About 20 years ago, some friends of my parents had an unfinished basement that they were thinking about finishing. One concrete wall looked slightly darker than the others, and felt colder. Turns out that there was seasonal moisture coming from off the property underground. We did some experimenting on this wall for about 5 years until they moved. We built a 12' long wall in front of the concrete and insulated it with fiberglass insulation. We then covered it with clear plastic. The plastic showed that the moisture problem was seasonal, as it would fog up just like a bathroom mirror when the ground water was present. It was quite obvious that the plastic was trapping moisture. Of course, if the basement were to ever be finished on that side, it would be best to take care of the moisture problem from outside, but this was an opportunity to experiment for now. It turns out, that when we pulled the plastic up off the floor about 10", and down from the ceiling a couple inches, it would allow enough circulation to avoid condensation, which is what promotes mold growth. The leak was not within the scope of the original contract. The contractor is doing extra here. These kinds of repairs are rarely 100%. It really needs to be fixed from outside with landscaping and drainage issues fixed. And, maybe a place left to be able to monitor the problem, for now. We are not there to see the issues first hand, but many/most foundation cracks are caused by excessive ground moisture in that area, usually coming off of the roof with inadequate water control. The bigger issue is that there is no clear "right way" to proceed at this point. https://buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-103-understanding-basements Be careful what you wish for. Looks can be deceiving. Especially, if you think that covering up the real problem will make it go away instead of making it worse. I have never mounted cabinets by screwing into drywall, and never will. You are always supposed to support them by screwing into the studs. As far as something solid on the wall behind the cabinets, go push on the middle of the back panel on a cabinet with drywall behind it, and then on one without, and tell me you have any significant difference. There is a reason that most cabinet manufacturers recess the back panel so that it has no contact with the drywall. But, of course, drywall behind cabinets is usually considered the best practice since that is the way it has always been done.

Having two kitchens is not a building code violation. Many cultures and religions require two kitchens. There are canning kitchens, kosher kitchens, spice kitchens, etc, etc. While a FEW places try to make such zoning ordinances, it is actually a civil rights violation, and not enforceable. Two kitchens do not make two separate units any more than a closet is a required for a bedroom. They are both myths. The only thing the IRC requires for a kitchen is a sink, and a place to set a hotplate. By the definition Sophie is trying to make you believe, if a master bathroom had a separate second sink with a counter space, you would have to make the master bedroom into a separate duplex with fire walls and a separate entrance, and every walkout basement with a laundry sink would be called a duplex. Before the IRC, townhouses and condos were treated differently than duplexes. Without getting too technical, since the terms do not universally have the same meaning, a townhouse or condo had a fire separation and separate owners. A duplex had only one owner, rented or not, and no real fire separation requirement. The term "single family" is also a misnomer. You do not have to be married and blood related to live under the same roof. Nor does charging an unrelated roommate rent make the dwelling a two family dwelling under the IRC.

What color are you painting the wall? The easiest thing might be to paint the whole room the same color. Second choice, paint to match wall. Third choice, get a flush door and wallpaper. Can you see the access door in this bathroom?

We’re planning our basement bar and we’re basically having a galley kitchen line-up of counter ht base cabinets and no upper cabinets. We’ll have a few open shelves on one side. Bar height seating off one of those sides. The curveball- someone mentioned doing 12” depth cabinets under the bar height side opening toward the stools. Obviously great storage but does anyone think this will make the bar ht top too deep?thanks!