I think picking a finish is dependent on your taste and the style you're going for in the room. I picked a satin brass for my bath fixtures because I wanted some warmth mixed in with the distressed/satin nickel plumbing fixtures I'll have. Obviously, I'm not someone who matches finishes. Here are some porcelain ones that are adorable for a vintage bathroom, if that's the direction you're heading. Glass shades, too! Important for cleaning toothpaste splatter. And, up to 100 watts bulbs. That's something I looked for, as well. I needed adequate light in my dark bathroom. Here is a link that might be useful: Bellacor-and they're have discounts avail

I have the Daltile octagon and dot in my bathroom too: And now here's where I will get myself into trouble...I love the look but hesitated for a long time because EVERYONE warned that it would be very hard to keep clean, the grout would look nasty soon etc etc etc. Thing is, using dark grout on white or light tile because it 'won't show dirt' to me is like saying okay, let's just make it look dirty from the get go. What I ended up doing was going with my heart and putting in white grout with my white floors. Then, before I started using the room I applied white Aquamix grout colorant and 2+ years later, everything looks just fine and dandy. I will say this isn't a bathroom that gets abused by tons of people or messy kids (it's a master and mostly my daughter and I use it) but it does get used daily. I even have the tile w/white grout in my shower and it's still looking fine as well. I mop weekly and in the shower I use some Soft Scrub with a dilute bleach spritz and it all has held up quite well. So my long winded message is that there are alternatives to just giving up before you start and grouting the dirt color into your floor :). Ann

Pretty sconce! I don't know if there are standards for this but I'm curious as I'm contemplating a bathroom reno at one point. You could try posting this in the Bathroom forum.

I think you want the ability to brightly illuminate the space without having lights shining into your eyes. An overhead can light makes for really unflattering and uncomfortable lighting over a sink. They are fine in the shower. My personal preference is for a bar over the sink that bounces 70-80% of its light off the ceiling for a bright but more diffuse effect, switched separately from the sconces so you don't get the Millennium Falcon effect when you get up in the night and turn the light on.