Make Them Think it is Daytime!

Many years ago I heard/read (I don't remember which) a reason for painting porch ceilings blue. In my opinion, this is one tradition, like toile, that should never fade away. The reasoning was: people believed (I don't know when it started) that to keep the ghosts & evil spirits (Haints) away, they would paint the ceiling of their porch sky blue or "Haint Blue". The sky blue color would make the ghosts believe it was daytime and they wouldn't haunt the residents. It is such a pretty and simple tradition to carry on. Once I heard this story I started noticing porch ceilings more and more, the minute I buy a house with a porch the ceiling is getting a Haint blue color! But, for now, here are some pretty images of porches...

Southern Living

Ceiling Sourcing

My job, today, is to source. It may just be a generational thing, but, when it comes to sourcing (pictures, materials, etc) my dad is not your man, I am your girl.

We have designed a garage-->family room conversion (don't worry, they are adding on a much nicer garage) for a client. The new family room will have a "tray ceiling." After our clients thought about it, they decided they were going for more of a "cathedral ceiling" look. I am not partial, design wise, to either one. My only hold up with a cathedral is insulation. It is very hard to squeeze in the correct R-value into a cathedral ceiling. In fact, the term "squeeze insulation" makes building science nerds, like myself cringe...DON'T EVER SHOVE INSULATION INTO ANY AREA, any insulation material's R-value is only valid at its recommended fluff depth (that is my technical term.) If anyone has more questions about that I am happy to elaborate, but for, now onto the fun stuff. We came up with a insulation value solution by making a lesser pitched roof on the interior of the roof to give it a cathedral ceiling look while allowing for plenty of insulation up there. Problem solved?

Before we went too far with determining how beams and load values work out, we decided to make sure there is no communication barrier. So I am searching for picture examples of each (my job IS fun!)

Some cathedral & tray ceiling examples

Truss Roof