Painting Wood Balcony

[Carolinaca]

We have a balcony off of our master bedroom with a wood floor that appears to have never been treated with any stain (one of the boards is painted white, the rest have turned gray). I want to paint it (not stain). Should I just use regular old exterior latex paint since we're going to be walking on it? I did see some porch paint, but it was $40 a gallon and I didn't like the color choices. I'm hoping to go with a terra cotta and white. I'm thinking about painting or stenciling some kind of pattern or design on the wood boards...maybe stripes. Does anyone have any good ideas?
Thanks!
Carolina

[kactuskid]

You really never want to paint an outside deck, especially the horizontal portion of it, it'll look nice the first year and then it'll chip and peel and look like crap. It'll become a maintenance nightmare that you'll soon regret.

I'd suggest coating it after a thourough cleaning with a colored stain. They do come in white and it'll give you way better service. A quality stain won't be cheap either, but you get what you pay for when it comes to paints and stains.

[ab10685]

I argree. My house is a light gray stain which fades but doesn't really chip. The trim, however, is painted and it does chip. That's on the siding nevermind and area where there's gonna be a lot of wear and tear. I'd recomend staining it too.