Showroom mode, yes. All F&P appliances (well, washers, DishDrawers, & the topload dryers) have Showroom or Demo mode. Only way to cancel it is disconnect the power for 15 seconds or so, which is a safety consideration ... customers examining them in a store usually don't have access to the power source for switching the machine back to normal operation. DishDrawer showroom mode is intended for the machine to be manually filled with water (there's usually no plumbing connections on a store display) to demo for customers the operational sound and such. It runs a few mins spray and does not drain. When left idle for a few mins, the badge lights begin flashing to attract attention. Prefinished models flash the LCD backlight and cycle the display through the various icons. Those clever engineers at F&P programmed several musical tunes into demo mode on the DDs and washers, just for fun. Locking drawers ... press/hold the Lock button for one beep enables KeyLock, which prevents the buttons from working until Lock is released. Keep holding it for an additional beep (different pitch) enables ChildLock, which locks the lid down so the drawer can't be opened. There's also a ClosedDrawer option that seals the lid every time the drawer is closed, requires turning on the Power to open it. This is different from ChildLock in that simply pressing Power unlocks it. The lid automatically closes again 30 seconds after the drawer is closed.

"I'm starting to think that color/tone of the tiles have changed over time - maybe because of a seal or wash or something? The first picture above taken several weeks before the herringbone fully installed is a lot more muted without the orange tone so much. Wonder if there is something that could "mute it back" to how it looks in the first picture? Yet, this could also be a result of more lights. A large window was installed since the floor tile and cabinets were purchased. " Yes, the difference that you see is because of the lighting. When I was looking at the pictures earlier, would venture that your first photo was taken with lighting from inside, likely a warm white incandescent (or it could be another type of bulb that is made to "read" as a warm white incandescent.) Your second photo shows as more of a natural light or possibly with flash...regardless, the light is coming more from the front in the second photo than in the first and the direction of where light hits will change coloration as well. Anyway, I think that the dark IKEA cabinet fronts are a great idea. I think they will work well with the flooring since it's not very likely that you'll want to change that.

A lot of so-called KDs, particularly at big box stores, are really just cabinet order clerks. I don't want to generalize because a friend of mine had an excellent KD at a HD who went over and above and did an excellent job. It's good you found this out early - I'd suggest you shop around a lot more and do a lot of your own research as you've already started doing.

I know this is an older thread, but we installed this flooring in our old home too, and it is actually a Mannington product. It's their Historic Charcoal. Literally the exact same flooring. Our pallet was wrapped with Mannington wrap. The bad part is that Mannington charges 2x as much than HD did under the Hampton Bay name. However, it should still be available if anyone is looking for it.