apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have a small love affair with the blades on fans. There is not much to the genius of this product, but the simplicity of it, is what's beautiful. And so, if buying a $200 fan is what tickles your fancy, I say go for it. Just spend less on that coffee table or anything else you are looking to invest in.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to find a lovely vintage/industrial fan that keeps popping up in some home tours on here. any sources?

Usually just basics. Very cheap basic. :( I hope to get one of those nice silver ones at some point.

I got a vintage-y Vornado for my birthday last year (by request) - certainly there was a premium for style, but it's also an amazingly powerful fan. (Like this one http://www.vornado.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ISC_Category=VornadoFan but in green.)

If the Otto is really good at moving air, it just might be worth it!

i spent $80 on a vornado - the most i've ever spent on a fan. then i bought another one, but smaller, for $40. they just work so much better than the cheapie fans i can get for $10... so while i hate spending that kind of money on a FAN, they work better and look nicer. done deal.

Looks like the price for the reproductions of the Vintage Vornado fans. I can remember checking these out last year and they were only $99 bucks.

Oops I meant to say that the price went up...that sentence i wrote is confusing.

yeah... although the above fan is beautiful, it isn't very practical (at least not in price). i'm trying to find a cute vintage red one at the flea market.

I've been on an obsession with finding incredibly perfect essentials, like the perfect fan, the perfect alarm clock, the perfect task lamp, etc. as these are the items what will be small and necessary while we renters migrate from place to place and may be the few things we retain as we scale down our lives. If the function and durability of the fan is a match for it's style, I may have found my winning fan.

I have yet to buy one of the more expensive fans I think are so nice and sleek, but I, too, have a problem with the price tags, especially for something as simplistic as a fan. It almost feels like paying a lot for a mop or broom - since I live in the Dallas area, fans are just another necessity here. Since I haven't purchased a more expensive one, I do have to hide mine when not in use, so it would be nice to have a fan that looks nicer.

I have noticed even WalMart carrying some sleeker looking fans the past couple of years, though. Maybe I'll splurge this summer.

I think this fan is stunning! Certainly more aesthetically pleasing than my white, box fan.

For the price, I would rather put that money toward a small air conditioner but, if money isn't an issue for you, A: You're very lucky and B: More power to you!

I'm addicted to window fans that fully fit into a window and can also go in reverse. Not just a box fan or those little ones with two fans side by side, but a fairly heavy-duty air mover. I think they might be marketed as exhaust fans - I've only found them online. In those weeks where it's hot, but not crazy hot, I much prefer just moving air than using a/c, and these are amazing. Found it particularly helpful in a small apartment where air had a hard time flowing naturally, but have also used two in tandem in a larger space - one pulling air in, the other pushing it out.

Wow, you guys must have low heat tolerance - the heat in my building runs until June sometimes (based on outside temps of below 50 and inside temp of 70).

I think ceiling fans are the best investment - they cool better than window fans. Though I do have a very cool vintage fan my neighbors bought new - in the 1940s.

We have a retro Vornado as well and I love it. It looks adorable in the kitchen and it is super powerful. We use it year-round -- in the winter it circulates the heat that gathers near the ceiling. Well worth the price.

beautiful fan - I'd gladly pay $200 for it if is also operated quietly (anyone heard [or not heard - ha!] anything about it's noise levels), and if it had a good warranty - the fans from restoration hardware look great and they'll replace them at pretty much any point if they break, without receipt.

Since our house is from the 1920s and decorated mostly with art deco furniture, we shelled out around $150 for a Casablanca Moderne Fan (http://www.casablancafanco.com/product/period_decor/moderne.html). We found it on sale at an Expo store which was closing down, and while it was an investment, we get all sorts of comments on it.

It's rather heavy, so not easily transportable, but it works really nicely and is much easier on the eyes than the ugly plastic one we had previously. Chicago summers tend to be very humid, and without central air, fans tend to be a necessity.

i love the commercial floor models - they kick a** for cooling and circulation, and they look good too...

http://www.industrialfansdirect.com/LFI-HVF12F.html

I want to find a vintage fan that doesn't look like it will chop off my fingers. (Or my kids'.) So far, no luck.

I hate our box fans, but we have to have them to go to sleep. I'm hoping to find something cute to replace them soon.

Does anyone know if you should always replace the cord on vintage fans? I get nervous thinking about how old the cords are.

I have a vintage JC Penny fan in a sort of muted yellow color that is very neutral. I got it at a thrift shop for $5. It looks good in any room whether it's in use or not. I love it!

i'm now $200 poorer on the vornados, reminded me how much i hate the box fans...

oh, and the vintage vornado is $89.99 on qvc.com right now, if you do FF miles, you get 2 miles per dollar for purchasing through the skymilesshopping.com portal...

funny, i was just now browsing standing fans online.. ive had my eye on a hunter fan. theyre quiet, reliable... and not ugly.

I bet those three box fans for $30 don't make you happy when you look at them. Go for it!

Maybe not the most eye-catching fan out there, but a lot cheaper, and it's quite unique with a new twist on moving air through your place: The Door Frame Fan.

I haven't tried it yet, but I think I might take the plunge soon, and if it sucks, I'll send the puppy right back. Plus, you tweak the look with some paints to give it color that will be as unique as the fan?

http://www.nextag.com/door-frame-fan/compare-html

Honestly, I would have no problem paying $200 for a fan as beautiful as this one. It's not that I'm made of money, or even have much to spare, but I would save to make it happen. I agree with the commenter above - this isn't something you are just going to toss out next time you purge your belongings (or, at least, I hope not). This would be something I would keep for years, decades even. So I'd rather invest in something like this, rather than wince every time I glance accross the room at a cheap, plastic alternative.

I certainly don't need a fan living in San Francisco and freezing to death during the summer - I need a heater!

But I'd rather spend a bit more on something as elegant and pleasing to the eye as the fan pictured above than an ugly $10 plastic piece of crap from WalMart.

I bought a cheap fan and spray-painted it matte black. Looks amazing, and I saved a lot of money.

A fan is likely to sit out in plain view all summer long- so I think it is worth the extra time and money to find something that is visually appealing. Many products are high on style but low on performance- which is why I tend to go for Vornado products. They really do move ALL of the air in the room. This flat panel style fan just came out and has a very sleek look... http://www.vornado.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ISC_Category=V102

I agree with some earlier posts that the vintage look is great too... http://www.vornado.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ISC_Category=Silver Swan