I would move the wiring for a ceiling mount light fixture. It shouldn't be very difficult for your engineers to add the wiring to the ceiling.

That's a really good idea for the ceiling. I think maybe I had thought about it, but in my mind it had always been can lighting and I'm not a huge fan. But a pendant light would be neat.. I will begin marinating on this idea!!!! Thanks!

OMG one second of searching and I've found my answer - ceiling pendants that are on a long drop... to be sconces!!!! What do you think about that??? But maybe it would make it too cramped. I think it might make it too busy and cramped for such a small space.

I think one small pendant above the sink area is fine. What is opposite the toilet, storage? Is there another place to maybe put a sconce or two?

I like that pendant too, just the single one. I did toy with the wrap around mirror idea (which I also like) but then we would have no storage at all, so I settled on a sleek skinny no-frills mirrored corner medicine cabinet. Because we're getting rid of the vanity in favor of space to breathe, we're adding faux legs with the towel bar (inspired by 1940s home bath advertisements) under the floating sink. There will be an open shelf wedge built into the leg system (also corner-style) under the sink for some extra hand towels and cleverly disguised toilet paper. (Cleaning products will go in hall closet.)

Later on I was thinking one can light over the shower might be nice, on a separate switch. Opposite the toilet is just a flat wall, no storage. Thinking about putting a shelf up high (same height as shower curtain rod) on this wall for some towel storage. But that's not imperative right now.

These chandeliers are appropriate for damp spaces, and also the ratio of the sink width, mirror width, etc seem to fall in line. I feel like ratios are really important in small spaces to keep it from being overwhelmed. The sink is only 18 inches at the widest, and these two chandeliers are in the same size family.

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Livex Lighting 51934-91 Addison Mini Chandelier In Brushed Nickel · More Info

Good ideas, this one is the perfect small size, with 7 1/2" shade, on sale.

https://www.rejuvenation.com/catalog/products/rose-city-3-1-4in/configurations/5568f880d559307cef000a92

Love that light, mercurygirl.

Be cautious about the corner medicine cabinet. Make sure you check the installation instructions before you buy to be sure the support bolts will fit. There's not much clearance in the wall where a pocket door goes. It can be done, sure, but you need to pay attention.

BTW, there's a market for old medicine cabinets like the current one, so sell or donate it; don't throw out.

My bathroom looks to be about the same size as yours. My door opens towards the wall, have you thought about that?

Here's a cool idea for storing extra towels.

Wow you guys are all so great! I'm going to come here more often :D I love that Rejuvenation light - it's total 40s style!!! Do you think it would be bright enough, as the only wattage in the room? Really only guests and my son will use the bathroom, so it's not like I need it for makeup application or plucking my eyebrows :D Good point about the mounting hardware on the mirror - I will be sure to check that out. I also need to check out the mounting hardware on the sink (which I've already bought.... :0) I hadn't thought about having the door open in towards the wall - I think I will make this my plan B if the mounting hardware for the sink doesn't work out with the pocket door. And love the extra storage for towels idea! Very cute, especially with the towel hooks on the side. Very practical. Argh! Love this so much, thanks for all the great inspiration!

Oh and also re: the current medicine cabinet - I picked it up last summer at a flea market for $12! What a steal. I would totally never get rid of it. I was thinking of putting it in our room for jewelry storage on the wall when this reno is complete :D

I think if I'm understanding this correctly, the rejuvenation school house globe light has a max watt of 300w per one bulb. If the 4-light chandelier that I chose has a max watt of 60 per each of the 4, that means 240w max output... right? So the school house lamp has the potential to be brighter?

Oh, good. I'm so glad you appreciate the medicine cabinet.

Yes, technically the schoolhouse light can be brighter, but it probably doesn't matter. I believe it's Rejuvenation who point out for one of their other bath lights that it can take two 100 watt bulbs, but do you really want to slam into that much glare first thing in the morning?

In that era the sensible way to light a bath that was at least a standard 5 x 8 was to have a flush or semi-flush central ceiling fixture and then two weaker sconces on either side of the mirror to even things out. But it sounds like that's just not going to work in your situation.

So 200 watts is going to be plenty and maybe even want a dimmer. The light distribution will not be optimal, but you already know that from the existing fixture. It's pretty hard to find a bulb that's more than 250 watts, anyway.

One thing I would consider, though, is direction of light. If you are going to be putting high wattage equivalents you will want to go LED in any kind of closed fixture like the schoolhouse light to avoid the heat buildup you'd get with an incandescent. The opal shade will slightly reduce the amount of light that fixture puts out, but it also means that you won't be all that affected by that fact that most LEDs are more directional in their light than incandescents.

Where that becomes a possible concern is if you choose the chandelier. It's already pretty hard to find incandescent chandy bulbs higher than 40 watts and will probably become more so. But unfortunately, the LED chandelier bulbs are kind of weird looking still, and more importantly, they tend to send light up rather than down because of the way they're constructed.

You mentioned earlier about having a can light in the shower. Have you considered doing one of the exhaust fans made by panasonic or broan that combine both functions?

I don't know if this one is still available, but it's definitely very 40s in style:

There are others that look just like a regular can light.

Two things I forgot to mention: you'll need to figure out how to have a pendant and still open the medicine cabinet, because you can't come out very far over a tiny corner sink with a hanging light and still stand comfortably at the sink; and if a light hangs in front of a mirror, that greatly increases the amount of light you're getting from it because of the reflection.

So, update. My dad came over and gave his professional opinion on the situation. I agreed to give up my pocket door (very sadly) in order to have two sconces. It was going to be easier to put two sconces and change the swing of the door (thanks Kitch4me!) instead of a pendant light and putting in a pocket door due to the way the support beams run in the ceiling, and also due to the basement being finished and not being able to access some electrical wiring without really ripping into the drywall. Probably if I was hiring this out, I would say "Oh well.." but since we're doing it ourselves... I have to make some concessions!!! :D So, I got my original sconces and gave up my pocket door. Next steps include ordering the new medicine cabinet, finding sconces, and finding out where we want to place them. Then knocking holes in the wall! Wish me luck :D

Well, I think the sconces are worth it, really. Pendants are great when you can get them down around face level, but in your situation I'm not sure how you could have managed it.

BTW, you can find period sconces on Etsy for reasonable prices if you don't mind taking a bit of time to wait for what you want.

ETA Or, particularly if you're in the midwest people seem to be ripping them out by the boatload and there are almost always some on craigslist.

Sorry you don’t get your pocket door, but honestly, I think that would be kind of funky for a main bathroom. A little less private:) Are you still going with a corner sink?

Writersblock, I did see some really cute period ones on Etsy last night! So funny. I did find some that I like on here though, and very affordable too -

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Kitch4me yes we'll still have the corner sink. That was a non-negotiable for me because it just frees up so much space and really updates the whole bathroom. Also I'm a super huge fan of having nothing on the floor and being able to clean every square inch of floor, so not having a vanity will be really nice for cleaning too!

That's a very cute sconce, but please notice the dimensions. It's the size you might use as a single over-the-mirror or over the kitchen sink sconce.

If you think you want a pair of those, please make a mockup with balloons or something to be sure they'll be okay in your space. 4.something inches by 5.something in with a 2 or 3 in projection is more a typical side sconce size.

Anyway, I'm glad things are moving along. You'll get it all figured in no time, and chrome is the only choice, really for the 40s (polished nickel for the early 20s, but once they figured out how to chrome plate that was it for the next 60 years, pretty much). Brushed nickel is a post-90s thing, for the most part.

Oh wow I didn't know that about the metals, where did you pick up that knowledge? - and such a good solution for testing the sconces with balloons! Seriously you guys are so great. I've sent this thread to my coworkers and they're like, WOW these people are so helpful!

There are a lot of resources out there if you're interested in period homes. Retrorenovation, antiquehomestyle, midcenturyhomestyle, and best of all, this:

https://archive.org/details/buildingtechnologyheritagelibrary&tab=collection

You can filter by year and see a lot of home plans, plumbing catalogs, furniture catalogs, all sorts of interesting info about anything in 20th century America.

I found some sconces. It was hard to find some with 2-3 inch extension from wall, but I just fell in love with these and the price. They're a little modern looking online, but I think that they will fit nicely into my 40's-ish scheme.

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Those are cute. They have a bit of an art deco vibe. And very reasonably priced.