Capitol Lighting Fan Review and Show Room Visit

Thanks to Capitol Lighting for providing me with a free fan for review! 

 

It wasn't long ago that I contacted a company called Capitol Lighting (or 1800lighting.com.) I had contacted them hoping to partner up for a review, but instead I got an even better offer, an amazing opportunity.
After my initial email, I was emailed back and invited to be a part of the VIP Blogger Program.

As a blogger in the VIP Blogger Program, I was given the opportunity to actually visit one of the Capitol Lighting showrooms, rather than picking an item online (I was however given that option as well.)

After finding out I could visit one of the showrooms, I instantly checked online to see where the closest one was to me. The closest one ended up being in Boca Raton, which was about 2 1/2 hours away from me.
As some of you may remember though, I was also recently in Miami. The distance from Miami to Boca Raton is only 50 miles, so after my day in Miami, I was also able to swing by the Capitol Lighting showroom on the way home.

We had a really long day in Miami, so I was excited to be able to go and browse the selection at Capitol Lighting, and just relax. This was my first experience like this, where I was able to actually go into a showroom, and pick something that I liked. Because of this, I was a little anxious - But ready to give it a go!

When I first arrived, I didn't go right up to the desk, asking for the person I was supposed to meet. Instead, I browsed a little with Aaron, just checking out the different products available, and the different displays in the show room.

 

 We walked around for about 5-10 minutes, and then went and asked for the person we were supposed to be meeting; Judi. We introduced ourselves, and then we got down to business.

Before I even start talking about my experience, let me tell you - Shopping online and shopping in a showroom (for lighting) is completely different. You know, on the website you can see how great an item looks, and you can read specifications, but it's just really not the same. I personally, had no idea. I do, do a lot of shopping online, but had never shopped for lighting at all, really.
I know from past experiences, that shopping in store can be better - But only for basic reasons, like you can ask questions, or actually see a product.

Visiting the Capital Lighting Showroom really changed my perspective of things. I can honestly say that I do not think I would choose online shopping for lighting over visiting a show room. Why? Well, with my experience, Judi was so helpful. I honestly thought that I would go in, and she'd ask what I liked, point me in the right direction, and that would pretty much be it, until I had decided what I wanted.

However, as soon as I told her I was there, she started instantly asking questions. She asked about the sizing of  the room (height of ceilings) we were shopping for, the type of product we were looking for, and she even asked about our personal style preference, trying to help us find the product that would be perfect for us.

We knew we had wanted a fan, and we let her know right off the bat. She directed us to the fans, and discussed the styles we had pointed out as interests.
What surprised me the most was her willingness to help find exactly what would work, and her fast account of knowledge. We had gone back and forth between quite a few fans for probably a good 30 minutes - We were discussing what would work best, and she patiently stood there offering suggestions, and providing us with information we had wanted about different fans. And what really impressed me was when we had some really specific questions about 1 fan in particular. She didn't know the different specifications for the fan right off the top of her head. She said she'd be right back, with the information, and I honestly expected her to be gone for a good 10 minutes, because that's usually how it works. It seems like no matter where you go, if you ask  for specs, you are left there waiting for some time.
However, Judi was back in, I'd say, no more than 2 minutes, with a big book filled with the information on all of the fans - She then patiently went through and found all of the information we had asked about.

Finally, with the help of Judi, we decided on a really beautiful Fanimation Fan. Judi directed us to the back counter, where I filled out just my information, and then we waited while another worker went and got our fan from the  back storage area.
While we waited, I asked Judi if I could walk around and get some pictures to go along with my review. She agreed, and even graciously showed me around the entire store, answering any questions I had, and even providing me with information about the company, some of the products, and other such information.

We walked around, and I took pictures of some of my favorite pieces.
Like these awesome disco ball piece:

 
 And this really unique piece that sparkled so brightly!

One of the great things that I had noticed was that they had products with price ranges for every budget. The ones above were the higher priced items (thousands of dollars) while these were some of the lower priced, more affordable products that I loved -
This really beautiful flowered light:

and this other really unique lighting piece as well:

Really nice, right??

While walking around the showroom, I also noticed a board with all different colors of crystals. I asked Judi about them, and she informed me that Capitol Lighting also does custom pieces.

As you can see from my picture, there are lots of color options, and they are willing to work with you to find other color options too.

After a few minutes of walking around, Judi went to check to see if my fan was ready. She was back in just a minute, and it was already, ready.

We headed to the exit - And thanked Judi for all of her help.

Before I move on to my direct review of the fan we picked, I just wanted to mention that if you're ever in the market for any type of lighting product - I would highly, highly, recommend visiting an in store location if you get the chance.

So. I know you all have to be dying to know what I chose.
I ended up choosing a Fanimation fan.

The exact fan we got was called "The Mariano."

When we were choosing a fan at the showroom, we knew we wanted to pick a fan for my grandma. 
My grandma hasn't had a working ceiling fan or light for her room, for probably at least a good year now. She always works to improve our home, but never gets anything for herself.

So while there were lots of things I liked for myself, I was more inclined to get something for her.

Based on her room, we wanted to get something two-toned. Grandma is the type of person who likes a bit of everything, and her room reflects that. She has white ceilings, blue walls with yellow accents, and brown wood furniture.

When I was browsing the showroom, and I had first seen it - I was really drawn to it. Not only because it matched her room, but also because it had a really unique design that caught my eye.

When I had got home, I didn't let grandma see right away. I wanted her to wait until it was put up. Unfortunately, we had no experience in putting up fans. We had been waiting for a friend who had promised to come and set it up for us - But sadly, our friend canceled, and never showed up to help.

So Aaron had his first experience at setting a fan up - And I got to help a little bit, by setting up a few pieces for the fan, and directing him through the steps.

We started by taking everything out of the box, and laying it all out on the bed so we had easy access to all of the pieces, and could easily see everything.

We got started, and followed all of the directions.

Here were a few pictures throughout the process.

Putting the top rod onto the motor:

(I love that in our box, we also had a screw driver from Fanimation, to make things easier.)

Installing the fan mount to the ceiling:

After we added the mount, we hooked the motor piece to it, and then Aaron got one of the harder parts done - Which was connecting all of the wires.

 
The next step was putting on all of the fan blades. We put the first one on, and I just started laughing because it looked so silly, lol:

Anyways, it was really easy getting all of the blades on, and that part only took about 15-20 minutes with a combined effort.

 

 Our next step was putting on the light plate.

 
And then finally we were able to put on the beautiful white globe cover.

  
That's right! We had the fan all done! We were so excited to see the product finally up. It took at least a couple hours to get it all going, but this was Aaron's first time. He said that if he were to do it again, he could definitely do it faster. I was with him the whole time, and I made him be very cautious because I was worried about him getting electrocuted or something. Fortunately everything worked out okay.

The fan looked amazing up there, and we were excited to go out and get grandma to show her.
We went and got her, and she followed us back. As soon as she walked in, she was so excited, and actually left speechless for a minute. She said it's definitely something she would have picked if she could have been there with us in the showroom.

Visiting the Capitol Lighting showroom was definitely one of the most awesome blogging experiences I've ever gotten. If you are anywhere near one of the showrooms, I highly suggest stopping in to see one for yourself. But if you aren't be sure to check out 1800lighting.com (Capitol Lighting's Website) to see a huge variety of great products. They offer so many of the best brands available for your lighting needs!

I would highly recommend both Capitol Lighting, and the Fanimation "Mariano" Light/Fan.

You can connect with Capitol Lighting on Facebook, and Twitter @1800Lighting.

Disclosure: I received the fan/light mentioned above, and nothing else in exchange for writing this post. All opinions expressed within this post are my own, and were not influenced in any way.