Anyone feel like helping us make a decision?

I have started looking at lighting fixtures for the bathroom. If anyone recalls,
this is our light fixture (and exhaust fan) on the ceiling:

We are currently looking for a set of sconces to go on either side of the mirror over the sink (we haven't chosen the mirror yet) but the sink looks like this:




And our fixtures so far have all been in a polished nickel finish.

We are also looking for a light fixture to go on the wall above the built-in.

Here are a couple of my options so far:

SCONCES




Over built-in options:




The more I look at the first sconce the more I like it, but I'm worried that the matching two-light fixture will be too small to go over the built-in. I'm also open to any suggestions from anyone who has a feel for what we're looking for :)

Michael explores the world of carpentry

Well, the last of our guests have left (it was fun Peter!).

I managed to be some help to Michael last week, I made an effort to go after work and help put up some drywall. And today Michael started making the built-in cabinet he designed. I can't believe how far along he came in just one day - it looks so great already! And it gives me hope that we may finish the bathroom sometime in the next month... which of course is very exciting :)

Here are some shots of the general progress on the bathroom, the built-in is where the second door used to be.








Our plan is to work on the house Friday evening & most of Saturday, and then take the rest of the long weekend off and camp at the local lake with our friends. We should be able to get the rest of the drywall up pretty easily, and then my job will be sanding/taping/spackling etc. while Michael continues on the built-in.

Which reminds me - we really need to choose a color, or two I guess since the first four feet of the wall will be beadboard. I actually kind of like the look of the green drywall, but I'm pretty stuck on green for the kitchen now. We've talked about doing the bathroom in a turquoise or something like that, I think it could look really good with the black and white tile.

Then on to the tile. But we won't worry about that yet.

Who Knew Visitors Could be So Distracting!

I know I've been neglecting the blog, but I really truly hope that things will start settling down somewhat now.

I have barely been to the house since our last post. Michael is working there during the day, and usually doesn't want to go back at night, and then every weekend this month we've had guests!

We love having guests, and are really happy they came, but we would also like to be able to move into our house at some point. Our last visitor is coming this weekend so that should really help. And hopefully Michael won't mind putting in a couple of evenings, because I'm starting to feel like I haven't done anything on the house at all (except the roof!)

Michael has been able to make some progress on the bathroom. There is now a subfloor - so no more standing on the dirt in the bathroom! There is also insulation and most of the drywall. He is currently trying to get the drywall finished up and then will be working on the built-in. I'm really hoping that in a couple of weeks we'll be ready to lay tile, and once that's done we'll be very very close to having a finished bathroom - and be able to try out our fancy clawfoot tub fixtures.

We are also currently discussing what to do about the kitchen. We had really hoped to get new cabinets, but at this point it looks like the smartest thing to do will be to remove the cabinets, put in new flooring and clean up the walls. We will attempt to refurbish the cabinets then replace and rearrange, and put in a new countertop. We're also thinking about removing the doors from some of the cabinets, which I think will modernize it a bit - and new hardware of course. I think we can still make it look really good, although of course it won't be as nice as having new cabinets. But that's okay, maybe we'll renovate someday :)

I found some great kitchen ideas from a link on one of my new favorite blogs (schmichschack.blogspot.com) to the following bhg article: http://tinyurl.com/2wpg65
and found the following inspiring ideas (I'm not a fan of the big clock though!):



Our cabinets are a similar style to those above, it would be great if we could make them look that nice!