Ceiling Fans

[Propeller Light and Ceiling Fan by Serien]

Ah, ceiling fans. They are usually so ugly, yet so wonderful when you live in a hot place, and want to save some energy and money. My friend Shannon in Texas emailed asking me if I knew of any good ones out there, and we had actually just installed three into our new house. My big requirement -- no light on the fan! I had to convince Reggie of this -- his argument: but what are we going to do for light? my response: LAMPS!. But this is also coming from someone who is not a huge fan of overhead lights in general, with the exception of kitchen lights and chandeliers. When I walk into our family room at night, the last thing I would turn on would be an overhead [especially now that we don't have one!] -- I always reach for the lamp. And during the day, I prefer natural light enhanced by lamps. I can count on one hand the amount of times I turned on the overheads [outside of the kitchen] in our last apartment. But that's just me. Anyway, back to the fans -- don't feel like you need the light [I found a lot of fans came with a light kit, so you could install them or not].

We are on a tight budget with all the house renovations we are doing, so I couldn't spluge on fans at the moment. I figured since I couldn't spend the money on one I really wanted, I would try to find just a simple fan that wouldn't be noticed, except for the moments of gratitude when it was cooling you off. Here's what we ended up with for the time being:

[Farmington Ceiling Fan in Iron finish - $39.97 at Home Depot]

I'm planning to use Iron finish hardware for the curtains in those rooms, too, so hopefully once everything is finished they will just blend into the scene.

Some others that I liked and would've bought if I had more to spend:

[Concept II Flush Fan from Restoration Hardware, $329-349;

similar Minka Aire fans available on Amazon for around $270 and in bronze]

[Atlus Ceiling Fan from Design Within Reach, $330]

And if you really do want a light [because I understand that some people like overheads!], the Monte Carlo fan by Harbor Breeze [available at Amazon for $136.09] is simple and sleek:

And the Casa Surveyor Bronze Ceiling Fan from Lamps Plus, $199.95:

Do any of you have suggestions for non-offensive ceiling fans?