FEELING BLUE

I love a crisp, blue sky and I adore a blue painted porch ceiling, so part of my spring cleaning includes freshening up the hue of our blue.  While it's not only a beautiful way to spruce up any porch, painting a ceiling blue has many benefits (and theories), beginning with our sweet friends in the south.  Once upon a time, many southerners painted their porch ceilings a blue-green called "Haint Blue" to ward off evil spirits known as "haints."  The only evil things I attempt to keep away during the summer are flies and bees, and guess what, one theory is that a sky-blue painted ceiling will trick wasps and other insects into thinking it's the sky, sending them off to build nests elsewhere.  I happen to think the color looks beautiful against our traditionally white porch and house, but I'll check back in with you during the sweltering summer months to see if it keeps the bugs from bugging!  A beautiful shade of blue on a porch ceiling also tends to visually extend the color of the sky, helping otherwise shaded porches feel more bright and airy.  In my efforts to show you how easy it is to transform any space without spending a lot of dough, this is yet one more incredibly simple, inexpensive way to put a spring in your design step.  Don't have a front porch or overhang, then paint your shutters a different color, brighten up your front door and/or garage door with a new hue or add dramatic, colorful planters on either side of your doors.  If I had a dollar for every time I said it I'd be sipping a mint julep on a porch in the Caribbean, BUT IT DOESN'T TAKE A LOT TO MAKE A BIG IMPACT!  Some people say think BIG, I say THINK little.