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Monday, October 24, 2011

Sassy Ceiling Fans



This is more of an "after" than a "before and after", since this was a project that I did before I started blogging and taking pictures of everything. I think you'll get the idea though.

When we moved in to our current 15 year old home 4 1/2 years ago, all of the fixtures were original.  The previous owner who had built the house made some very good choices on many of the "bones" of the house, but it was definitely time for some updating.  We did a lot of painting, tiling, wallpaper stripping, etc. very quickly after we moved in and all of the lighting needed updating.  Although I don't have a before photo, I'm sure you would recognize the shiny white and brass combo that used to be in the bedrooms.

I had already repainted the children's bedrooms and went in search of new lighting.  I really would have liked to ditch the fans in favor of something more decorative.  But, we live in Oklahoma and we use our fans in the bedrooms every night, usually throughout most of the winter as well.  So, practicality won out on this one.  I went to a couple of local home improvement stores ready to purchase new fans and could not find anything that caught my eye.  Everything was just boring, too "old" looking, or just unattractive. 

The fans were still in good working order, so I decided to work with what I had.  I had covered fan blades in my son's nursery in a former house, so that gave me inspiration to do something fun with those. In addition to improving the blades we stepped it up a bit and decided to re-vamp the entire fixture.  We (meaning my husband) un-installed the fans and took off the blades.  I took all of the brassy metal parts outside and sprayed them a metallic bronze, and took the bases that attach to the ceiling and painted them the color that I wanted to complement the room.

In Caleb's room I had originally wanted to paint a wall with rugby-type multi-colored stripes, but we were in a time crunch when painting and I knew that would take WAY too long.  So, I transferred the plan to his fan and ended up with this:


MUCH BETTER than the original and much more personal than anything I could have found at the store.  I taped off the blades and painted them with acrylic paint and then applied poly as a top coat.  I also replaced the clear glass globes with some $2 opaque globes from Wal-Mart.






We did this about 4 years ago and it has held up really well! 


Originally I painted Emily's fan light pink.  The blades were pink with green polka dots.  Couldn't find a picture of that, but I've just redone her fan to go along with her new room, so you just get to see that one.  It's more fun anyway. 


I was lazy this time and didn't even take it down to paint it.  I taped newspaper straight to the ceiling, taped off all of the bronze metal parts that I wanted to keep, and removed the blades and globes.  Then, I put tarps on everything underneath me and sprayed the turquoise on the base right where it was.  I may or may not have had to touch up a few blue spots on the white ceiling afterwards.


For the blades on this one, I chose one of the fabrics that I used in her room and traced the outline of the blade on it.  When cutting the shape out, I cut about 1/8 of an inch inside the line so the fabric would be slightly smaller than the wood.  I was also careful to line up each blade on the same part of the pattern in the fabric so that they would all match.



Then, I applied the fabric with mod-podge (underneath the fabric) and also did a layer over the top of the fabric and around the edges of the blade to "seal" the fabric on.  I did 3 or 4 coats of the mod-podge (following the directions as far as drying times in between coats, etc.) to make certain that the fabric was sealed well and wouldn't peel and start flapping off as the fan rotated.



I finished if off with a splash of color with the red prisms, which I dug out of my Christmas ornament stash (I think they were from Target in years past)  and tied to the ball chain with cute ribbon.  



I'm so glad I spent the time to re-do these rather than giving up a few hundred dollars to buy new ones.  I love their colors and the personality they bring to the room.  Now I don't mind having the fans in there at all! (Except when it's time to clean them!) 





Would you like to comment?

  1. Those look so high end!!! Very well done! Now you have me looking up to see what I can do with my fans! I love the way those turned out!

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  2. SO clever! What a great update, love the fun patterns you chose for the kids rooms!

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  3. Those fans rock! So unique! Can they hypnotize my child to sleep? ;) Thanks for stopping by earlier! Your newest follower,
    Carrie

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  4. Very cute. I especially love the second one. I had never really thought about redecorating a fan like that. I would love it if you would stop by and share at the crafty link party going on right now at Lines Across.
    I hope to see you soon,
    Rachel
    http://linesacrossmyface.blogspot.com/2011/10/cure-for-common-monday-14.html

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  5. Wow these turned out really cool! I'd love to do something like this with the ceiling fan we have in our house :)

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  6. WOW~!! So pretty!! Would LOVE it if you would link this up at my turquoise lovin' party going on right now!! http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2011/10/turquoise-lovin-10.html

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  7. These are so great! I never even thought of doing my fans! Love these! If you have a moment, it would be wonderful if you would share with my readers. http://www.momontimeout.com/2011/10/taking-timeout-thursday-link-party-no-2.html

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  8. Love this idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  9. What a fantastic idea! I want to purchase fans for our the kids' rooms without spending a lot, and this is such a great option (we're in FL and always need fans, lol). Thanks for sharing!

    Gabby
    The...Late, Young Family

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  10. This looks amazing. What a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  11. you are really onto something!! i bet people would pay good money to have their ceiling fans redone!! love both of the fans!

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  12. Those are so fun! I have two fixtures exactly like your "before" picture that I really want to do something with. Now I know exactly what I should do with them. Thanks!

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  13. I adore that Chevron! So gorgeous.
    I'd love for you to link up to my very first Fresh Friday Link Party!
    http://www.releasemecreations.com/2011/10/fresh-fridays-link-party.html
    -Maureen

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  14. These are wonderful! Found you via Shabby Nest. Would love for you to link up to my weekly Things I've Done Thursday party that runs until noon EST on Saturday. We also have a custom blog button giveaway going on right now!!

    Melanie
    http://bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com/2011/10/things-ive-done-thursday-and-blog.html

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  15. Really fun fans! I would put those in my kids' rooms in a New York minute.

    I do not have a linky party to direct you to. Is that wrong? :-)

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  16. Awesome fan makeovers! I love them! Barbara @ http://amotherandadaughter.blogspot.com/

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  17. Visiting from Home Stories A to Z- this is so creative. I am sucker for chevron stripes!!!
    :) crafty texas girls

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  18. These look great!! I have always wanted to redue some fans... maybe this will be motiviation for me! Thanks for sharing!
    Ky
    http://burstofcreations.blogspot.com/

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  19. Those are amazing! Does it make you dizzy when they spin?

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  20. What an original and amazing transformation! Great job!

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  21. What a fabulous idea! Both fans look great. Found you over at Home Stories A to Z and I'm so glad that I did. I'm your newest follower!

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  22. That is so amazing! I would have never thought! Super creative, and I really love the new look! Thanks for sharing this @ Show & Share! Happy to have you!

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  23. You had such a great idea!!! I wander why I don't this..b/c it's never ever crossed my mind!
    You did an awesome job!!!

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  24. The fans look awesome! I tell you the fan companies are really missing the boat on not having better designs - like this! Both came out really nice! I saw this about 4 months ago - another blogger did mod podge onto fabric and it came out wonderful, like yours. I'd love for you to share this at my blog party Tuesday's Nursery - its for all ages of kids decor. I'll keep the linky open for several days since its only once per month - First Tuesday each month. I hope you can make it, I'll come back to follow - GFC is acting up. Nan

    www.PlayfulDecor.blogspot.com

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  25. WOW!!! So very creative and original.

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  26. I have wanted to try painting my existing fans but didnt want to bother taking them down. Great inspiration! I am going to try it.

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  27. OMG! These are fabulous!!! Well done!

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  28. This is such an awesome idea! it looks amazing. Love it! This will definitely be going on my pinterest board. :-.)

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  29. Oh my word! Can't believe I stumbled upon these because just yesterday my mom called me up and was telling me about some amazing ceiling fans someone had painted with stripes and chevron!!! They look even awesomer than she described them! Wow! I would just LOVE for you to share this over at Trash 2 Treasure Tuesdays on the Korner. http://kammyskorner.blogspot.com/2011/11/trash-2-treasure-tuesdays-8-and.html

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  30. That’s a clever idea, Jennifer! If my kids would see those, they’ll probably be envious. I guess I have to repaint theirs again… or probably come up with more ideas like this online and buy new ones. However, I think that the design should be the second to think about. The quality matters most to me. :)

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  31. Get out of town! Are you kidding? This is genius. We have a ceiling fan in our bonus room and I was just going to paint it. . . now I am so inspired. May I post this on my blog?

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  32. i am wondering if one could use the old fabric starch method of attaching fabric for a less permanent outcome.change as interested that way???

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  33. What a fabulous idea! Both Ceiling Fans look great. Well done!

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  34. Thanks for the inspiration, I tackled my own last weekend! http://diytheory.wordpress.com/2012/08/16/the-aerodynamics-of-airplanes/

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  35. Those are both super cool! Love that you used fabric on your daughters! Did you link that up at Freckled Laundry? It definitely applies - you used laundry on it!!

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  36. Beautiful job!!!! Do you have to protect the motor vents at all? I am looking forward to doing this, thank you for sharing.

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    1. No, I didn't and everything has been just fine. Good thought. Thank you!

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  37. I just finished my sons bedroom fan. I purchased the fan at a yard sale for a buck or two and it looks like i bought this from a store now! .thanks!

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    1. Oh wow! I'd love for you to send me a picture, or post it on my facebook page!

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    2. I emailed the.photos to you!

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  38. Brilliant! I can't wait to try this!

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  39. Such a fun idea! Thanks for linking up :)

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  40. Wonderful idea! We have a couple of those brass fans around our house too, what a fun way to bring in some personality!

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  41. What a nifty idea to turn an old and ugly brass ceiling fan into what seemed like a newly purchased designers’ creation. It’s a smart and very creative refurbishment idea. Now, who would have said that a ceiling fan is an eye-sore? With these artsy designs, I don’t think it still an eye-sore. ->Brooklyn Fan & Blower Sales Company

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  42. Great..!!
    just brilliant & creative Idea to decor a fan along with lighting.. You just proved "Old Is Gold"..

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  43. Did you prime the blades first?

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    1. Nope, just coated them with Mod Podge, applied the fabric, then sealed over the fabric and around the edges with several more coats of Mod Podge.

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  44. These are awesome! I feel inspired! Thank you for sharing. :-)

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