Thanks very much for all your help Susan! Yes, something like that would have been perfect. I even found another site where I could have custom-ordered the size, the trim, everything.... but then I remembered.... ;-( Part of the reason I made sure I got a new apartment that had a balcony was...I like being able to let my two cats out there (I will have a screen enclosure built around the entire balcony....). And one of my cats is ex-feral, and has always had random peeing issues. He likes to pee on plastic bags and...he used to sometimes pee on my outdoor doormat. So I suspect he'd use any type of outdoor rug in this same way. And while it occurred to me that I could hose this rug down, it's just not that easy to do when you live in a 4th floor apartment in the city, nor would I feel like carrying a full size rug in from the balcony to say clean it in my shower.... So....I think I will unfortunately have to forego the rug. I'll just have to live with my cement balcony floor, for as long as I'm still living here. (It's only supposed to be a temporary rental only...maybe 2 years....) Tx!

Jr, Welcome to my hill, but mine is sandy, has competion of live oak trees, and the soil is terrible. My hill is steep, hard to get a wheel barrel up, I go at an angle, and for the past 5 years, I have been growing things on it. I don't use weed cloth. Basically because I could care less about weeds. Sometimes in the morning I will weed, but if you have enough plants, you won't get too many bad weeds. Your going to slide all over with that stupid weed cloth anyway, and the weeds grow right through it. From what I have learned, unfortunately the hard way is, Rocks are your friend. I bought rocks every year for the past 5 years and keep placing them. There is no way I could get that many rocks in my car and do it all in one year. Plant some tall shrubs, it shelters in rain, and when they grow in, provides a little bit of shade for the other plants. Use lots of composted cow manure when you plant. I never rake too many leaves off the hill, only when they are excessive. I buy the specail mulch from Home Depo, it is shredding for hills, it doens't move in a bad rain storm. It is cypress and says on the bag, Stays Where you put it. It is better than pine straw. I used both, the mulch from HD is better. I planted these plants, Daylillies- best hill plants in the world. St. Johns Wort- must rake leaves around these, they don't like them. Little Princess spirea- unbelievably hardy. Boxwood- they anchor things down. Broom, strong as an ox Crape myrtle, it won't die. Vinca Sedum Chaste tree, it was growing wild on my front lawn, one of my volunteers, so I put on hill, it is doing alright. Ornamental grasses, anchors. My blue rug junipers arent' doing too well, but still alive. Well, good luck, and have patience, it'll take alot. LOL!

To answer questions, yes we gutted and opened up this home. We want our family room just inside the front door as it functions well for watching children playing outside. (Rather than a formal living room, but we want to create a NICE space) The dining room has the fireplace and is open to the kitchen, which has an amazing 10’ island with a bar height side with 4 seats and then a counter height end for food prep. We’re loving the kitchen tho still waiting on light fixtures and backsplash. The flow is working well for us but the furniture placement and how to highlight the fireplace and it’s area is the challenge! Thank you BTW we DO have another room that would serve as the formal dining room but we don’t have that need at this time and are using it as a lovely home/mom office and playroom, so toys stay in there and not all over the house.

Juanita, yes that is a hand held shower head along with the water controls. You sit in the tub and take a shower otherwise the water goes all over the bathroom. Here are more styles. I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish. Are you trying to use an existing tub/shower wall combination for a new free standing tub? Not going to work. Most freestanding tubs are deeper than built in tubs so the spout is too low to reuse.. Additionally if you purchase new faucets, you have to change the valves in the wall so there is no avoiding having to demo the tile and the wall.