Cut down uninstalled wood vs. grind down installed tile? Hands down the wood is easier! We put fiberglass columns up a wall that was partially tiled. We laid the tile to go under the column and shaved off part of the column so it laid flat on the tile as well as the wall above. Piece of cake, and looks nicer than having the cut edge of the tile against the column. Don't have any close-up photos, but hopefully this gives you an idea.

Thank you all so much! I just talked to the tile guy, and he's going to try mitering the corner. If there's any issue, we can buy the 3x3 double bullnose and run vertical in that area (but the tile is special order so we would need to wait for it to arrive before finishing up). I really, really appreciate the advice. I didn't know what to, and it wasn't even on my radar as something I needed to figure out until the tile started going up and looked wrong. :)

I've got basically the same thing for my baseboard molding: 1X8 MDF with no capping molding, and both the front and back edges were slightly eased...but a little caulk made it look fine, I think: Have you tried caulking to see whether it is really that noticeable? The trim above was installed 15 years ago and I haven't had any caulk separation problems. Still, it's curious why he would install with the easing against the wall. For one thing, I would think a sharp corner would be more subject to damage.

The big question going forward, if we really think that some of these areas bother us, what is the best way to work with the contractor? He completed the project within the time frame listed in the proposal, so that would indicate that the work performed is what was anticipated. However, during the initial walk through for pricing we pointed out how the previous work stopped so far from the wall. This contractor said at the time it was because the last company only used a floor machine and didn't do any hand work. He had said that he anticipated that our floor would require quite a bit of handwork to make it look good. Somewhere that seems to have gotten lost in the job. In our phone conversation last night he was certain that he was clear this is what we were going to get (obviously not the case) and that the disclaimers within the proposal even stated that they couldn't get close to the wall. So I went back and read that disclaimer, it said that their machines cannot do edges and corners but if there is damage in those areas that they would use hand polishing where required. That call on his end was pretty personal to emotional on his end so I have to expect that tomorrow's face to face meeting could be anything but level headed. Ideally we would have a discussion of what was expected, what was previously discussed, and what was included. And what it would take, time-wise, and possibly money-wise to get a final product that both parties are happy with.