When to Use a Ceiling Fan in Bathroom
A Living-BathroomSometimes a fan in the bathroom is purely stylistic, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The steps leading up to the shower stall and the placement of the tropical-style fan within a decorative ceiling coffer are all touches borrowed directly from the living room or bedroom: some of the coziest rooms of our house.
Avoid SterilityHere, shiplap on the walls and a custom roller shade at the window are two similar strategies that join the central ceiling fan in keeping this all-white bathroom from getting too modern, with all its associations of coldness and sterility. Interestingly, we once thought of bathrooms as places that should be, and look, sterile; in this age of Danish hygge and warm, layered interiors, however, more and more people are looking to living room staples like lamps and fans to make the bathroom feel a little more like any other room in the house.
Merge Two RoomsA ceiling fan is especially rational in an open studio or undelineated master suite where the tub shares a room with the bed. Here, a fan becomes especially necessary as a means to keep excess moisture and mold at bay after a bath, since that evaporating water has to go somewhere. On the other hand, a loud exhaust fan might be overkill here, so lose the vent and pop an elegant fan into the rafters instead. With a bedroom, living room, and restroom retreat all in one, you may never leave the room!
Lift the GazeNever discount the power of a well-placed hanging fixture among the rafters or exposed beams. Anything hanging from the ceiling can’t help but draw the eye up, where it can linger on some extra-special trimmings or timbers. All the wood in this bathroom is worthy of attention, and it can be no accident that everything from the arched window top to the coffered ceiling and fan are designed to lift the gaze. So much the better for the prone bather, whose eyes cast that way naturally.
Comfort ControlAnother designer might have been inclined to hang a chandelier where the ceiling fan currently is, but with two other glam light fixtures above the sinks, plus recessed can lighting, additional lighting became less important than offering the homeowners one more layer of climate control. The TV suggests this spacious bathroom might be a place that invites lingering, and a ceiling fan allows the more warm-blooded spouse to mitigate some of the heat radiating from the shower as he watches the morning news.
A Practical Way to Fill SpaceA fan can be combined with a statement light fixture when your ceiling offers two mounts and you’d rather not dilute the effect of a spluge-worthy fixture you’ve fallen in love with by putting a secondary choice just a few feet away. If you use a ceiling fan instead, the bather can enjoy the light, and looks, of the special inverted umbrella fixture, while additional but unobtrusive functionality is supplied by the fan between the vanities.
Circulation StationWhile this bathroom boasts a window– a large one, in fact!– it is inoperable, meaning the homeowner couldn’t have dodged an exhaust fan here. You can see the vent well-placed above the shower. The relatively large size and open layout of this full wet-room also benefits from a two-way ceiling fan that can boost the air circulation beyond the shower area and into the rest of the space. This way, one spouse could shower while the other bathes comfortably without being engulfed in a stagnant cloud of steam.
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