Let there be Light! - Part 2 Family Room - February 5, 2015

If there is any room in the house that is in much need of light, it's the family room. Right now, it's like a dungeon. What makes it worse is that our furnishings from our former home are dark brown, so the room looks too dark even during the day. Since our home remodeling projects do not give us the budget to buy new furnishings, we can only add overhead lighting to brighten up the space.

Instead of purchasing online like we did with the dining room light, we decided to go to Lowes to buy a ceiling fan with light. To be fair to my husband, the family room is going to be decorated in his style, which is more of an Asian feel mainly due to his Samurai collection. So, when we went to Lowes, he saw a ceiling fan with light that has three blades that look like Samurai swords. We decided to go for it and bought it.

When the electrician came to install the dining room chandelier and the ceiling fan, we encountered a problem. The Samurai ceiling fan was grounded. We found out after it has been installed and the electrician was testing it. It seems to be a manufacturing problem. We even saw an old Lowes receipt inside the box, indicating that the item had been returned before. The electrician did not bother to check if it is in good working condition because the fan was brand new and came in a sealed box. Fortunately for us, the electrician is someone we know, so after he uninstalled the Samurai fan, he agrees to come back to install the replacement.

Before heading back to Lowes, I looked at possible options on their website. We found some good contenders, but not as great as the one we're returning. My husband was thinking of getting the last remaining box that's in the store, hoping that we just had a bad one; however, I told him that it's too risky because it seems the box was re-sealed. Not only that, I don;t want that we end up with another bad one and inconvenience the electrician the second time.

Returning to Lowes, my husband went directly to customer service to get a refund while my daughter and I look for a replacement. We looked for something that looked similar to the Samurai sword, but to no avail. Just as when we were going to settle for another 3-blade ceiling fan with light, my daughter pointed out a ceiling fan that's unique and asked what I thought of that design. I liked it! I can't believe I hadn't noticed it before. She told me she had seen it the last time we were there, but never thought her dad or I would like it. So, the only challenge is if my husband would like it too.

A ceiling fan that doesn't look like a ceiling fan!

Wow! My husband gave his seal of approval, which was a pleasant surprise! At $229, this fan may be $80 more than the previous one, but wow, it has a better look than the other fan, but would still work with the decor while providing the functionality we're looking for,

Family room without the ceiling fan.

family room after installation of the ceiling fan

We love this ceiling fan! It gives enough ambient light and has 3-speed fan.