How to make a ceiling fan look better

Ceiling fans from back in the day seem like they last forever! However, they can look a bit dated. On the other hand, it might even feel a little frivolous to get rid of a perfectly good fan just for the sake of aesthetics. You’re making a home on a tiny budget, remember?

Here is a quick and easy DIY ceiling makeover for under $15!

How to make a ceiling fan look better

What you need:

Step 1:

Firstly, disassemble the ceiling fan. To do so, remove the light globes (if it comes with lights) and the blades. I used a small Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the ceiling fan blades from the arms. 

Step 2:

Next, clean the ceiling fan to get rid of stubborn dust and dirt. For example, I first use dryer sheets to tackle the dust. Then, I go back over it with a paper towel and some all-purpose cleaner to shine the fan up. 

Be sure to also clean and dry each ceiling fan blade as well. That way, your contact paper adheres to the blades smoothly. 

Step 3: 

Measure the surface area of one ceiling blade to find its surface area. Multiply that surface area by how many ceiling blades you have. As a result, you’ll know how much contact paper you’ll need to purchase to cover all the blades. 

Step 4:

It’s time to stick your contact paper! Unroll the contact paper (with the backing paper still on). Next, use scissors to cut out the general size of the each ceiling fan blade. That will make it easier to handle the paper.

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Step 5:

Using an old gift card or piece of cardstock, begin to stick the contact paper onto the blade, peeling the backing off a few inches at a time. Meanwhile, use a gift card to smooth the contact paper as you go. 

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Once you get to where the screw holes are on the blade, you’ll need to cut those out carefully with an X-Acto knife and smooth the excess underneath the screw hole gasket. Continue smoothing the paper.

Step 6:

After that, cut the excess contact paper off with an X-Acto knife by flipping your fan blade over and cutting on a hard (and not too precious) surface. Gently pull away the excess.

Step 7:

Reattach the fan blades and lights. I decided to ditch the old light globes and opt for caged ceiling fan lights. I got these cages for $5 from a resale shop, but they are also available on Amazon. Since the light bulbs are now exposed, I swapped out my standard bulbs for cute Edison ones.

That’s it! It’s a pretty simple hack to add a little bit more beauty back into your room. It’s not the same as just simply replacing the ceiling fan with a more modern one. But at least it’s better than the old look of the ceiling fan! In the future, I may swap out the pull chains or just simply trim them to be the same length for an even better look.

In short, I hope this gives you an idea of how to make your ceiling fan a little bit cooler, pun totally intended.

Sincerely,

Felicia

P.S.: Discover more One Room Challenge week 5 posts for more great ideas!

And check out my other One Room Challenge posts! week 1 | week 2 | week 3 | week 4