Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Ceiling Fans: Decor Hit or Miss?

This morning my daughter looked me in the face, and said with all the love in her heart, "Mom, you are a big fat piggy".  Then BAM, just like that, I became another faceless victim of brutal child honesty.  What does that have to do with ceiling fans you might ask?  Absolutely nothing. 

Okay, so I love watching design shows just as much as the next gal.  I mean, anytime Señor Hotness is out of town, the teen, the tween, and I stay up late(ish) doing facials and watch them together.  Its kind of a tradition.  One of my biggest pet peeves is how so many times the designers choose to ditch the ceiling fan.  This is a particularly heinous offense in the deep south.

Señor Hotness and I have moved around many times, but I must confess that Louisiana is the first state I've lived in that doesn't border Mexico.  In short folks, I have always lived where its H-O-T.  Just in case you all weren't aware anywhere in the deep south is also freakishly humid.  So here, where the humidity will make you want to pack up and move...every ten minutes, fans are an absolute must.  All silliness aside, if you don't keep the air circulating here everything will mold.  Its a real problem.

Which brings me to my family room.



This space is the bomb (is what I would say if this was the 90s), but the only problem, besides the beige, on beige, on beige color scheme happening all up in here, was no ceiling fan.


Which was super unfortunate since this is what our weather was looking like shortly after moving in. Have I mentioned the unbareable humidity that exists here sometimes?  Couple the 105 degrees with intense humidity, and holy heck, you want to die while sitting on your leather sofa ruining it with the fluid pouring off your body in the form of sweat trying to enjoy your new family room.


So as lovely as this fixture was.  It just wasn't cutting it.  We needed air movement.  We needed something to help cut the heat.  We needed a flipping fan!


We had this awesomeness to contend with after we removed the fixture, and I honestly still haven't don't anything about it.  Mostly because I was so flipping hot that I couldn't think straight.


So ceiling ring aside we set about getting a fan put up.  Now I know that there are a plethora of uber ugly fans kicking about out there.  I know when I think about ceiling fans I think about the ones my grandparents had in the 80s.  However for as many ugly fans there are there are just as many pretty ones.


If you've been hanging out here much in the past you will have noticed that I have a larger than normal love of french provincial style furniture.  That style usually screams for a more formal feel, but this being our family room, Señor Hotness wanted a less formal feel to this room.  So we decided to go with something that was a little less traditional feeling, and a little more contemporary but still beautiful nonetheless. 


I really love how it has glass with in glass.  Its simple yet there is slight elegance to the lines.  The best, however, is that we can now stand to hang in our family room once more.  You know so we can spend some cool time...as a family.  So I'm a fan of fans (awful pun, sorry), but I absolutely believe that with necessity you can still style.

9 comments:

  1. I live in the Phoenix area. Ceiling fans are a must. They really help control the air-conditioning costs. We have them in almost every room of our home plus in our garage and two on our patio. I'm the first to admit I would love a chandelier in my bedroom, but we could not sleep without our fan above the bed.

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    1. Oh man we use to live in Mesa, and the condo we own there didn't have ceiling fans when we bought it. That was the first thing we did. Even before we made the bed. Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. Hi Sarah! I am visiting from Share Your Cup party and noticed the 105* picture. I figured you must be my neighbor and you are!! I live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I love ceiling fans. I remember the decorating make-over show that used to be on TV and several of the decorators would remove ceilings fans because they were "so tacky". Obviously, the designers never lived in a warm climate! We have them across our back and front porches and in most of the rooms. My ceiling in the great room is too high and we were told only the cobwebs would enjoy the fan, so there is not one in there! I love to sleep with the ceiling fan gently whirling above me. Please stop by and visit me at Still Woods Farmhouse. I am decorating for fall hoping it will bring on the cooler weather!! I am now following you too!
    Blessings from Lynda at Still Woods Farmhouse

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  3. Here in the UK we REALLY don't need ceiling fans but I always thought they were kind of cool! I had no idea designers were ripping them out. What did William Morris say? "Have nothing in your home you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful" I guess for you "hot place" people ceiling fans are definitely the first and sometimes the second!

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  4. Hi Sarah, I'm so happy I found you through The Shabby Nest. I totally agree with you about the fans. We lived 40 years in El Paso and our ceiling fans were vital! Although the humidity is low, just the stirring of the air made a huge difference. Now that we're in Fort Worth, the humidity is a factor, but central air is so lovely. However, we still love and use our ceiling fans. Those designers have no idea. :)

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  5. Sarah, here in Queensland Australia, ceiling fans are a must too. Yours look great! Mimi xxx

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  6. Hi Sarah- we are in Florida and LOVE our ceiling fans!

    Linda
    Bestoflongislandandcentralflorida

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  7. Sarah, we live near Dallas and can't live without a ceiling fan either. It was 99 here yesterday...we are not bringing out our pumpkins like others in blogland. We are still in the AC with the fan on and making homemade ice cream. :)

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  8. We aren't super hot or humid here in UT, but I still like a fan now and then. We have one in our family room which has super high ceilings. The fan helps to bring the cool or warm air down. Sometimes practicality is more important than style! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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