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lollyellen59

Lighting for ranch house

3 years ago

Would it look weird to do both a ceiling fan and a big neat chandelier in the main living area of our ranch house?

Electric plan calls for two ceiling fans, but I’d like the one closest to front entry/dining to be a big rustic neat-looking chandelier.

Looks like above the Island is wired for chandelier or pendants, and I’m not sure how it’s setup over the dining area but I’d like that to be a long chandelier to illuminate softly over a long rustic dining table.

Can anyone offer any input on lighting options - especially regards to doing both a ceiling fan and chandelier?

Attached is our electric plan and an inspiration pic for ‘hillcountry style’ of the home. We will have 14’ ceilings with transom lighting above large western indoor/outdoor sliding doors and tall windows, flat ceiling (not pitched) with wide rustic beams crossing the ceiling from kitchen thruout family/living area.

Any input is appreciated around lighting. Help!

Comments (17)

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    I am not a lover of ceiling fans and also not loving 14' ceilings ever . They waste heating and cooling $$$ and also have huge effects on sound travel. But probably too late to deal with that . I think getting lighting where it is needed is tricky in a 14' ceiling since air flow will make things move so whatever you choose needs to be on downrods not just chain . I often use cable lighting with high ceilings to get the light where it is needed and avoid lights that light up the ceiling . I use Tech Kabel and they have some really cool heads .


  • 3 years ago

    I'd like a variable speed hvac system with a separate dehumidifier do the air circulation. Too many fans with limited capability. Delete the indoor ones. I don't see task lighting in the kitchen for any work zones on the counters or island. 4" cans with 450+ lumens at the counter sited 6" in from the edge to avoid your shadow. Throw out the large double sink for a small prep sink to the left on your island. Locate a 24" cleanup sink and dw on the outside empty counter. Whenever I see a layout with a double bowl and 48"+ gas range I know it's a design from the 80s. And not current in any way. All base cabs should be wide drawers.

  • 3 years ago

    Do you have a furniture plan for the space? You could do ceiling fan and chandelier, but they have to relate to something.

  • 3 years ago

    My sister has an open floorplan with the living room then dining room the kichen.


    She has a ceiling fan in the living room and has a chandelier over her dining room table and has pendants over the kitchen island. They are all similar styles and coordinate well together.


    I am dog sitting at her home this weekend and will see if I can remember to get a picture or two. See no reason why this would not work for you as well.





  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Of course you can mix. The most important thing is the placement of the fans and lighting, so that you don't get a strobe effect with the spinning blades when using both.

    We only installed fans outside on our lanai. In FL we run the AC most of the year so we didn't do fans inside, although we did wire for them in the bedrooms.

    Don't listen to the hobbits who hate high ceilings! ;-)

    We did mostly 12 ft in our new house and we are very happy with them. Just make sure you size your windows and doors so they are proportional to the ceilings. I don't love what they did in the photo you show. Short doors with transoms and odd little windows floating up high. We have 10 ft high sliders with the 12 ft ceiling. When we ordered Dec 2020 they could only engineer 10 ft high sliders for impact/hurricane code and now they have 14 ft ones available, so technology is constantly improving.

  • 3 years ago

    Thanks Jennifer, I’d appreciate that. I think that sounds best too. 😊

  • 3 years ago

    Chispa, gotchya on window and door heights. Our transoms are going to be more proportional. I think we have 12’ sliders - my husband co-owns a very large door and trim company in Dallas, so he’s definitely on that. 👌🏼 I appreciate everyone’s thoughtful responses, however, my first thought about tall ceilings not being someone’s cup of tea is, ‘oh wow, I wonder if they’ve been to Florida…?’ 😆 Florida (and thruout the Deep South coastal areas) know pretty well how to strategize for heat and humidity, and high ceilings (and fans) continue to be part of that strategy. 😊

  • 3 years ago

    Thank you so much Jilly! We will be looking thru those big slider doors out over our new (being built now) horse barn and it’s 3 occupants. Can’t wait!

  • 3 years ago

    Ahhh, wonderful! Horse lover here in D/FW, but long to be in the Hill Country someday!

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    It is important to carefully locate the ceiling fan and lights so 'flicker' does not occur.

  • 3 years ago

    Your living the dream!  Miss my horses.

  • 3 years ago

    Jennifer, we’ve just integrated a third into the herd and it’s been uh…adventuresome. 😵‍💫😆🤯

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    If you do a cool chandelier, you probably won't want to compete with that. In your inspiration pic, the pendants complement the chandelier and aren't in the same line of sight. For your rustic inspiration, you may want to look at fans with wood blades to blend a bit with ceilings / beams. (I personally like organic / natural looking fans, like the Minka Aire. YMMV.)

    I'm choosing a rather dramatic island light for my kitchen so I'm using a much simpler drum shade chandelier for the adjoining dining room to let the island light be the star. I'm lucky that my KD is also certified in lighting design, and she has helped guide my selections. Lighting can be expensive and IMO the right mix of layered lighting can really enhance a home, so you might want to try to find someone to help guide your choices.

    Love the horses!

  • 3 years ago

    You need to focus on the task lighting for the kitchen here as well, so I would make the pendants a solid metal or frosted glass to push the light down. I might also consider running a track across that beam rather than stubbing out for pendants only, this way you can hang pendants off the track as well as some posable track heads. Rail lighting by Tech would be the modern approach.


    Sure you can mix fans and hanging lights, the fans wont be much help if they are hung too high so just keep that in mind,

    What is see in the picture is the dining room being centered to the entry, but looking at the plan the dining seems to be further from the sofa, Im a bit confused by that can you confirm?



  • 3 years ago

    @lollyellen59 - Establishing a new pecking order is always interesting. My one mare is a big boned, broad, foundation bred QH who was exceptionally maternal in nature and was especially protective of my second QH. When they were introduced to their new home they entered a herd of 8 horses. Sunny quickly established herself as lead mare and protector of Toni.


    The new owners bought the boarding facility where I used to board Sunny and Toni. I was so lucky that they bought the facility and wanted to get 2 horses for their 2 kids at the same time as I found out that I couldn't ride any more (complications from surgery/cancer). Both of my girls are great with kids, and the new owners have the extra benefit of Sunny's love for the underdog.


    They have over 30 acres and have grown the herd to about 15/16 horses. They figured out that Sunny naturally befriended and protected any newbie they got in. Nobody's allowed to pick on a newbie without going through Sunny. She doesn't like infighting or bullying and keeps everybody in line.

  • PRO
    3 years ago

    Hello! I invite you to visit our page, here you will find a lot of ceiling fans and chandeliers, and will be able to choose a combination that will look great in your interior!