Haint Blue Ceilings

Many individuals, particularly within the South, select a haint blue ceiling to be a part of a longstanding custom courting again to the early 1800s. Others like how the colour mimics a transparent blue sky, nearly as in case you are bringing the sensation of a shiny, sunny summer season day to your coated porch. You would possibly even say it extends the daytime just a bit bit!

Blue paint colours generally are additionally identified to be fashionable and well-loved as a result of they work with quite a lot of design kinds and colour schemes. And since haint blue isn’t one single hue, individuals can select a shade that fits their residence and choice. We’ve truly used blue ceilings exterior and inside our residence for these causes. We painted BM Galt Blue on the ceiling of our previous front room (under) and BM Spring Mint on the ceilig of our pre-renovation toilet. It’s a good way so as to add a delicate pop of playfulness overhead, with out making something really feel too darkish or closed in.

So whether or not you’re portray a ceiling blue to push back spirits, repel bugs, or just add some colour, we expect that contemplating a haint blue ceiling is all the time a good suggestion.

What Are The Greatest Haint Blue Paints?

Though there isn’t a “official” haint blue paint colour, there are some fashionable paint colour names that come up once more & once more. We scoured dozens of lists and tallied probably the most regularly talked about haint blue paint colours (spreadsheet mode: activated). As you possibly can see, they vary from mild blues to deeper blue-greens. The record under kicks off with the most well-liked…

You may be taught extra about these prime haint blue paint colours under, in addition to order a detachable pattern sticker to try it out in your porch.

How To Choose The Greatest Haint Blue For Your House

The favored haint blue paint colours above are an awesome place to start out when deciding on one on your residence. Nevertheless there are a whole lot of excellent choices on the market, so be at liberty to search out one other that matches you finest. Listed below are suggestions to remember:

How a lot mild does your porch get?

Some porches get far much less mild than others and darker areas might require lighter paints. Conversely, a shiny porch might have a darker extra saturated blue so the colour doesn’t wash out within the solar. For instance, our north-facing again porch was very darkish resulting from tree cowl, so we selected a lighter blue for its ceiling (Benjamin Moore In Your Eyes).

It’s sensible to check the LRV (Mild Reflectance Worth) of paint colours you’re contemplating to see how mild or darkish they’re. Increased numbers = lighter colours. Most haint blue colours have an LRV of round 55-65. In Your Eyes is brighter, with an LRV of 75. The most well-liked paint listed above, BM Palladian Blue, has an LRV of 60.

What different colours do you could have on your home?

Blues are very agreeable colours, so it’s arduous to go unsuitable. Nevertheless, it’s best to contemplate the undertones of different colours on your private home. Do you could have heat tones which have hints of yellow or pink? Or cooler tones with grey or inexperienced undertones? Realizing this will help steer you in direction of haint blues with comparable undertones (sure, there are heat blues!). This hotter SW Breaktime was a very good match for our heat pink seaside home.

Additionally, when you have present blues or greens in your colour scheme, concentrate on how these would possibly skew the notion of your haint blue ceiling. A haint blue tone might seem bluer subsequent to a inexperienced residence, or greener subsequent to a blue residence.

For our entrance porch above, we selected a greener haint blue (SW Rainwashed) to coordinate with the abundance of greenery that surrounds our home – and our blue-green fence within the background. The fence colour (SW Halycon Inexperienced) is definitely a darker colour on the identical paint swatch, so we have been positive to maintain the colours we selected in “the identical household.”

What colour is your exterior trim?

White trim helps to accent paint colours in order that they pop extra and seem extra saturated. This implies properties with white trim might have a much less saturated haint blue paint to stop your ceiling from wanting too daring. Conversely, on areas with darker or non-white trim, chances are you’ll wish to select a extra saturated blue to make sure that the colour pops. We used Behr Tide Swimming pools in our first residence’s sunroom because of this.

Even with all of these items thought-about, we all the time suggest testing a paint colour or ordering a paint swatch earlier than portray an area. Samplize is a service the place you possibly can order detachable pre-painted stickers to check out a colour with out making a large number. Listed below are the precise paint colour samples for the blue ceiling colours we’ve personally used:

How To Paint Your Porch Ceiling

Portray your porch ceiling haint blue is a simple DIY venture. If you happen to’ve painted a wall, you possibly can completely do that too! Listed below are some additional provides chances are you’ll wish to have readily available (along with your traditional paintbrush and paint curler):

Make sure to use an exterior grade paint (we like Sherwin-Williams’ Emerald paints) in a semi-gloss sheen. Whereas inside ceilings are usually flat or matte, we like to make use of semi-gloss on exterior surfaces as a result of they’re simpler to wash. Talking of which, take time to take away cobwebs, pollen, or different grime earlier than you paint to make sure good protection. You might also wish to use this chance to caulk any gaps or holes on or round your ceiling.

Our porch ceiling proven above is definitely steel, so we additionally needed to apply a coat of steel primer first. You’ll seemingly additionally have to prime for those who’re portray over uncooked wooden or an present paint colour that’s considerably darker or lighter than your new haint blue.

We even have this full video tutorial for portray a room – together with a ceiling! – which reveals you the method that you should utilize in an exterior porch as effectively.