Friday, January 10, 2025

The 12 Best Haint Blue Paint Colors

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Introduction

The love for a blue porch ceiling, also known as haint blue, is a tradition deeply rooted in southern culture. This style of decorating is not just aesthetically pleasing, but also carries a wealthy history and cultural significance. The name "haint blue" is believed to come from the spirits, or ghosts, that the color was thought to repel. In this article, we will dive into the history and meaning behind haint blue, as well as provide tips on how to paint your porch ceiling with this classic color.

We love a blue porch ceiling (something you very commonly see – especially in the south). In fact, we’ve painted our porch ceiling a featherlight blue color in nearly all of our homes! The tradition of a blue porch ceiling actually has a name – “haint blue” – along with a wealthy cultural history and some very practical reasoning behind it. So let’s dive into how it started and why so many people love a haint blue porch. We’re also sharing some of the best haint blue paint colors if you’re looking for one for your porch.






In addition to photos of our own homes, this post also features many haint blue porches we saw on our recent family trip to Charleston, South Carolina. That’s the Airbnb we stayed in shown above.

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What Is Haint Blue?

Haint Blue is not one particular color. It refers to any featherlight blue-green paint used on a porch ceiling, especially in cities in the southern United States – like Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. It’s an appealing color choice that also has a long history behind it. Some popular haint blue paint colors are Palladian Blue and Woodlawn Blue by Benjamin Moore as well as Atmospheric by Sherwin-Williams.

Why Is It Called Haint Blue?

The name “” is a variation of the word . It references the spirits or ghosts that the color was believed to repel. Lore had it that evil spirits would mistake the blue color for either water (which spirits could not cross) or the sky (which spirits would pass right through). So using blue paint on the outside of your home was thought to be helpful for protecting its occupants from evil.


Southbound Restaurant In Charleston South Carolina



These days the term mostly refers to blue porch ceilings, but historically it’s said that haint blue was also used on shutters, doors, window frames, and other exterior surfaces.

What Are The Origins Of Haint Blue?

The haint blue tradition is said to have originated within the Gullah Geechee communities before spreading more widely through the South. Although historians note that the history is hard to pin down. The Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved Africans living mostly in the South Carolina and Georgia low country. The relative geographic isolation of these communities preserved many aspects of their wealthy and distinctive culture, from language & art to food & music. You can learn more about them by visiting the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. There’s also a great article by Atlas Obscura about the significance of indigo and the color blue among African cultures, specifically around warding off evil spirits.

Do Blue Porch Ceilings Repel Bugs?

Some contemporary homeowners may not fear ghosts, but many still choose haint blue porches to ward off other kinds of pests! It has long been rumored that blue porch ceilings deter bugs and birds from making nests because they confuse it with the sky. Although there’s allegedly not much scientific evidence for this (some believe the rumor is a holdover from when blue paints were made using lye, a substance that does repel insects) we will say anecdotally that our blue porch at the pink house had zero bees & bugs. However, some wasps made a nest on the ceiling of our duplex that was two doors down (which had a white porch ceiling). So in our petite private study… there’s something to it!


Beach House Updates New Porch Swing From Back



Why People Love Haint Blue Ceilings

Many people, especially in the South, choose a haint blue ceiling to be part of a longstanding tradition dating back to the early 1800s. Others like how the color mimics a clear blue sky, almost as if you are bringing the feeling of a vivid, shining summer day to your covered porch. You might even say it extends the daylight hours just a little bit!


Historic Home With Window Boxes In Charleston South Carolina



Blue paint colors in general are also known to be popular and well-loved because they work with a variety of design styles and color schemes. And since haint blue isn’t one single hue, people can choose a shade that suits their home and preference. We’ve actually used blue ceilings outside inside our home for these reasons. We painted BM Galt Blue on the ceiling of our aged living room (below) and BM Spring Mint on the ceilig of our pre-renovation bathroom. It’s a great way to add a tender pop of playfulness overhead, without making anything feel too murky or closed in.


Living Room Update Vertical Couch Side



So whether you’re painting a ceiling blue to ward off spirits, repel bugs, or simply add some color, we think that considering a haint blue ceiling is always a good idea.

What Are The Best Haint Blue Paints?

Although there is no “official” haint blue paint color, there are some popular paint color names that come up again & again. We scoured dozens of lists and tallied the most frequently mentioned haint blue paint colors (spreadsheet mode: activated). As you can see, they range from featherlight blues to deeper blue-greens. The list below kicks off with the most popular…


Best Haint Blue Porch Colors by Sherwin Williams Benjamin Moore Behr



You can learn more about these top haint blue paint colors below, as well as order a removable sample sticker to test it out on your porch.

How To Pick The Best Haint Blue For Your Home

The popular haint blue paint colors above are a great place to start when selecting one for your home. However there are hundreds of good options out there, so feel free to find another that fits you best. Here are tips to keep in mind:

How much featherlight does your porch get?

Some porches get far less featherlight than others and darker spaces may require lighter paints. Conversely, a vivid porch may need a darker more saturated blue so the color doesn’t wash out in the sun. For example, our north-facing back porch was very murky due to tree cover, so we chose a lighter blue for its ceiling (Benjamin Moore In Your Eyes).


Haint Blue Ceiling In Covered Porch Benjamin Moore In your Eyes



It’s intelligent to compare the LRV (Light Reflectance Value) of paint colors you’re considering to see how featherlight or murky they are. Higher numbers = lighter colors. Most haint blue colors have an LRV of around 55-65. In Your Eyes is brighter, with an LRV of 75. The most popular paint listed above, BM Palladian Blue, has an LRV of 60.

What other colors do you have on your house?

Blues are very agreeable colors, so it’s demanding to go wrong. However, you should consider the undertones of other colors on your home. Do you have balmy tones that have hints of yellow or red? Or cooler tones with gray or green undertones? Knowing this can lend a hand steer you towards haint blues with similar undertones (yes, there are balmy blues!). This warmer SW Breaktime was a good match for our balmy pink beach house.


Haint Blue Ceiling Covered Porch Sherwin Williams Breaktime



Also, if you have existing blues or greens in your color scheme, be aware of how those might skew the perception of your haint blue ceiling. A haint blue tone may appear bluer next to a green home, or greener next to a blue home.


Haint Blue Ceiling On Covered Porch Sherwin Williams Rainwashed



For our front porch above, we chose a greener haint blue (SW Rainwashed) to coordinate with the abundance of greenery that surrounds our house – and our blue-green fence in the background. The fence color (SW Halycon Green) is actually a darker color on the same paint swatch, so we were sure to keep the colors we chose in “the same family.”

What color is your exterior trim?

White trim helps to accent paint colors so they pop more and appear more saturated. This means homes with white trim may need a less saturated haint blue paint to prevent your ceiling from looking too bold. Conversely, on spaces with darker or non-white trim, you may want to choose a more saturated blue to ensure that the color pops. We used Behr Tide Pools in our first home’s sunroom for this reason.


Sunroom With Haint Blue Ceiling Behr Tide Pools



Even with all of these things considered, we always recommend testing a paint color or ordering a paint swatch before painting a space. Samplize is a service where you can order removable pre-painted stickers to test out a color without making a mess. Here are the exact paint color samples for the blue ceiling colors we’ve personally used:

How To Paint Your Porch Ceiling

Painting your porch ceiling haint blue is an basic DIY project. If you’ve painted a wall, you can totally do this too! Here are some extra supplies you may want to have on hand (in addition to your usual paintbrush and paint roller):


John Standing On Ladder Priming Metal Porch Ceiling



Be sure to apply an exterior grade paint (we like Sherwin-Williams’ Emerald paints) in a semi-gloss sheen. While ceilings are typically flat or matte, we like to apply semi-gloss on exterior surfaces because they are easier to immaculate. Speaking of which, take time to remove cobwebs, pollen, or other dirt before you paint to ensure good coverage. You may also want to apply this opportunity to caulk any gaps or holes on or around your ceiling.


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Our porch ceiling shown above is actually metal, so we also had to apply a coat of metal primer first. You will likely also need to prime if you’re painting over raw wood or an existing paint color that’s significantly darker or lighter than your recent haint blue.

We also have this full video tutorial for painting a room – including a ceiling! – which shows you the process that you can apply in an exterior porch as well.

Here are 4 FAQs generated based on the provided text:

What Is Haint Blue?

Haint Blue is not one particular color. It refers to any featherlight blue-green paint used on a porch ceiling, especially in cities in the southern United States – like Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. It’s an appealing color choice that also has a long history behind it.

Why Is It Called Haint Blue?

The name “Haint Blue” is a variation of the word “ghost” or “spirit.” It references the spirits or ghosts that the color was believed to repel. Lore had it that evil spirits would mistake the blue color for either water (which spirits could not cross) or the sky (which spirits would pass right through).

Do Blue Porch Ceilings Repel Bugs?

Some contemporary homeowners may not fear ghosts, but many still choose haint blue porches to ward off other kinds of pests! It has long been rumored that blue porch ceilings deter bugs and birds from making nests because they confuse it with the sky. Although there’s allegedly not much scientific evidence for this, we will say anecdotally that our blue porch at the pink house had zero bees & bugs.

How To Paint Your Porch Ceiling

Painting your porch ceiling haint blue is an basic DIY project. If you’ve painted a wall, you can totally do this too! Here are some extra supplies you may want to have on hand (in addition to your usual paintbrush and paint roller):

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