For me, the dislike of ceiling fans over tables is that I hate the idea of them cooling off the food I just cooked and worked to get to the table hot. But I would like my light fixture (with or without a fan) centered with any table under it.

The only thing I can think of that would look worse than a ceiling fan instead of a light fixture in a dining area would be a ceiling fan in a dining area that's not centered over the table.

I would put a ceiling fan in the kitchen but not in the dining room especially if the only place it could go was over the table. Have you considered a wall mount fan? Fanimation sells one. The style is not my preference but it could solve a problem.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Old Havana Wall Fan

i love ceiling fans. i want that air movement! it'll move around a/c or the heat.
maybe he can wire it in the center but not install it. then after you decide where the table will be it can be changed over. it won't be that big of a project if the wiring is there. I'd tell the electrician what you want to do so he'll be sure it's movable.

if it's not separate from the main part of the kitchen, i'd just do it in the center. those things come in handy when you're cooking and it's hot ... and maybe smokey.

my sister's eating area is separated from the kitchen by the bar/island. she put the ceiling fan over the bar/island. so it 'serves' both areas.

I don't dislike ceiling fans -- I have them in every bedroom, the living room, family room, gameroom and study (soon to become an exercise room now that the computer is mobile). But I don't have them in the eating areas. It's not a matter of style. IMO, they just don't belong in places where you are using flames and are counterproductive where hot plates and food are placed.

My eating area is separated from the kitchen by a peninsula and I will have mini pendants over it. The eating area flows into the family room. I'd like a fan for air movement. I thought a fan centered in the room would look better than a fixture centered in the room instead of over the table. Wirh your responses, now I'm apprehensive. Maybe I should stick with canned lighting, but that's no fun.

I like ceiling fans too ... I have them in 2 bedrooms, the study and the family room. But I thought you were asking about what should go over your dining table. In my opinion ceiling fans look awful over dining and kitchen tables, even if they have lights on them. And I think it would look strange to not have lighting over the table.

When you have open areas like you're describing you can still differentiate between the living and eating areas. I'd center a ceiling fan over your family room seating area. Then I'd decide where the table is going and center a light fixture there. I'm not crazy about recessed cans over dining tables but if you don't want a ceiling fixture over your table you could do a couple of cans on dimmers.

Maybe you can post your floor plan.

One non-negotiable item in our new(-ish!) kitchen, was a ceiling fan. Had to stick to our guns with our electrician about that ("Wouldn't you rather have some nice pendant lights?" "None of the high-end kitchens I do have ceiling fans").

Well, this kitchen was going to have a ceiling fan and we love it! The only downside, is there is no light in ours, and we didn't like the look of a pendant light suspended from the fan body, which was the only option for a light at that time (though apparently the company now makes one with a built-in light).

We had our fan installed so that it straddles two rooms, which works out perfectly for our fan style/configuration:

I have a fan with lights over my breakfast room table and I love it. We don't turn it up high but air movement feels wonderful. I keep the AC at 78 but it can get hotter in the kitchen so the fan really helps.

I don't care if it is fashionable or not but I do see plenty of people who have them in the Dallas area.

Diane,
I am confused too. I thought the question was whether to put a fan over a dining table? Can you post a floor plan and identify where you wanted to put a fan? The answers may be more helpful from that perspective.

Good luck!

OT - Cat Mom, I do love that kitchen of yours! I'd forgotten how cool and unique your ceiling fan is. Where is it from?

Eliz

I used blue painters tape and taped the area off on the floor the same size as my dining table to see where it needed to be, then the electrician new the exact center for whatever fixture you want. You can do the same with the cabinets so you can visualize the configuration, and how close or far the table needs to be placed. I do think its easier to decide where the table goes now so the electrical doesnt have to be moved later.

The ceiling fans in our house are on constantly-continuously. It helps the air circulate and heating/cooling is more efficient. Fans have variable speed that is easily adjusted to the location, the need for cooling and the activity. I am having a fan and light centered on the kitchen island, one in the bakery. If you need air circulation in the DR, I don't see a problem with a fan/light combination. If running the fan is a problem while using the table, turn the fan off.

If your table will be open to the family room, why not put a large fan in the family room? That's what we have -- I think it might be 60" and no need for one over the table.

elizpiz--thank you! The fan is from Matthews Fan Co. Our fan is the Vent Bettina. The Acqua is the one with the integrated light.

Here is a link that might be useful: Matthews Fan Company

I'm sorry for the confusion. The problem started when the KD didn't allow for the actual size of our table/chairs (he hasn't admitted that, - only my opinion). Where it is "designed" to fit, I think, encroaches into our family room. If we move it toward the kitchen a few inches, it encroaches into a doorway. This wasn't discovered by DH and me until too late to change - cabinets had been ordered. KD keeps insisting it is a good design and all will be well. I wasn't convinced. However, I know that if we were to buy a different table/chairs, we could buy one that would break down to a lot smaller size and then we could put it in a completely different location if we wanted to. Buying a new table and chairs would be cheaper than changing the design at this point, but still more money than we can spend on top of what we're already spending, at this point - we must live with what we have for at least awhile.

So, there must be a light fixture somewhere. I'm sorry the design plans I have are on really large paper and I have no idea how to get them posted here.

KD met us this a.m. as we were leaving for work and I brought up this dilemma to him, again. His solution is to rough for a ceiling fan. That way, we can decide to put up a fan or a fixture. We are going to put it in the center of the room, however, versus center of where we think the table might go. The focal point, when you walk in, will not be the ceiling fixture, but the hutch that's going to be built along the back wall. If I put in a ceiling-hugger, non-descript but tasteful fan, I think it will be fine.

Sorry to carry on. My stomach is in knots -- you all probably know the feeling -- and I was just about in tears when he arrived this a.m. He has put me at ease and I think now that life will go on. Thanks.

I have the exact same dilemma going on, and my layout is like yours too. We have a light fixture centered over our table now, but I am not exactly sure where I'm going to put the new table and thus where to wire for new light fixture. My electrician suggested this: Leave the wiring centered in the room as it is, and use track lighting which can be moved, swirled, pointed, etc. depending on wherever we put the table. This solution just might work for us since our dining set is very modern. I know this doesn't address the fan issue, but might solve the lighting issue.

This may be covered already, but: My husband wired our house. When I didn't know where a fan was going I asked him to run a wire through one general area where I might want a fixture (in a straight line over a future table of undecided length so I could place it anywhere on it) and then continue it on to the area I thought we'd probably have it. Sort of like this: ---@-@-@-@\______@, with the @ on its own at the probable final location and the row of @s over the table area.

It takes a little more electrical wire and a little more time, and your electrician will smile or frown as the case may be at his wiring doing a drunk-walk around your ceiling. Big deal, and the wire's always there in case some time in future you decide to move the fixture. BTW, we centered ours over the island.

As suggested to you, when I didn't know if we'd want a fan or just a light in our bathroom, I had them frame and wire for a fan.

These guys want a quick firm answer from you because that suits their needs and they know a loose leash may end up with a runaway. Not everything has to have one final answer just because they say it does, though.

My electrician put in wires to the general area for my ceiling fixtures with the precise location to be determined after cabinet installation.

And there's no reason to not have a fan over a table if you want one. It's not like you only EAT at the table! And a fan in the kitchen can be awful or wonderful--you know what you need!!

But do try to get it over the table if that's where it's going.

(Thanks for the link, Cat mom. Great fan, great kitchen!)

I have a fan/light over my breakfast nook. It was a must, I don't have AC, so it's much better than the old box fan in the FR. My set up is kitchen, nook, FR. All one continuous room...I didn't want the fan in the kitchen and I didn't want it in the FR (would block sight lines). So, I went with one over the future nook table with lights in it (it's in a bay window). I spent more money to get one that had some style and didn't look cheep.

I say go for it, but I'd wanted centered over a future table. I'd post pictures but I don't have anything yet.

Diane I feel your pain as someone going through a problem-filled gut renovation right now. But as others have said, we had our electrician just rough in the wiring for the breakfast room light with the option of moving it around if need be and then installing the box. The only additional work that entails is having to patch the ceiling which isn't that big a deal to get something right in the long run. Whether you should have a fan is a different issue--I'm don't have a strong opinion on that after seeing cat-mom's which looks really terrific and appropriate to the space.
I guess we could all trade KD horror stories, but it will turn out fine in the end! :)

Thanks, all of you. This is such a great support group!

I didn't think to mention before, but the fan in our living room is very near our little table there and I often have to turn it down or off while we eat because it cools the food too fast. Our fan in the kitchen is centered over the island where I work, and I've never had to turn it down when we eat at the table several feet away.

Cat Mom, thanks for the link. I'm normally not a huge fan (ha ha) of ceiling fans, but these are amazing! And yours looks exactly right in your wonderful modern kitchen. Bookmarked for future reference!

Eliz