Finding an attractive ceiling fan is not easy. (This does not apply if your idea of attractive includes "Plantation Faux Leather with Brushed Antique Brass Trim" or "Tiffany Charmaigne Craftsman Oil Rubbed Bronze"; in that case, you're in luck.)
Here are ten of the most attractive (or should that be least offensive?) ceiling fans we've found in our travels. Number ten is a remote control, partially because we had a hard time finding ten attractive ceiling fans, and partially because with a remote control, you'll actually use a ceiling fan to stay comfortable. Using a ceiling fan saves energy in the summer and can help you feel more comfortable year-round.
• Blow Ceiling Fan -- floppy blades!
• Modern Fan Co. (One brand, lots of fans, all modern.) Available at DWR and ylighting.
• Artemis from Minka Aire (pictured above.) We found the best price at Lamps Plus.
• Harbor Breeze Ceiling Fan from Lowes (Black makes it the good kind of generic.)
• Industrial Style Cool Titanium and Brushed Steel.
i have three of the Concept II flush-mount in my house. we have a small house with 8 ft. ceilings and a distinct lack of enough air returns for the central air/heat. the ceiling fans that were in the house when we moved in were much too large and hung too low, making it almost dangerous when the fans were on. plus, they were really ugly!
these are great because they're simple looking, move a lot of air, have a dimmable center light and work on remote controls. i have them on almost year-round (in reverse when the heat is on to help circulate the air).
view nattles's profile
nattles: i have the same fan in my bedroom! i love it so much, i'm debating putting it in the other bedrooms as well. you're right - it's perfect for small areas that don't have high ceilings. i also like that it's a fairly quiet fan. when it's on low, you can barely hear it.
view anh-minh's profile
We have very low ceilings upstairs in our house (7.5'). After tons of research, the non-flush mount fan with the shortest profile (including the light(s)) was the Ball fan from Modern Fan Co. It hangs only 12" from ceiling to tip of light! The flush-mount Ball Hugger hangs 2" lower!
We considered the Concept II hugger-style, but although it only hangs 11.5" inches down, one of our three bedrooms has a slanted ceiling where the electrical box is, so the flush-mount wouldn't work and we wanted to keep all 3 fans identical.
Also, I disagree that black is good for a generic fan, unless your ceiling is painted dark. I would want white so it dissappears into the ceiling. In fact, even though the Ball fans are beautiful, we got them in white due to the low ceilings.
view Jon_B's profile
I had this same problem in my new place. Three fans needed total. That made cost an issue, obviously. But what people can overlook is the size of the fan blades. The industrial style fan from Lowes, for example, would only be appropriate for a great (great) room. I went with the Modern Ball Fan in gloss white. I appreciated the variety of down-rods included, as well as the choice of blade length. Really well-made product. I like how the regular ball fan with the 3-inch down-rod looks better than the "hugger", and it's more versatile anyways (especially if you move). Ylighting is clearly the best distributor...competent site, best price, and fast:
http://ylighting.com/ball.html
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Yep, we've got a Concept II in our living room with the cap over the light (don't need overhead light in there) - and people comment on it frequently. Some of them hate it, but they're mostly the folks who like "Plantation Faux Leather with Brushed Antique Brass Trim," and as such I don't much mind that they hate it. It works unbelievably well and was very reasonably priced at posted by LauraII on 2007-08-30 17:44:36
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