Today I’m excited to be back with the girls from the Modern Handmade Home series to take on another fun challenge- ceiling fans! If you’ve been reading Lemon Thistle for a while, you might remember that we used a ceiling fan from Emerson Fans in Aubrey’s bedroom makeover this past fall and we totally love it. In fact, I wrote a whole post to help talk through the decision making progress- fan or light in a bedroom!
Fast forward to this spring when we were taking on our boys’ bedroom makeover, my sister-in-law asked me to save the old working but noisy fan that we had in their room for her to put in their farmhouse. We saved it… without much enthusiasm, but when this opportunity came up to partner again with Emerson Fans, I knew exactly what I wanted to take on… their bedroom! I told her about the fan (she’s not stopped gushing about how much they love it), but haven’t told her that I got carried away and now have a full scale bedroom makeover planned for her. Keep my secret, k? We did the fan first and the rest is coming in the next couple weeks… I can’t wait to share all that I have planned with you guys! Want to see the before?
I was so sure that this is what we wanted to do but when we got out there and I saw that her ceiling was sloped, I totally panicked. How do you make it level?! This isn’t what I signed up for! Haha, but Shane looked at me like I was crazy- the only fans he’d installed are the Emerson ones and they are so much better than the old ones we used to have. So I thought that I’d write a whole post and create a whole video to simplify the process of installing a fan on a sloped ceiling and hopefully take the intimidation out of it completely! As Shane showed me how the fan mounts- I was so impressed and I’m sure you will be too! It’s really simple to use, you guys!
The fan that we used here is totally beautiful with a modern farmhouse look. It’s the Highpointe LED from Emerson Fans and we chose the carbon body and driftwood blades. It looks a bit different than the listed image on the website because we have a lower ceiling. We chose to use the shorter attachment which means you can’t use the decorative cables. We figured since it was over a bed and there are kids in the house (you know, the like to jump on beds sometimes!) that it was better to do the shorter option.
Please note that we’re not electricians… or claiming to be. If you want electrical advice… go get an expert, K? Thanks, friends :)
The first thing that you’ll want to do is switch off your breaker and then take down your old light. Then you’ll want to remove the old hanger bracket from the light and install the one that comes with the fan, screwing it into the outlet box in the ceiling. Since fans are heavier, you’ll want to make sure you use this. This hanger bracket is designed to leave room for the remote receiver behind it and has a space for the hanger ball to fit in. The what?! Stick with me… this is the magic.
Shane likes to assemble most of the fan on the floor before lifting it up and hanging it. This will save you a lot of overhead work. Once you have all the blades on, lift it up and slide the ball hanger into the hanging bracket. The ball will have a vertical slot in one spot and the hanger bracket will have a tab. Line those up and as you lower the fan into the bracket, those will lock in place. You can see this more clearly in the video. But there you go… no screwing while holding a heavy fan up!
Once it’s hanging there, you can attach all your wiring and set your remote. Pairing the remote is simple, but we like to do it before we finish mounting the plate to the ceiling in case we need to move wires. One thing to note: Since the fan works on remote, it can’t use a dimmer switch. The remote will dim it for you- so swap out that switch if you need to!
Once you have the fan and light working properly, time to get that plate attached. The mounting plate typically would have one small hole with a wire or maybe a chain running from it. On a pendant light for example, that plate would need to sit flush on the ceiling and only with a soft cord would the light hang straight (thanks to gravity). But a fan has a solid rod instead of chain. This is where I thought there might be some tweaking BUT… that ball that hooks in? Well… it’s a ball, so it hangs level regardless of how level (or not!) your ceiling is. This is so great for sloped ceilings but for any ceilings. No more rocking of the fan when it’s the slightest bit off level! So the cover plate is essentially decorative to hide the hanger bracket and all the wires. Just screw it into place! The bottom half of the ball hanger will show and give it a nice clean look, no matter the angle.
Isn’t installing a fan on a sloped ceiling simpler than expected?! I am so pleased with how easily this went up! Now I can’t wait to get back out there and get working on the full room makeover. It’s going to be such a transformation!
Make sure to hop around and check out all the videos and blog posts in the Modern Handmade Home series in partnership with Emerson Fans! These ladies always create such beautiful spaces!
Left to Right; Top to Bottom
Simple Bedroom Update – Love Create Celebrate
Why We Love Having a Ceiling Fan in the Bedroom – The Learner Observer
Tips on Choosing a Ceiling Fan – Harlow and Thistle
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