I have a love hate relationship with ceiling fans. I hate the look, love the feel. We live in California and during the summer months it gets very hot here so ceiling fans help move the air and keep us more comfortable.
We do have central air, but the movement of the fans keeps the air flow moving and more comfortable. So unfortunately they have become a necessary evil.
In my looking I have discovered a few things about fans designs that ,to be honest I never really paid too much attention to,this might be because I did not want to acknowledge their existence. You know the old saying out of sight out of mind.
Here are some of the details I noticed and that I feel you need to keep in mind when purchasing a ceiling fan......
STYLE
One of the first things you need to keep in mind is the style of your home, or the room that you will be installing your fan.
Try to choose a fan in keeping with the style of your room and also keep in mind the material or the color of the fan and how it will play out in your room. Below are two examples of rooms with fans. One works well and the other does not work with the rooms colors or decor.....
The fan on the left works perfectly in the room. The finish coordinates well and the industrial style fits this room.
The fan on the right has nothing that ties it to the room. The room is light and airy with an ocean view. The room is quite traditional in feel and yet the fan is dark, heavy and quite contemporary.
Keep the style and colors used in your rooms when choosing your fans.
Keep the style and colors used in your rooms when choosing your fans.
For our home we need a fan that blends in with the room instead of being a focal point. Since we have white ceilings and walls an all white fan is best for our environment and will blend, or visually disappear more than a metal, or a darker wood fan would.
(notice how the fan blends into the ceiling because it is the same color as the walls and ceiling)
Let me stop here for a moment and point out, that personally I think white fans tend to look less expensive than the fans that are a combination of metal and wood, or a darker color, but as I mentioned previously white is what works best in our environment.
My style has a more traditional bend with clean lines and uncluttered spaces so I want a fan with the same feel.
In my looking I discovered there are certain looks I like better than others. Since I am all about the details shall we start from the top down?
CANOPY
In the above image you will see two ceiling fans made out of the same combination of wood and nickel, notice the difference in the size of the canopy. I prefer the smaller.
You will also notice one has a rod and the other is a ceiling mount. I like a rod vs. ceiling mount, it looks less chunky to me, a cleaner, finer line.
Speaking of down rods, it will depend on how high your ceiling is that will determine the length of the extension rod. Here is a chart that will help with that measurement...
THE HOUSING
The housing is what stores the actual motor, it can come in all different shapes and sizes. I found by looking online at many, many styles I tended to gravitate towards one particular shape over the others. Again, it has a traditional curve with nice clean lines.
Notice the clean smooth lines of this fan, it is simple yet it has some traditional/transitional lines to it. I would also like you to look at the way the blades are applied to this fan. Notice there are no brackets or ornamentation. Personally I think this gives the fan a more up to date look.
We all remember the old brackets and the housing grilles that the more dated fans have....
See the differences? The more current is clean, simple and has no ornamentation.
You will also notice the number of blades and the shape makes a difference in the design. I found that I prefer 4 blades. I did look at some fans with 3 blades but found them to be a bit more contemporary.
BLADES
Let me point out another detail to think about. How will your fan look when it is not running? This is another reason I like the 4 blades, they look more balanced to my eye than 3 blades. I found that 5 blades is also fine but the 4 looks a bit more current and simple to me.
CHAIN PULLS
I would also like to point out....
the chain pull!= DATED!!!
You will also see some fans with two chains, one for the fan and one for the light if the fan comes with the light.
Another element to add to the visual clutter. In this day and age we have so many other options with remotes on the light switch or a hand held remote.
TO LIGHT OR NOT TO LIGHT
The other thing to consider is to have a light or not. If it comes with a light make sure it is dimmable. I have seen some fan lights that literally look as if an airplane might be landing in your room the lights are so bright. I do think that the light cover does give another texture to the fixture and adds a touch of interest.
Please don't do this kind of lighting set-up! This poor fan looks like it has developed a tumor. Or this fan can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up, a chandelier or a fan....
Now that I have given you a run down on what to look for let me show you some of the fans that I feel are suitable for our room.
Our room is our office den. Right now it is all white but eventually it will be white ceilings and wainscoting with navy walls so as I stated before we need a white fan with simple clean lines...
#ONE
#Two
# Three
One of these fans will soon be in our den!!
2 comments:
We've managed to survive without ever having a ceiling fan. We use table-top fans & it allows me to have my chandeliers/pendants.
I'm lucky my husband hasn't put up much of a fuss about it.
Thanks for all the work and detail you put in to this post. I'm in the midst of picking 5 new fans for a new house, so this has been on my mind a lot! Although I like the look of the newer fans, they are so dank with the low wattage bulb hiding behind that opaque cover. If you can pop for recessed lighting in every room, it's lovely. If you won't have recessed in the bedrooms, I feel that I'm stuck with the older style, where at least the bulbs can shine out. The ones with four bulbs can at least pour 240 watts out or the equivalent LED wattage. Any thoughts on that?
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