We have two Costoc carports for shade; one white, one beige. I prefer the white one because it makes a nicer color of light under it (wonderful for photographs!), but I don't notice a difference in the quality of the shade. No idea bout painting them as we haven't considered doing that.

We don't use most of the side walls that came with them, as they don't breathe at all and don't let any breeze through. Instead we use white snow-shade military surplus tarps, which work great. We do use one or two of the sides that it came with at Burning Man, on the windward side of the structure, to keep dust down in camp.

These structures do great in the wind! We use rebar to stake it down well, but once they're up, they seem playa-proof.

I know this is old buuuut...I just packed up my "Skullco Starport" after painting with Krylon Fusion spray paint and letting it dry/fuse in the sun for a couple of days. I am SOOPER happy with the result - ZERO flake or moop of any kind even when folded over and rubbed together briskly. I'll post pics after the event but if you want to check it out, look for me around 8 & Fossil - that's where we'll be trying to head durring the midnight land grab. I bet you can guess the theme of the paintjob ;o)