Fun-gi - you are well named. I like the double-entendre. I had a couple of these plants and found that a bit of benign neglect helps a lot in the later growth stages. Obviously as seedlings they need a lot of care but later on if you fuss too much they tend to grow bit floppy and dependent. For a sturdy specimen a bit of buffeting from the social weather will toughen them up. This one looks like a potential show winner. How are the young females taking the newly germinated off shoot?

I'm waaay late to this party AND my taste is not what one would call *mainstream*. With that proviso and the understanding that what follows is of course MHO and is not at all meant to offend anyone, I: Think the chair and sofa in the Tomato are FABULOUS. I am pleased the upholstery guy darkened the wood as it needs the depth of color to carry that scrumptious color. Think the FC is a totally unique neat piece of furniture which needs to be fixed 'proper like'. I cannot see this detracting from its value but in fact adding to it providing it's done correctly and not some hatchet job. Think also the FC is SO unique it needs a bold *here I am* fabric, not some whimpy paisley kinda fabric. The fabric Sujafr posted would be super. If your concern is to it's hardiness if you will, then try to find something tougher but very similar. That wonderful Tomato insists on something equally bold and beautiful to compete with it. Think I'd like to see your dining room as it appears from your floor plan drawing the living is open to that room - yes? The FP remarks you have laminate in the DR. Whatever the flooring material in the DR - you need to continue same material into the LR and all the way down the hall. Alternatively, you rip up the DR flooring and replace the whole 9 yards. You'll need to find a area rug/carpet that will co-ordinate the whole (both LR + DR) and if you've a window in the DR, then you'll need the same or very similar WT's on both windows. If they are open to each other as it appears they are, they can't be treated as separate entities without totally chopping up your spaces. Think the stripes definitely need to go with all painted a background color. What that might be should be a decision delayed until after the FC has a chosen fabric. Think the FP also needs to be redone - something very background not *here I am* so it's a good thing that's easy peasy for ya. :-)) Again not done/chosen until after the main furniture pieces are completed. If you were fortunate enuf to find a neat mirror piece as ?? came up with, then likely it should be the star and the FP itself should be very similar to or the same as the wall color - whatever that ends up being. WT's should be pretty much last on the list although they will need to co-ord with your wall color. Being as I am, I wouldn't even consider that item until all the other pieces were pretty clear to me AND the FC was recovered and back home. Think coffee table definitely needs the deeper stain but you seem quite willing to do so and certainly have the talent so really that is a non-issue. Think I'd like to see the (fully repaired) wonderful FC in front of the window also, particularly once it has a dramatic punchy fabric on it. It really is a *star piece* and should be the first thing one sees when entering the room. Think I'd like to see the wood on the half wall stained darker with Tomato Sofa against that wall. Well I've said enuf -- likely you're thinking *more than*. BG's I absolutely LUV LUV that Tomato fabric! On our gloomy (and presently extremely windy here) PNW days, that color is going to be soooo warm and friendly/cozy. I will suggest that you don't have a Victorian home so use this yummy unique furniture as a bold statement rather than an attempt at truly period stuff. I don't often weigh in on threads because my taste is surely not everyone's so pay me no mind at all if it doesn't suit you. :-)) Happy Xmas Holly

"....Please accept my apology for my multiple blunders on trying to put up my pics for opinions....." Please don't apologize at all. The fact that Houzzer's are giving you a hard time over this boggles my mind. The grout job looks sloppy but I imagine you can tart it up some with some careful spot grouting. Can you highlight the key areas of concern with painters tape and then show the builder what areas you want fixed. I would grind back the sloppy work. Clean the grout haze and re grout. I'm sure this will improve what you see so far without a total do over. Good Luck.

"Apparently in Massachusetts...it does not yet appear to be embedded in code, but STRONGLY suggested. (This is the Internet -- i may have missed the appropriate citation....)" Check R702.4.2, it tells you what may be used as a tile backer in wet areas like showers. Moisture resistant gypsum board (green board) is not one of the boards listed. In general, what is approved are cement boards like Durock or Wonderboard, fiber-cement boards like Hardie, and glass-mat boards like DensShield. "One thing I didn't get full info on -- would a membrane be desirable/necessary with the correct board? (I am planning on asking for durock, since that seems most frequently mentioned.)" I think you get the best waterproofing with a surface applied membrane. Durock is a great choice for the backer board. If you want a SAM, you can use a liquid membrane; Hydroban liquid and RedGard are two of the more commonly available ones. Or sheet membrane; Kerdi is probably the best known, but Laticrete also markets Hydroban Sheet, and Nobel has a sheet membrane too. There are others besides those I've mentioned. Liquid membranes are easy to apply, especially where you have a lot of inside and outside corners, like niches, etc. It'll typically take two coats, and if the person is new to applying liquid, a mil thickness gauge can be had for a couple of dollars, that'll help make sure the coats are being applied at the correct thickness.