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Finding a new fan for my kitchen is a project that has been on my to-do list for at least a year. In my perfect world I wish we could totally ditch the fan and install pendant lights above our island instead. However my better half insists that we keep the fan since we use it so often in the summer and when he’s cooking.
It’s the only fan in the house and he doesn’t ask for much around here, so I agreed to this compromise… as long as I could replace this builder-grade basic one with one that was more our style.
I knew I wanted the old fan gone, but I wasn’t exactly sure what fan I would replace it with. Were “cute fans” even a thing?! I looked at lots of big box hardware stores and did not find many options that I would consider stylish. At least none that fit our space’s needs.
Here are the requirements that I needed to consider when searching for a new fan:
- Color: White
- Lighting: this was the only light in my kitchen so keeping a fan with a light in it was a must
- Small Size: The old fan was 44″ in diameter but most of the fans I looked at were 52″+, which significantly narrowed down my search.
- Preferably an option that didn’t have hanging chains since it was such a high traffic spot
- Preferably an option that had good reviews online and didn’t break the bank
The great news is that there are quite a few modern fan options online that are much more attractive when compared to their builder-basic competitors in-stores. Some are a little bit expensive, but from my research I was able to find lots of looks for all different price points. The key takeaway is that if you’re anything like me, you don’t have to be stuck with an ugly fan — there are options to upgrade the look while still keeping the function of a fan. 
One // Two // Three // Four // Five // Six
White fans are honestly not my favorite of all fan styles, but the dark kitchen and the fan’s placement right next to the stainless steel refrigerator didn’t leave me with many other options. Plus I still wanted the fan to blend as much as possible so I figured white was my best bet considering the circumstances.
After all of my online searching, I finally decided that this fan (#6) was the winning choice for my kitchen. I really loved a few of the other options, but because my old fan and overall kitchen are small, I had to go with one of the few options that was 44″ wide.
Who knew a 44″ fan was considered small (and more rare) in the world of fans? This little detail was news to me and significantly impacted the amount of fans available. The good news is that if your fan is bigger than mine, you’ll have a lot more options to choose from!
Long story short, I’m actually so glad I ended up with this affordable option because I love it so much more than the previous one! The clean, modern look is far more my style and the light is a lot brighter than my old fan. Plus it’s super quiet, has 3 different speeds, and came with a remote control that adds a little extra convenience (while making me feel super techy).
The only negative is that the base of this fan was a bit smaller than the old one so I do have some patch/paint work to do on the ceiling. I don’t anticipate it’s going to be hard, I just haven’t gotten around to this part of the project yet. My goal is to get it done in the next week or so and then the FULL fan installation will officially be complete!
Casey and I installed this new fan one Saturday morning (isn’t she the best?!). You can read a full step-by-step tutorial here, but our BEST advice for installing a new fan is to recruit a partner… and not just any partner. We encourage you to choose one that won’t be super aggravated if he or she gets stuck holding a fan above his or her head for an extended amount of time.
It’s not a hard process, but it can be tedious. Plus this tedious work is happening at the ceiling level while holding the fan up, so everyone’s patience may be tested. As long as you recruit a strong and patient assistant, we’re confident you can definitely DIY this project. And check out this post that Casey wrote about 10 tips to install a ceiling fan. Lots of good pointers in there too!
Most of my guests probably wouldn’t even notice this upgrade, but the new fan makes a world of a difference to me. Every time I look at it I’m excited and grateful that the old one is finally gone. PLUS this has been on my to-do list for the last YEAR so how could I not be obsessed with the chance to finally check it off?! Sometimes the smallest changes end up being some of my favorites and this one definitely fits that description.
Bridget
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