How fun! Can you remove the hardware, patch the holes and paint them a color that matches your decor, then use them to hold candles or tealights?

I love updating fans. It is easy and inexpensive and you can get a look like no other. How you do it depends on you. Some people like to have it disappear like voila. Some like it to be a decorating accent. This is what I have done in our 40 year old house so far. Before picture in my son's room. You can't see it well. Sorry. Basically it is the standard brass and wood look. We're going for a more modern look in his room. I painted the metal a kind of hammered silver and then the blades a kind of teal. Ignore the popcorn ceiling. That is is still on the To Do list. I loved these pulls I found - they are a light bulb and fan. A little more than I normally do because changed the shades as well. To show the pulls better. edit: ok for whatever odd reason, you will have to click on the picture to see the pulls. This in my daughter's room: We stenciled the flowers with a silver sharpie. Then used a little bling. So if you want the fans to blend in to the ceiling it would be really easy to do with white spray paint. You could do the whole thing or just the blades. If you want to keep it real conservative and keep the wood then I would do the oak. What other colors do you have in the room?

Agreeing with Bossy and with Walnutcreek. Yep, my house looks messy with mud dauber nests around the front door, but I do clean them off when the young ones have emerged ... :-) And yes, a mud dauber nest can get a little heavy and would throw off the balance of the blades so I would certainly remove it. Interestingly, paper wasps built a nest on the blade tip of my Mom's covered patio ceiling fan. She always kept it set on a slow speed and when she turned it on whatever wasps that were on the nest held on for dear life going around and around with the fan, but when it was turned off their life continued as usual. Being interrupted like that their nest never got very big, and since they didn't bother anyone either Mom just left it. It wasn't heavy enough to throw off the balance. We just laughed about what they must be 'thinking' when their nest became a merry-go-round.

I would not recommend fans with metal blades, they will rust and typically require ceilings over 10 feet because they are not considered safe in residential applications. You are best off with fans that have special UV protective ABS plastic blades or thicker solid wood blades that are rated for outdoor wet or damp locations. Wet rated fans have the highest tolerance for abuse from the elements and are the best choice, but a covered porch like yours can use a damp rated or wet rated fan. Also, in outdoor locations it is critical to consider the amount of airflow that the fan produces because open outdoor locations do not allow the air to escape on the sides and the breeze you feel from a fan is a lot less than what you feel in an enclosed area indoors. So you need more powerful fans than those listed above. The Donaire fan recommended below has a wind speed factor of about 3.8 MPH, which is over 50% more breeze than the Westinghouse fan above. The ultimate outdoor fan is made of marine grade 316 stainless steel and has ABS blades. It is the Donaire by Matthews Fan Company and is available in brushed nickel or bronze stainless steel. Here are some pictures of the fan taken from the product detail pages using the Room Settings Viewer at Hansen Wholesale. This feature allows you to add your own room setting so you can see how any fan on the website looks in your own setting, so you may want to give that a try. Donaire in Brushed Nickel Donaire in Bronze There are many other high quality outdoor ceiling fans available from Hansen Wholesale. To add your photo to use the room settings viewer email some pictures to: DesignService@hansenwholesale.com with the subject "Room Settings Viewer - Houzz" Response provided by: Hansen Wholesale https://www.hansenwholesale.com 1-800-201-1193