Why so blue?

When I first moved to New Orleans, I noticed many of the homes have blue porch ceilings. In fact, I counted around 30 homes between my house and Audubon Park here in Uptown. Turns out, it's an age old Southern tradition.

Here's a look at some of the houses with porch ceilings in various shades of blue:

After talking to neighbors and reading other blogs, I found the top two myths behind the blue porch ceilings:

Myth #1: The blue wards "spirits" or "ghosts" away from the home. Afterall, NOLA is the most haunted city  in the country, so I guess this myth makes sense!

Myth #2: The blue looks like the sky, and keeps the bugs off of the porch.

Whatever reason behind the blue porch ceilings, I think it is cute! Because of that, I decided to paint my porch ceiling blue (with permission from my landlord, of course!).



Here is a look at the "before"...The ceiling matches the color of the home. It's nice, but doesn't pop! ps: doesn't the black door look great (see last week's post)?!



The first step was taping the ceiling...because you don't want your paint job to look sloppy! I recruited my husband to help me
( I suggest at least two people working on this project).



Let the painting begin! We borrowed an 8-foot ladder from our friends Danny and Jocelyn (thank you!)...my husband rolled the blue paint on the ceiling (1 coat). Then I went back with a brush and painted between all the creases. This process took a very long time, but it was worth it in the end!

Our finished blue porch ceiling! Doesn't look great!

By adding the blue ceiling, the house pops! It adds just enough color, and is a subtle change that makes a dramatic improvement to the home's overall appearance and curb appeal!

 



What I used for this project:

- 8-foot ladder

- 6-foot ladder (one for me and one for my husband)

- 2 quarts of Sherwin-Williams "Vast Sky" paint color

- 1 roller

- 1 paint brush

- tape

I spent $24 on paint, $7 on the paint brush, $11 for the roller, and we borrowed both ladders. The whole project was under $50! It took around 3 hours from start to finish, so allow yourself plenty of time.

Why so blue? Because it looks great and an easy update for any home with a front porch!