Do you want a hot trend that's good for five years or a personal color scheme that you'll like for much longer? If you want the hot trend for your area, look at photos of your local showcase house from the last year or two. If you want a more personal color scheme, collect some photos of rooms you really love, then look for the colors in common.

It's hard to compare - because most DIY'ers are going to shop at big box stores and find cheap materials. While a contractor is most likely going to use a professional drop ceiling installer, and their recommended products. And most are going to mark up the material as well, as they are the ones handling and coordinating. Again, I can't comment whether or not it is 'high' as I do not know the specifics of what they are quoting. But I would assume that if you are trying to compare Home Depot pricing to a contractor bid, it will most likely seem high.

I think everyone agonizes over their choices. Maybe you can post photos of the space, the color stain you are using on the cabinets and put it all up together in the room, then you'll get more commenters Otherwise, I do like the floor color...light and bright. You're doing rugs anyways (I'd assume), so the subtleness of the floor is great. I have real dark walnut stained wood floors, and while they are gorgeous, you see every spec of dust, cat hair, foot smudges in the light, etc. I'll be going lighter next time. I really like the 'tilebar' website below since they have multiple images for each item laid out in the room. Have you thought of a chevron pattern wood-look tile layout? https://tilebar.com/dujour-chevron-natural-honey-8x48-porcelain-tile.html These are so realistic now, gorgeous: https://tilebar.com/dujour-chevron-natural-daylight-8x48-porcelain-tile.html Another option is to go large format porcelain which would be gorgeous too. Many look like concrete or industrial.... https://tilebar.com/archea-grigio-24x36-porcelain-tile.html This is gorgeous: https://tilebar.com/cultiva-bardiglio-cenere-lappato-24x24-porcelain-tile.html This is bold, Calcutta marble look porcelain: https://tilebar.com/fortezza-calacatta-antique-24x48-porcelain-tile.html Here's a terrazzo-like tile which is pretty: https://tilebar.com/rizo-cenere-24x24-terrazzo-look-porcelain-tile.html And this is soooo ultra cool, industrial, metal looking.... https://tilebar.com/plaza-oxido-30x30-metal-look-porcelain-tile.html https://tilebar.com/plaza-oxido-30x60-metal-look-porcelain-tile.html Go to their 'behind the bar' page and get inspired. My favorite is the Gold Requiem (used in the bar) for bling: https://tilebar.com/lookbook

I think I understand what your inspector wants, but its not common to add insulation to the interior doors just because you finish a basement. However, most folks also do not put insulation in the basement ceiling if there is a plan to finish the basement later, since you then have insulation between two conditioned spaces. I'm not an HVAC guy, but it also looks like your heating system is a high efficiency unit that draws its combustion air from outside. The telltale sign is that it has two pipes (air in, exhaust out?), and the exhaust pipe is made of PVC, not metal. It may not even need any other air source (vented door, etc.), since it uses outside air for combustion. Its very typical to finish all of the basement except the utility room (leaving it with concrete walls), and still have a louvered door or vents connecting that room to the finished part of the basement. You lose some heat through the uninsulated concrete walls in the utility area, but its usually not that significant. Bruce