Shanti, Color is by all means the best way to compliment any architectural design. What my wife and I had in mind when we purchased our new home was to use colors according to the mood we wanted to create in each of those living areas. We chose a lilac for the master bedroom which in my opinion works wonderful. A light blue for our son's room and a tan for the family room. You may have a hard time finding the right color for you since the colors available may be somewhat limited. You may want to purchase a particular color and adjust it by adding another color or tint to the color you have. You can use artists acrylic colors to do this or just regular acrylic latex paints. A word of caution if you do this is: Mix enough if not a little more paint than you might use since it would be nearly impossible to achieve the same color unless you use a formula ie. 1 cup of white , 3 cups of blue. And don't add too many colors or you will end up with a muddy color. Artists and designers use a color formula known as the Pantone matching system, you may want to check it out on the net. They have a wide arrange of colors as well as formulas to mix them. Another hint: You want to avoid the strong smell of a newly painted home? Add a little vanilla extract to your paint and mix it well. It will not alter the color of your paint and you will not have to sleep outside because the smell of paint drives you nuts. Have fun and enjoy your new ambiance.

Carole, here is what we are all trying to show or explain. your photo shower the curb being constructed on TOP of the tile already installed. (i understand the photo of the wall where they were using a cleat to support drying tile, however that is normally not done either) the next photo shows you how a simple water proof liner wraps OVER the curb before mortar bed is poured or tile install. The curb should Absolutely not be built and tiles on top of finished tile. water will seep through. Right this second 2600 square feet of my own personal home is being completely torn out due to a "contractor" remodeling the showers before I purchased the home. They tiled and did not use a liner. The water over a years time slowly seeped through into the walls and wood flooring. to the tune $100k worth of damage and mold building inside the walls. Plus the fact each year I help design, order, and supervise approximately 180 bathroom remodels per year. We are a state licensed contractor who pulls permits. Did your contractor pull a permit on your bath? If so did the inspector come out before the curb, after the curb, etc? there should be a permit pulled when redoing a shower ALWAYS. Of course your contractor is defending himself and has done this for 30y. Which is completely fine. Honestly it looks like they forgot to build the curb and tried to go back and add it. What has happened over the past 30 years is codes and the way we build things has changed over time. see photos. Only trying to help, but if you are happy that's good. We are now saying "don't be surprised if there are future issues" I know you started seeking advice on grout, but we were all trying to do the right thing when we see something done wrong. That's all. Moving on to the next topics

well of course install would be bit more if you're comparing it to a click and lock type of vinyl. But are you aware they also have floating click/lock wood floors?? doesn't have to be a glue or nail down. this wouldn't be any more to install and you'd prob find exactly what you want, color-wise. https://jenwoodhouse.com/how-to-install-engineered-hardwood-flooring/ you could always install it yourselves. malibu wide plank click/lock french oak- home depot https://homedepot.sjv.io/kv990 BuildDirect And I'll bet you dollars to donuts the average homeowner would like this much better than vinyl. (but I guess it would depend where you live. somewhere in podunk NE prob wouldn't care as much as a metropolitan city area. Same issue w/home prices. places like MS where you can buy a home for 80K isn't going to be the same in a city where similar homes go for 600-800K. The latter will expect wood as opposed to vinyl) So if you live in a city where homes are super inexpensive, then I guess vinyl wouldn't be an issue. I mentioned this type of engineered flooring because you're the one who has said they've looked for over a month and couldn't find what's in that picture. this one is the finished flooring from HD from JenWoodhouse.

5" ... so sleek. This mid century modern design features top quality unfinished brass. This brass has character - not too shiny and has a softer look that fits many modern interior designs. 5"D X 5"W X 10"H •5" Wall Canopy •Socket: Standard Medium Base (e26/e27) •40 Watt Small Globe G16.5 (Bulbs Included) https://www.houzz.com/products/geometric-brass-black-mid-century-wall-sconce-light-prvw-vr~151800228