When we moved into this house in November, we had zero intentions of actually tackling much in any of our exterior areas for quite some time.
We felt like we had a nice blank slate and we wanted to just live with it for a couple of years to see how things felt and how we used the spaces before we did anything. In my goals for 2020, I mentioned that I wanted to plant a tree, but that was it.
And then, as we all know, 2020 threw us a huge curveball and suddenly we were all home all the time and the lovely park and playground right around the corner from us was off-limits. Our only outdoor play option became our own yard.
And just like that, it felt like it was a little more important to get some stuff done out there.
We stained our fence, we added (and painted) a playhouse and a few other toys…and last week I decided to paint the ceiling of our porch haint blue!
What is haint blue?
I honestly didn’t know until recently either – I have seen lots of charming blue-ceilinged porches in the south and have always loved the look but I didn’t know that it had any meaning. Turns out, that pale blue-green shade that I’ve always loved has quite a history – it was originally thought to ward off ghosts or evil spirits (also called haints) and was meant to mimic the appearance of the sky and trick the spirit into leaving. My research indicates it originated in Georgia and South Carolina and was a part of the Gullah culture – it permeated a lot of the southern areas and became a really popular thing to do!
Obviously I don’t have any ties to the specific culture where this originated, but it’s a southern tradition that I’ve always loved and I decided to go for it.
I’m not going into stores right now unless it’s an absolute necessity, so I had to get creative with my paint. I did lots of research online, clicked around on a ton of different colors, and I finally landed on Rain by Sherwin Williams. It’s a pale gray-blue that blends pretty perfectly with the sky on clear days.
It only took me a few hours to knock out painting the ceiling, and it really just makes me smile every time I walk out there now. It’s so cheery and calming, and it was kind of fun to participate in this charming southern tradition.
Need some more color ideas to try a haint blue ceiling yourself? Here are a few of the colors I was eyeing – I included picks from Valspar, Behr, Benjamin Moore, and Sherwin Williams to make sure you’ve got an option no matter what your brand preference is.
haint blue porch colors
While we were at it, Corey and I decided to add a ceiling fan to the back porch as well. We had one in our last house and we had it on almost 24/7 so I knew it’d be worth the effort. On those 105+ degree Texas days, you’ll take any relief you can!
I love the fan we ended up going with, and I think it really kind of completes the look out here.
So, what’s next with the yard?
All sorts of exciting things! Within the next week or so, we should have someone coming out to plant our first backyard tree for us (!!!), and we have plans to extend our back patio in the next couple of weeks as well.
The patio will end up being a much larger project than just adding some concrete – once it’s been extended, our long-term plans include adding a DIY pergola, building an outdoor kitchen, and adding an herb garden.
And those are just the ideas we’ve come up with so far!
Basically, what I’m saying is that our focus has turned to the backyard a lot sooner than we anticipated it would, and I’m kind of here for it!
Stay tuned for more fun soon!
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