Since my original post, I did buy the home, closed on the 29th, but that almost didn't happen - one of the main reasons was, tada, this bathroom! During the walkthrough the day before closing I came to find out that they had to replace the shower pan, which meant, they replaced the tiles in the shower, and with them being tiles from the 60s, not only did they not match, but as a repair, it was an AWFUL job! I was pissed and upset to say the least. I couldn't understand why the owners didn't offer me the option of a credit to do the bathroom over as I saw fit, instead of doing this on their own, it just made no sense. We finally got them to give us a credit and I'll be ripping out the entire bathroom. What they paid to have done in there was just a waste of money and almost cost them the sale of the house - and cost them more at the end with the credit given. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with this bathroom. I've taken off that gawd awful accordian door (Freecycle!) I'm looking at tiles, trying to find a 18" vanity base to free up some more floor space, probably put in bypass shower doors as I can't stand getting wet when I turn on the shower as it is now, and there's no light in the shower, so this will bring in natural light. I'm still not sure how to deal with the door. I haven't found a good door to put there. THe original door swong in, door handle on right when it was there. I'm still toying with the idea of a pocket door. I'm going to get an estimate on switching the toilet and vanity, still not sure how much of a difference it would make. Too many things and possible options. Want an elongated toilet - does anyone know who makes some really short toilets when it comes to floor space? Good source for 18" vanities? Vanity there now is 41" thinking about a 36" wide instead, will give a bit more room. So, that's my mini update on this bathroom. I've been almost 3 weeks doing non-stop cleaning. As clean as they people were/appeared, you have NO idea what I've found deep cleaning! This morning, I'm off to paint the closets in the master bathroom - they painted the bedroom, but didn't take the extra step to paint the interior of the 2 closets, so I have a tan bedroom and light green/blue closets!!!

Ahh, mary lu, I still love your unfitted kitchen--even though I miss the red walls. ;) I believe in 'making do', and you've done just that. As you said, having a recirculating hood is better that no hood at all, but someday I hope you can install a vented hood, and follow Sophie Wheeler's suggestion for a unique and quirky hood to fit your kitchen's style. I used to have a pic of an old copper boiler that had been made into a range hood, but I can't find it now. I've always thought that an oval washtub would make a good one, or even a round washtub, cut straight across the back. Well, until then, enjoy your new hood! Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your DH. :)

We just did a wall-mounted faucet as well, but with an undermount sink. The faucet was mounted approx 6" above the countertop, I like the look of your set-up; it's exactly what was in my mind. Thanks for sharing, especially the pictures! Most importantly, you will need a good quality faucet. No matter what I do, I'm going with good quality, name brand faucets. Of all the things I don't want to go bad in my house, water-containing items are at the top of the list. After that decision, we chose these particular faucets due to the the length of the spout. How far does your faucet protrude from the wall? Stephemt, I'd like to hear the same answer about your layout. I'm leaning towards an undermount sink like Stephemt's. Does this make a difference? That said, installing wall faucets is a lot more complicated then installing countertop faucets. In our case, we built a small pony wall (open at the bottom) in front of what's an exterior wall. I think I'm into the pony wall -- it makes for a nice ledge. My sink will be placed against an interior wall, but the kitchen is on the opposite side; I can see the pony wall as a way to protect the plumbing /make it accessible -- am I thinking along the right lines? Thinking of function, would you do the pony wall again? If you hire a plumber, you will need to know and communicate the thickness of your finished wall before the rough plumbing is installed. Oh, I'm hiring a plumber. I admire you for DIYing your bathroom, but that's pretty far outside my current skills set. I wouldn't have thought to let the plumber know ahead of time that the wall would be extra-thick -- valuable information! And thanks for the nice, clear shot of your faucet. Definitely helpful! I don't see a need for separate hot and cold handles other than for style reasons. It's just as easy with a single lever to choose either hot or cold. Personal preference. What we have are "click-clack" touch drain plugs (what I called pop-up), we do not have the lever rod-based "pop-up" drain plugs (what I would call pull-up). Okay, I understand the difference now. I've only ever had the rod-behind type and didn't really realize another option existed. Well, not since I lived in my grandparents' old, old house and we had plastic rubber "stoppers" that we placed over the drain. I'm glad to recognize that options exist, but I think I don't care about this detail. Many thanks to all!

You could do a small vessel sink, which will require cutting a hole in the top and gutting the interior for the plumbing. The lack of size on this will force any faucet to likely need to be wall mounted, which is expensive, or offset to one corner. You will also have issues with water damaging the piece as vessel sinks do have more splashout and hand run off on the counter surface. Installing a stone slab on top would help with that. Or, you could place a stone slab on the top, after cutting away most of that top in order to allow a very small under-mount sink to be attached to the stone only. The piece is somewhat low for a undermounted sink. You could do a top mount sink on the existing surface, but that is an open invitation to almost immediate water damage. Or, again, you could cut out the top and place a stone slab on it for a top mounted sink. If you value the piece, I would use it elsewhere. For a powder room situation, I personally like as much counter space as can be squeezed out of a powder room.