Before & After: Ceiling Fan

I've never really liked ceiling fans, but I have to admit that they do have some utilitarian advantages. We installed one in our bedroom, even though I would have preferred a nice chandelier--you know, something romantic looking.  I've always wanted a chandelier in my bedroom, but I'm not sure that's ever going to happen.

Anyway, back to the real purpose of this post, and that's to share what we did to the ceiling fan in our kitchen. I never did like it. It was big and took up a lot of visual space. Well, you can see for yourself.

Before

See what I mean? It's not a pretty thing.  Shortly after I moved in with Jim, I turned the blades over, because the fake caning was just a bit too much. At least the plain blades looked a little better, but they were still dark and took up a lot of visual space. I also wasn't a big fan of the fussy lamp shades. The fruffly look would look lovely in another kitchen, but they just seemed out of place in ours.  As a side note, this is the ceiling fan that came with the house, so this wasn't something Jim picked out himself.
I thought about painting the blades white; however, when I have done so in the past with other fans, I've found that the fan doesn't work properly, the balance is off on the blades. So, we bought new white blades, and they were relatively inexpensive. Jim drilled the holes and installed them. It immediately improved the look of the fan as it instantly took up less visual space.

We went in search of new shades for the lights, but I couldn't find anything that I liked. Then I found these shades online.  I liked the clean simple lines of them. They also were relatively inexpensive at only $3 each. I couldn't find anything that I liked better, so I ordered them and they arrived on Friday! Jim must have liked them, because he immediately installed them for me, and I was more than pleased with them.

I had thought about painting the metal of the fan casing, but I'm not sure I want to put that much effort into it. As you can see, it doesn't look too bad after all the updates to it. I'm sure I can live with it this way for a while.

After

Another view of the After

Who knows, maybe some day I'll get my kitchen updated, and the cabinets will get painted. I have lots of plans for this little kitchen...  The ceiling fan is just the start...