Comments on: links: the home

By: minnie

minnie — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:11:09 +0000

Oops I don't mean I leave water on the stove and LEAVE THE HOUSE to "go to town"...I just mean, keep on boiling until your drain is clear. LOL

By: minnie

minnie — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:10:11 +0000

I just use boiling water to unclog my drains; VERY natural and also FREE! I just put a pot on each burner and go to town. Do it religiously (once a month maybe?) to prevent clogs, although I never do it unless my drain is slow.

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:41:36 +0000

Yes, blue porch ceilings are common in the South, particularly in the lowcountry coastal towns. You might like looking into "haint blue," which is a specific color often used. It was said to keep away evil spirits, and you can still see it in a lot of historic homes. In some towns (Savannah, Georgia, for instance, where I used to live), you can still find it in local paint stores. It's kind of a neat historic story to know about. :)

http://www.squidoo.com/haintblue/

By: alison

alison — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 23:00:53 +0000

When I was growing up in New England, my best friends house had a blue porch ceiling. It was a funky old white victorian house with a painted beadboard porch ceiling.

By: Molly

Molly — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:43:20 +0000

Love that blue porch! I'd love o see how it works out at your own place... :)

By: becky

becky — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:24:49 +0000

We have a lockbox at our house. It's nice to have if you're going to have people do work on your house or your roommate is prone to locking herself out!

By: megan

megan — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:40:23 +0000

Thanks everybody for the information on the blue porch. I'm not surprised to find out Martha Stewart paints has a specific color.

Kim - I heard this story on the radio last year! I had heard the blue porch thing a few other places but I think this was my first encounter with it.

By: Lorigami

Lorigami — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 14:40:42 +0000

The blue ceiling thing is an old southern trick for keeping spiders from building webs up there, as well as keeping bees from building nests. It really works, but it does have to be a pretty specific shade of blue. Mine is "porch ceiling blue" from Martha Stewart paints.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:58:45 +0000

Yes, I think it's used for something like keeping things a little cooler. Ane yes, it is a really neat look...

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:57:28 +0000

If you take a historic tour of Charleston, SC, they explain about the porch ceiling colors. See here for a version:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5645263

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:33:33 +0000

Painting the ceiling of your porch roof sky blue is traditionally Victorian, apparently. I think I read that in an article on beadboard porch ceilings from This Old House a while back. It's a gorgeous look, and we're definitely going to do it on our Victorian rowhouse...once we get the beadboard up, that is!! Surely it will be a vast improvement over the unpainted builders-grade plywood that's currently up there. We're not following Victorian color schemes anywhere else in (or out of) the house, but I do love the idea of a sky blue ceiling. :)

By: charli

charli — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:31:54 +0000

in case you were curious, us southerners paint the underside of porches blue to keep wasps and dirt dobbers (wasps that don't sting) from building nests up there. I guess the bugs get fooled into thinking it's sky. suckers.

awesome branch art. I think i might have to do the biscuit thing myself.