NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

Weigh in: Ceiling Fans

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I keep seeing people taking fans out of bedrooms on HGTV and blogs. I think that maybe fans aren’t very fashionable.

I say “I think,” because I have no idea what’s actually in-style and I also really don’t care. I live in the Midwest, where a fan is pretty much a non-negotiable in the summer. It gets hot up in here.

The ceiling fans in the new house are the very last light fixtures I have to choose at this point. I already have a few small versions for the smaller bedrooms. But I need larger ceiling fans for our bedroom and the living room. (And on the back porch, actually. I guess I need three fans.)

Here are a few of my picks. (Note: Both rooms are well-lit. I don’t foresee the need to use the light on the fan as a main source of light. If that matters to you.)
ceiling fans

The farmhouse chic: Carter Indoor/Outdoor at $379 (Ballard Designs)

The budget choice: Hunter Matte Black at $79 (Hope Depot)

The uplight: Fanimation at $234 (Amazon)

The lantern: Home Decorators Collection Abercorn at $209 (Home Depot)

The sleek: Merwry at $89.25 (Home Depot)

 

 

 

Weigh in. What do you like best?

Comments

  1. I love the cheap black one but I love dark wood instead due to the potential dust issue;) Guess the black would make me dust more though… 🙂

  4. I like the farmhouse chic one for a living space. After that, I think it depends on your plans for the room.

    Also, I agree that fans in the bedroom are a no-brainer. Even with central AC out the whazoo here in Phoenix, I STILL want a fan in my bedroom for airflow and between-season cooling. Honestly, it’s something people enviously comment on when they visit my house ( we have ceiling fans in every room but the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room).

  5. While I like the Ballard one, our home is full of Hunter fans and they’re reliable, quiet, and easy to install. That would maybe leave extra room in the budget for some great decor, too.

  6. I love the farmhouse chic (top left)!! In my experience when the light is on top of the fan, if you ever do have it on, it makes the fan kind of eerie looking, and the spinning blades cast an unpleasant shadow.

  7. it’s funny; I actually can’t stand sleeping with a fan blowing on me, so ripping our ceiling fan out of our bedroom was an easy decision….and then when that room was on AT, all the negative comments I got were about what a dummy I was for taking the fan down just to make the room look better…which wasn’t why I did it at all. So, you know, the lesson here is do what you want because someone’s going to criticize no matter what. But you probably knew that already :). Anyway, I’m on team sleek!

  8. For appearance only, I like either Chic or Budget. For the difference in the money, I’d get the budget one.

  9. We have the Home Decorator’s lantern one from Home Depot in our home office. The way it was displayed in the store we assumed it had a long down rod with it – it did not. So we need to get one. It puts off a really cool light pattern on the ceiling but right now not much light – more like ambient light. Maybe some different bulbs would help?

    For our new family room we knew we wanted a fan for the summers (northern Iowa here!) but didn’t need a center room light. So I splurged a bit and got the Bistro ceiling fan from Restoration Hardware. I LOVE how it looks!!! We haven’t used it yet since it’s the dead of winter but I do love how it looks in my farmhouse-style family room!

    We did cheap in our bedrooms upstairs for now since we are the only ones who’ll really see them and I was so over choosing things! Just got some from Lowes and HD. Splurged a bit for the RH one for the family room since it’s one we’ll see daily and so will any guests.

  10. I love the fan with the lantern but I am a bit obsessed with all things lantern at the moment. I live in upstate NY in an old farmhouse and I just think lanterns are perfect with the shabby-chic farmhouse style. With that said, we have a fan in the living room because our fireplace is in there so it moves the air around. We also have one in all the bedrooms upstairs. My suggestion is this, go with what you love. You probably will have them long enough to get your money’s worth so spending a little more and getting what you want is still more economical than getting the bargain, deciding in a year that you hate it and replacing it with what you wanted first.

    • I like the lantern, too. There’s something classic about it.

      I don’t think I’ll feel strongly enough about any of the options to “hate” it – I’ll probably forget about it actually. 😉 Once a decision is made, I’m moving on. Hahaha.

  13. Add another vote for the sleek one. No visible hardware on the fan blades gives it a nice clean look.

  14. Splurge on the one for your bedroom – you’ll look at it a lot more than the others from bed over the years. I like the simplicity of the mewry and the price for the rest. Not an uplight or lantern fan . . love the rustic but would only put it in the bedroom if you had a gray or denim sort of design plan to tie it in ..

  15. We are pro-fan also — I can’t sleep without the white noise, and love the cool factor in the summer. My favorite, style-wise, is top left, but that price tag — yikes! If it were me, I’d probably go with the bottom right one. Good price and I love the sleek look.

  16. My questions would be, what color hardware do you have for kitchen cabinets? front door handle? My first choice is the uplight. I like the warmth of the wood blades and the oil rubbed bronze look to the metal. I also like that you at least have the option of a light on it, even if you don’t plan on using it. I don’t think it looks overly modern which might look out of place, even in a ‘modern’ farmhouse. also, I’m always a sucker for the original price thing, I’d be like, look how much money I saved honey!

  18. I really like the sleek one! Then the uplight. Obviously the cheapness in me was pleased by the price of the sleek one. ? Good luck!

  19. I like the lantern one for the back porch, and I’d probably do the budget friendly Hunter matte black for the bedrooms (unless the other ones had other really cool features that warrant the more expensive price).
    I LOVE the ceiling fan in my bedroom and have it on year round. I’m looking to install a ceiling fan in our vaulted ceiling fan, hopefully before this summer!

  20. I personally do not like the look of ceiling fans but you need them! I like going with a white fan against a white ceiling. Can’t really see them. We have light fixtures on them but usually use lamps for our lighting.

  21. Wow that Ballard one is really nice, but being practical, I would lean toward the Merwry to stand the test of time (and my budget). BTW, as a fellow midwesterner I whole-heartedly agree to keep a fan in the bedroom!

    Good Luck!

  23. Oh man, that Ballard fan is cool. I like it a lot. I’d probably go the budget, simple route though. Because practicality always wins for me. Is it possible to find a warm wood budget fan instead of black to kind of blend the best of both worlds?