Thursday, April 21, 2011

Ceiling Fans - How to Choose?





Minka Aire's Artemis fan - beautiful, sleek, and minimal for a modern space


Designers hate them, homeowners love them. What does a designer do when a client insists on ceiling fans in all the major rooms of the house? This is a common dilemma in hotter climates, especially when many homes have 2 story living/family room spaces and lots of windows. The heat just sits there and ceiling fans are just the thing to conserve energy and move the air around.

When I remodeled my bathroom, I decided I wanted a small fan in the space. I was my own worst client! It is so hot in Houston and my husband is always turning the thermostat up to save energy costs. I hate to sit and do my make-up when it's hot and I'm perspiring, so I decided to go for the fan. I absolutely love it! I use it all the time. My bathroom has a 9' ceiling height and I didn't want it to hang down into the space so I chose a ceiling hugger, Minka-Aire, Concept II fan in dark bronze.








My bathroom with it's fan.



This was hard, I'm not a big "fan" of ceiling fans....(sorry). I love beautiful light fixtures instead. When selecting a fan, I always tend to go plain and simple. I like fans to look like fans, preferably without a light kit attached.







In this house with a lake view, I decided to use a Fanimation fan with a wide, woven bamboo blade to accentuate the resort feeling of living on a lake.









You can see the fan in the mirror.





I like the industrial look of this fan from Kichler, Hatteras Bay, in dark bronze.








The Industry fan, from Modern Fans. I like its clean, tidy look.






Lights on ceiling fans like this spider set above provide easy access for bulb changing, but are really unattractive. I prefer to install can lights several feet away from the tips of the blades. Strobing occurs when you get a light source too close to the blade.





This ceiling fan is just too heavy and tricked up.







Is this a barrel????






When deciding on a ceiling fan for your space, I think it's best to err on the side of simplicity.






Keep cool!







8 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a great post...I've always disliked the look of ceiling fans but I think it's because I've only ever seen the really cheap ones at other people's houses...but some of these smaller ones and the industrial type ones look really kind of cool...(pun intended)...
maureen

designchic said...

I agree...tend to like as simple as possible as I'm not a big "fan" either, but love the industrial one!!

Carol@6WilsonBlog.com said...

Hi Carla. Okay, fans aside. I love your bathroom!!! I'm in serious envy :). Did you design the window treatments on that lake house window? It's stunning! I don't have much of an opinion on fans as we don't use them much up here, but i do agree I like them without lights. I liked seeing all these examples.

quintessence said...

We have classic white Casablanca fans through out the house. They blend into the background since we have all white ceilings and are reliable and unobtrusive.

Unknown said...

Yes, the white Casablanca. Those are great for white ceilings. They just disappear visually and do the job!

Jimmy The Undercover Designer said...

The first image must be the most beautiful fan , and I am someone that hates them, but would not mind this one. Thanks for dropping by :)

Kathryn said...

We must have ceiling fans in Texas. So nice to see we can select some that will look good.

Discount ceiling fans said...

i just installed this fan and i am very satisfied with my purchase. 5 speed options and it's industrial looks are what swayed me into purchasing this ceiling fan.

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