i'm an adult now!

ever since kirk and i got married 8 1/2 years ago and i moved into our first apartment to start making it "home" i have been on the lookout for a bed frame. and ever since this time my mattresses have sadly rested upon the frail little metal rails that are free with the purchase of any mattress set. you know the ones. the ones that roll freely so that every time you toss, turn, or so much as cough in bed it shifts away from the wall by 5 inches. i have just never found a bed that i like and that i'm willing to spend some money on. even now, now that i am well into my adult years, it is hard to spend hundreds of dollars on a single purchase. my other dilemma is that i love, LOVE, LOVE old iron beds, but, as we americans have continued to grow wider over the decades, thus requiring larger beds, i have a queen-sized mattress and queen-sized sheets and blankets and all the great old iron beds are no larger than full-sized. it's truly tragic. every time i see a wonderful old iron bed i try to imagine how to squeeze my super-sized mattress onto it, but i've had to reconcile myself to buying a new bed. and i have done! finally! i found a bed and was able to purchase it for 20% off, assuaging my guilt over spending so much money at once, and i've ordered it! so now i feel that i'm officially an adult since i will have a "real" bed with headboard and footboard.

i also took advantage of the 20% discount to purchase a medicine cabinet for our bathroom remodel that will take place at some time in the near future. i've been looking for just such a cabinet on craigslist and etsy, wanting to buy antiques

or used furniture as much as possible, but have found nothing similar. craigslist has plenty of retired bathroom furniture for purchase if you are looking to remodel your bathroom in the motif of ugly-80's-faux-wood-hideousness style. however, this is not my particular taste. or if you like old rusty metal medicine cabinets that would require updated tetanus shots. again, not my heart's desire. this is exactly what i wanted and i'm more excited than ever about the bathroom project. so, now we've got the tub (although it needs some tlc), the sink with faucet, the medicine cabinet, the toilet (reusing our current toilet), and a tall metal cabinet for storage. still need: flooring, tiles or wainscoting for the walls,lighting, hooks or towel bars, and the fixtures for the bathtub. does anyone have any good suggestions for the bathtub fixtures? we'll need the usual faucet, but we'll also need to be able to use it as a shower. i've thought about just using regular shower fixtures and running the plumbing up in the wall, but they also make some clawfoot tub combo faucet/shower fixtures. what do you guys think? i want it to be cheap but look nice. is that asking too much?