PAGE20 T Q-Notes T August?, 1999
Cool the air in
fashionable style
by Lany Lanck
Special to Q-Notes
Want to stir things up around the house this
summer? Add a ceiling fan.
It’s true stirring up the air will make you
feel immediately cooler. But ceiling fans do
more than just bring about breezes. Designed
with the latest home d^cor trends in mind, these
overhead fans move in fashionable circles.
“Fans today are design pieces as well as func
tional appliances,” says Martin Shepherd, na
tional sales manager for Minka Aire, a ceiling
fan manufacturer based in Corona, CA.
“Customers are interested in using fans as
design elements,” says Gary Ball, marketing
Theatre
service manager for Casablanca Fan Company,
a Pomona, CA-based fan manufacturer.
High-tech, contemporary designs have be
come popular in the last few years. As a result,
brushed nickel, steel and sleek pewter finishes
get approval from trendsetters. Earth tones like
rustic copper and bronze are also hot-sellers.
Ditto painted finishes and washes.
“People are more inquisitive than ever about
ceiling fan possibilities,” says Troy Lee, general
merchandising manager for Progressive Light
ing, Inc., a retailer in Kennesaw, GA. People
want something attractive on their ceiling and
they are concerned about matching the fan’s
design to their ddcor.”
Ceiling fans work well in any home, thanks
to a variety of design options. Ornate filigree
blade holders offer a graceful, turn-of-the-cen-
tury ambience. Brushed steel housing and light-
colored maple blades offer the ultimate in con
temporary styling. Classic polished brass fin
ishes work well in more traditional homes.
“Today’s fan customer seems less interested
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in price and more concerned about matching
their ceiling fan to their home ddcor. I think
it’s great to offer a product that makes a home
more comforrable and adds beauty at the same
time,” said Cliff Crimmings, vice president of
marketing at Craftmade in Coppell, TX.
The soaring ceilings and expansive great
rooms in today’s newer homes have increased
demand for larger fans with bigger blades and
longer down rods. Manufacturers comply, cre
ating fans that move massive quantities of air
and work well in 30-foot tall bathrooms and
dining areas to porches, patios and gazebos.
“We are seeing more fans being used on pa
tios than ever before,” says Kathy Held, man
ager, buyer and vice president of South Dade
Lighting, a 10,000 square foot lighting show
room in Miami. “People are using their porches
and patios as extra rooms. They spend money
on landscaping and landscape lighting, then add
the fans so they can sit out and enjoy it all.”
With more than 14 million ceiling fans sold
annually, most do double-duty, lighting a room
as well as moving air. “Our research indicates
that a majority of ceiling fans are sold with a
light fixture because consumers are usually re
placing a light in their room,” says Mark Jef
frey, marketing manager for Emerson Electric
Company Air Comfort Products division, a St.
Louis manufacturer.
Little wonder. Ceiling fans today offer a wide
variety of lighting options that add interest to
any home. Mission-inspired fans look great with
mica or stained glass fixtures. Art Deco styles
boast white frost fixtures for a clean look. Glass
shades etched with flowers ad a romantic touch
to a little girl’s room.
“Ceiling fans have become an important part
of the lighting scheme in homes today,” says
Held, who often works with customers to com
bine recessed and decorative lighting with ceil
ing fans.
Some fans feature builr-in lighting. Others
work with light kits, allowing dwellers to mix-
and-match light fixtures and fitters to create a
customized look.
When choosing lights for your ceiling fan,
be sure they meet thoroom’s needs. Workspaces
like kitchens and home offices demand bright
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light. Bedrooms and dining rooms, however,
require more subdued illumination. Dimmer
switches also allow you to adjust the light on a
fan to fit your mood.
To create more relaxed lighting, consider the
latest introduction — ceiling fans with indi
rect uplighting. “The uplight bounces ambi
ent light off the ceiling to create a comfortable
mood,” says Jeffrey. Emerson debuted uplight
ing last year, combining it with more traditional
downlighting in several models this season.
Like garage doors and televisions sets, some
ceiling fans utilize remote controls to not only
adjust lights, but operate the fan itself.
“Everything else has a remote, why not a
celling fan?” queries Casablanca’s Ball.
Tall ceilings and aging Baby Boomers make
remotes a good idea. “The older population and
couch potatoes don’t want to jump up and
down to pull a chain on a fan,” says Minka
Aiere’s Shephed.
In addition to turning fans on and off, some
remotes automatically adjust the fan based on
changes in the room’s temperature, turn lights
on and off when you’re not home and dim lights
as you leave the room.
Ceiling fan prices are as diverse as the styles.
Experts agree, however, that quality counts.
“Customers are more educated than ever
about the different grades of fans,” says Allan
Margolin, president of M&M Lighting, Inc., a
Houston retail establishment. “Fans can cost
up to $600 for a quality, deluxe model at a light
ing showroom. Customers seem to be turning
to the lighting showrooms and trading up to
better merchandise, replacing ceiling fans that
wobble, make noise and don’t move air as well
as top quality fans.”
In fact, independent research from the
American Lighting Association (ALA) Indicates
that 70 percent of consumers do not mind pay
ing more for a higher quality product. The ALA
points out that consumers will have the ceiling
fan for many years so quality and style should
be key factors in the buying decision.
Consumers can visit the ALA web site at
www.americanlightingassoc.com for the name
of the nearest lighting/fan showroom or call the
ALA hotline at 1-800-BRIGHT-IDEAS. T
by A^lliam Horn
Special to Q-Notes
Out of the Will
Despite season-long critical acclaim, NBC’s
Will & Grace failed to garner any acting nomi
nations or an Outstanding Comedy nomina
tion for the 51st Annual Primetime Emmy
Awards. Emmy favorite James Burrows claimed
the show’s only nomination for Outstanding
Directing For A Comedy Series. Burrows has
accumulated 14 Emmys over the past two de
cades, five of those for directing such shows as
Taxi, Cheers and Frasier.
The biggest surprise was in the Outstand
ing Supporting Actor and Actress categories
with the omission of Will & Grace's two sup
porting players Megan Mullally (Karen) and
Sean Hayes (Jack). Mullally was shut out of the
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Series category, while three new nominees
joined 1997 winner Kristen Johnston {3rdRock
From The Sun) and last year’s winner Lisa
Kudrow {Friends). They were Lucy Liu on Ally
McBeal, Wendie Malick on Just Shoot Me and
Doris Roberts on Everybody Loves Raymond.
Even more disappointing, in the Outstanding
Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category,
Sean Hayes was not included in one of the four
open spots. Instead, Emmy named first time
nominees Peter Boyle {Everybody Loves
Raymond), John Mahoney {Frasier), Peter
MacNicol {Ally McBeal) and David Spade (Just
Shoot Me). None of the nominees in the Out
standing Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, Sup
porting Actor in a Comedy Series nor Support
ing Actress in a Comedy Series are from fresh
man shows — like Will & Grace. Here’s hop
ing the talented cast and the show get more
nods next year.
Briefly...
Judith Light, Luke Perry, Aaron Spelling and
Felicity's Keri Russell joined Trick cast mem
bers Tori Spelling, Christian Campbell and
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