Ceiling Fan: "Hack in Progress"

I rarely see a ceiling fan presented on a design mood board (if ev'a).

But there sure are a lot of them spinning 'round and 'round in lighting showrooms.

You may have one in your house; we have a few.  Just counted ... yep, seven (gulp) inside + 1 on the screen porch.  In defense of my verging obsession with a highly undesirable decor element, it gets hot in Richmond (Va.).  And really humid.  And those fans are eco-savvy helping to reduce energy expenditures for cooling and heating.  That's the position I need to take ... ceiling fans are earth-friendly :)  Moving on ...

When we relocated our Dining Room to our former Florida room / loggia we ended up with a ceiling fan over our dining table.  David asked if the fan would be odd in a dining room.  It was a humid October at that time and all I could do was stand under the fan and extoll it's virtues.  I'm not yet ready to let the function of the fan go, but the look of the fan, that's an entirely different issue.

So I did some hacking this weekend and came up with this ...

The current version of my hack is a "proof of concept" of sorts; if we keep this hack I need to make a more polished diffuser for the light ... what I have works perfectly fine except we don't really like seeing the grid in the diffuser when the light is on.  That round grid by the way is actually the top of a garden cage that supports my huge peony bushes! When I'm hacking and proving a concept, I'll use anything to get the job done!


BTW, here's how the fan looked pre-hack (this is a matching fan ... yes, lucky me, I have 2 of them ... on the other end of the room that will receive the same makeover if I continue this project)

We haven't used the light portion of the fan since this became a dining room because even with the fan's frosted glass the light was too direct and harsh over the table, even when it was dimmed waaaay low.  Surprisingly, now the light has a golden hue, is warm and soft for dining, and actually casts an interesting pattern on the ceiling.  I didn't anticipate those results, but I'm thrilled with them!

From my perspective, the fixture is a bit modern with a funky vibe and is definitely unique; using a black lampshade really helps to lower the cathedral ceiling making the space a tad more intimate and does a nice job carrying black from the curtains on one side to the black accents on the opposite wall. I recently posted about the accent wall here, but here it is so you have some context for the rest of the space ...

So what do you think about the ceiling fan hack: Yay! or Nay (Boo).

Should I keep working on refining my hack, and if so, would anyone be interested in details or a tutorial of what I did?

Or should I just revert the fixture to its original style and accept that it is, what it is?

Would really appreciate hearing your thoughts on my issue with a ceiling fan over a dining table.  Don't worry about sounding negative if you say "Nay" ... I'm sincerely asking for your opinion.  Thanks for dropping by,

Linking with:
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Our Delightful Home, Our Delightful Home
Savvy Southern Style,Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesdays #53
Somewhat Simple, Blog Link Party with What I Wore Wednesday & ShoeDazzle
At The Picket Fence, At The Picket Fence: Welcome to Inspiration Friday No. 52!
Lolly Jane Boutique, http://lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com/2012/02/wgw-51.html

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