Ceiling fan choices

Well right now we are in the boring stage of building a house, all our choices are locked in, but we haven't broken ground yet.  Since we requested a delayed delivery because of the lease we are currently stuck in, we won't have our pre-construction meeting and no dirt will be moved on the site until Aug/Step time frame.

In the meantime I have plenty of other things to keep me busy, like thinking about paint schemes, and furniture shopping, and purchasing all our ceiling fans!  We have 6 ceiling fan pre-wires, and six months until move in, so we're planning on purchasing a ceiling fan a month so they will be all ready to go when the house is ours.

Now I would like to go on record saying, I don't like ceiling fans.  I think they are ugly and being a cold-blooded person, I never turn them on (now the fireplace blower- that's my kind of accessory!) .  My husband on the other hand is obsessed with ceiling fans, its a good thing he also suffers from being excessively frugal, or we'd likely have ceiling fans in every room in the house.  I  understand that they improve energy efficiency, blah, blah, blah, I still can't get over the fact they they are unattractive and they make me feel cold.

I realized after we started shopping that I have another gripe to add to my ceiling fan list- the finish choices!  Our whole house, the light fixtures, the cabinet knobs, the faucets, even the towel bars and toilet paper holders, are brushed nickel, well as it turns out, only about 25% of ceiling fans come in a brushed nickel finish, the vast majority are oil rubbed bronze.  Oil rubbed bronze- I shake my fist at you!

So, for the past week or so I have been obsessing about whether I could put a ceiling fan with an oil rubbed bronze finish in my brushed nickel house.  Would it look weird? Am I too obsessed with matching? how about inside the bedrooms?  GAH, who knew this new home thing would be so hard!

 After much deliberation, I decided that we had to go with brushed nickel finish in at least the loft, where there are multiple brushed nickel overhead lights nearby for the hallway; and in the morning room and family room, since they are so close to the brushed nickel kitchen fixtures and pendant lights.  I am still debating about the bedrooms.  Do you think I could get away with an oil rubbed bronze finish in the master bedroom?  I know that the master bath is all brushed nickel, but is it technically a different room.

Here is a picture of the fan we chose for the loft, the Hampton Bay "Flowe".  I think it will look nice with the standard Ryan overhead lights.  It was on sale at Home Depot, and it met my husbands exacting specifications for energy efficiency and air flow, and I don't find it too offensive-looking.

I also made a decision on the fan for the morning room,  the Hunter "Altitude" although we haven't purchased it yet.  It is only sold in a store called Menards, which is a home improvement store in the mid-west.  Of course I had to fall in love with the difficult to find fan!  Fortunately we can purchase it on-line, unfortunately that means I don't get to see it in person first.  Hopefully I'll like it as much as I do in the photo.

I like how it actually looks a little like a chandelier, since it will be over the table in the morning room.   The only thing that gives me pause is that the fan blades are a little dark, should I be concerned about matching the fan blades with the color of my cabinets?

I've also narrowed it down to two different models for the family room, both are Casablanca fans

The Oak Hall

and the Concentra

I might like the Oak Hall just a little better, but they are both fairly similar.


I'm also trying to decide what we are going to do in the master bedroom.  I found two fans that I like, but they are both oil rubbed bronze.  The master bedroom itself does not have any brushed nickel fixtures, but it does open to the master bath.  I really think a warmer color fan would look better with our cherry bedroom furniture set, but I have some time to decide.  Here are the top two contenders, for now, at least

The Hunter Cortland

I like the light fixture on this one, its a little nicer than the typical ceiling fan.  It also has some pretty detail.

I also like the Hunter Crown Park

I think the detail on this one is very pretty, especially on the fan blades.  If I had to have to stare at ceiling fan over my head every night, it should at least be a little pretty.

We also made a small non-fan purchase for the house, we picked up these adorable little hooks at Ikea

I plan to hang them in the mudroom at a kid sized height so the boys will have a place they can hang their coats and backpacks.   My oldest is obsessed with owls, at least once a day he'll randomly declare "Its Owl Time!"  and then he'll start hooting and flapping his arms and running in circles, which my youngest thinks is the funniest thing ever.   I think the hooks are super cute and functional and one of my big goals for this house is to reduce clutter and improve functionality.  The amazing layout and storage space in the Rome will definitely help, but I need to be thinking ahead too!

next up- some thoughts on furniture and my new favorite website!