Yay!!!! It feels like it's been forever since I've done an update on this project. This is the last progress update on this project before I do the final final FINAL completed project post. I canNOT wait to be able to say that it's finally done!
Now, if you are new to this and want to see the progress up to this point before you read further, you can click here:
Part 1: We Have Walls! Now We Need a Vanity!
Part 2: Yay! A Mid Century Modern Credenza Has Been Acquired!
Part 3: A Working Sink! And a Beautiful Vanity! All in One!
Part 4: A New Mirror Waiting to Be Mounted
The quick version of where we are: I refinished an MCM credenza for a vanity, the sink and modern gold faucet has been installed into the vanity and all installed by my awesome father-in-law, and a mirror has been acquired.
The vanity light fixture we had before the flooded basement was your average builder-grade chrome-ish sconce. There was technically nothing wrong with it....except that it was just all wrong. Here's a picture of it again so you don't have to scroll up:
The style and finish don't match the rest of what I'm doing in there, so it's going bye-bye. Don't worry though fellow-greenies, I'm going to donate it to someone that actually wants it instead of throwing it in the landfill. So, what I want is something modern and brass and beautiful. I really wanted to try to get something made in the USA and hopefully from a small business instead of from some corporation (yes, yes, this is sometimes hard to find, but I try). And, I found the perfect ones! I found 2 options that I really liked on Etsy, from 2 different makers in the USA that handmake their pieces, Triple Seven Home and Sazerac Stitches (Sazerac Stitches is no longer on Etsy. They have their own website, which is linked under their pictures below.) I decided to let Nick pick which one he liked best, because I'm so inclusive like that ;) Here are the choices:
WEST END SCONCE by Sazerac Stitches - $140 - raw brass and glass (but I wanted it with the milk white glass, not the clear
MODERN BRASS LIGHT FIONA by Triple Seven Home on etsy.com - $200 - solid brass and opal glass (sorry for the blurriness, this is the picture from their Etsy posting)
FIONA with matte black by Triple Seven Home on etsy.com - $188 - solid brass and glass - Pretty much the same as above, but adding some black in there because I kinda like the idea of a pale blush (our painted walls), gold, and black combo.
Okay, so Nick said no to both....I know, I know, that's crazy, right? He said they're just not his style and he wanted something that provided light in more than just two side directions. Okay....so, I offered this option, which is a 3-sided version of the Sazerac Stitches one:
MELPOMENE SCONCE by Sazerac Stitches - $195 - raw brass and glass - so cool
And...Nick didn't love it. This time because he thinks it would be sticking out too much and be right in our faces. Which really isn't even possible because we're both not tall, but, whatever. And he just didn't like the style of it. Soooooooo, here's the thing. I know when I'm going to get my way and when I'm not. If I thought he would eventually cave on this, I would have just kept asking until we were in agreement on my choice. This was not one of those times. I got to choose the vanity, sink, and faucet, so in this case, I decided he should get what he wanted. So, I asked him for his criteria, which was that it be a "bar" type of light (as in long and provides lots of light bar, not as in tequila shots bar). Mine was that it be modern and gold/brass. So, I ended up finding a few options, and the only one that we both agreed on was this:
GEORGE KOVACS GOLD 20" WIDE LIGHT FIXTURE from LampsPlus - $94.50 - Not real brass. Opal glass.
Is it handmade? No. Is it made in the USA? No. Is it supporting a small business? No. Is it even real brass? No. Could I find something that met our must-have criteria as well as these? No. But, it met both of our main criteria, so this is what we got. Yippee, we had something! I ordered, it arrived, and Nick asked his dad to switch out the fixtures. And this is where it got fun...and by fun, I mean super annoying. If you look back at the fixture we used to have, you'll notice that the base part of it (the part that attaches to the wall) is a long bar shape. Well, once we removed that fixture from the wall, we found out why......Grrrr.....The previous owner had cut a hole for a round base (just like for what we just ordered), and then realized he had cut it off center on the wall, and then cut a new hole right next to it. Just picture a figure 8 sideways. So, he covered up the hole thing with a long bar based fixture. !#$@#$*$#%*#$!!!! So, in order to put up our fixture, we would have to patch the first hole, which is a pain. So, my hubby and FIL tried to think of other options, like, put a long wood board up to cover the whole mess and affix the new fixture to the board? Get a fixture with a long rectangular base? NO. Plus, I couldn't find anything remotely attractive that was like that. Sigh. So it sat like this for a long time. Then, when my birthday came around and hubby asked what I wanted for my birthday, I said, NOTHING BUT TO HAVE THAT HOLE PATCHED SO THAT WE CAN PUT UP OUR FIXTURE. So, a couple weeks after my birthday, I got a call at work from hubby saying that I'd be getting a surprise when I get home. I KNEW it was the patched hole because that's ALL I wanted at this point. I was soooo sick of looking at our new fixture just sitting in the box on the vanity. And, this is what I saw when I came home:
Trust me! This is serious progress! I forgot to take a picture of the double hole mess that was there before my hubs and FIL patched it because I was too annoyed with it to take a picture, so you'll just have to imagine another hole right next to this blue one.
FINALLY! My hubby and FIL had patched up the drywall while I was at work, and it was ready to be sanded so the fixture could be put on, which happened the following week, and this is what it looked like:
The gold part of it is much more yellow than the gold in the picture (like this is more 24K gold), but I'm okay with it. Okay, so some painting is needed, but that's easy. Then we can put up the mirror we got for the bathroom too. I AM GETTING SO EXCITED! I can see the light (fixture) at the end of the tunnel for this project!
Next is more fun stuff. Towel holders! Toilet paper holders! I cannot believe this is the stuff that gets me excited nowadays. I am officially ridiculous. And, I'm totally cool with it. ANYWAY....so a few weeks later is Christmas. And I got EXACTLY what I wanted from my from in-laws, I mean, after their son of course :) A gift card to Anthropologie, awwwww, yeah!!!! And, guess what!? Christmas night, their tag sale started! An additional 40% off their sale stuff (pretty sure this is actually still going on, use promo code TAGTIME)! And this is what I found and ordered:
ALVEAR TOWEL RING from Anthropologie - no longer available - brass and natural horn (okay, don't judge me on the "horn" part :( I don't even want to know. I'd guess cow :( :( :(
ALVEAR TOWEL HOOK from Anthropologie - limited quantities available - $20 on sale - brass and natural horn - this will on the wall next to the enclosed shower so that the shower-taker can just stick their hand out the door, grab the towel real quick, and then shut the door before the cold gets in.
ALVEAR SMALL TOWEL BAR from Anthropologie - limited quantities available - $50 on sale - brass and natural horn
ALVEAR TOILET PAPER HOLDER from Anthropologie - limited quantities available - $30 on sale - brass and natural horn
Pretty, huh?! And, the prices listed above are BEFORE the additional 40% off! So, with the discounts, it all came in at prices equal to fake brass cheapo stuff from big box stores. And with the gift card I got, it was all free to me, SCORE!
Well, all this hardware arrived yesterday and when I opened the boxes, the brass was beautiful, but the inlayed horn :( pieces had come out of their spots. UG. Annoyed. We will have to re-glue those in because I am not sending these back. And, I'm not sure how to install these because the holes for the screws are in the back of the entire thing. I'm totally confused, but I'm sure my hubby can figure it out. I'm sure I could too, but it's so much easier to just ask him to do it :) Plus, that's one of the benefits of marriage. He's legally bound to do my bidding.
Anyway, I canNOT WAIT to put all the little details in place! So, that's it for now. My next post about this bathroom reno that never ends will be the final final FINAL finished product! Hope you enjoyed all that and even learned a little about the compromises necessary to keep everyone happy. You can thank me later. With cash. ;)
Until next time.