"I live in a high rise condo, however, it's just the 4th floor. I know I probably woudn't be able to survive a jump from my balcony. Does anyone have any solutions for fire escape from high rises?" Keep your door closed and WAIT on the balcony for the fire department. Their ladders can easily reach the 4th floor, and they are experienced at rescue. OR, if the fire is above you, just take the fire exits. "Maybe a long rope? or ladder? " Your chances of being able to climb DOWN a 40story ladder without falling are slim, unless you are in excellent physical condition. It's not easy.

That is a really vague question and an answer would really depend more on breed, age and the individual dog. Some breeds don't require a lot of exercise and do very well living in smaller living areas but dogs in general rely on the companionship of their owners so being gone all day offers it no socialization with people or other dogs. It can also depend on the age of the animal as puppies have way more energy than say a senior dog would. Another question would be do you ever plan on exercising the dog with long walks or will the balcony be it? Imprisoning a dog to a small apartment and a balcony is really no life for it, especially if it's owner is gone all day. I would even venture to call it cruel, regardless of how much you love it. That lifestyle is just more conducive for a cat.

The living room rug needs to be the size where at least 6 inches of it needs to be covered by the front of the sofa and chairs. If you turn it around, will it accomplish that? If not, get a new one. The photos are not very well lit- I can't tell if the pillows on the sofa are taupe or grey, so I don't know if the accents you want to use are grey or taupe. Is the coffee table black or dark brown? Your new rug can have color, or not, it's your choice. If you want something more neutral with something as large as the rug you can get another cream rug, or you can get something cream with minimal pattern like this one https://www.birchlane.com/rugs-windows/sb1/10-x-14-area-rugs-c1805524-a95050~314307.html Or these rugs, which are in the same cream-taupe-brown-grey color family but much bolder in color saturation and much bolder in pattern. And of course, you need to get them in the right size. This- Or this- With the above rugs (or with the rug that is already there) you need more interesting throw pillows with not only color, but interesting material and texture, such as velvet, woven silk, interesting trim, leather, and suede. Here are some examples- Velvet pillows These are basketweave silk Put a large tray on top of the coffee table for serving drinks and snacks. On the lower shelf of the coffee table, put a basket with high sides to hold magazines and the remotes out of sight. Remove the big round glass table behind the sofa in the corner. Find an end table to put in between the sofa and the cream chair, you can use the rectangular table if you like. Where the large round table is put a large live potted green plant such as an areca palm or a kentia palm. You could put it on a pedestal if it is not tall enough. Buy another live plant, such as an orchid, whatever type of orchid you like, There is enough room for it on the long side table as you enter the living room. What is that chair to the left of the television, and that rectangle on the floor to the left of the television? Where are you planning to put the bar? In front of the windows where you have the rust-colored chair you could put a table to be used as a writing table or informal desk. It can be a lucite table or wood with a gorgeous grain with no drawers or just one drawer, and the rust chair can be used with it. A black campaign-style desk would work, too. It should be appropriately sized for that nook, with only one thing placed on it, off to one side. Get rid of the lamp, and put in a chandelier, it's easy enough for an electrician to install a junction box, and if you don't want to do that, hang a plug in chandelier in that little nook. If the small writing table idea doesn't appeal to you, you could use that corner for your "bar" and get a bar cart, and stock it with a beautiful ice bucket and the other necessities. Although that space isn't large, on one of the walls perpendicular to the window before the living room starts, you could put up glass shelves to hold the liquor bottles and glasses. And if you really want glamour, you could put mirror on the wall behind the glass shelving! Get rid of the etagere/ladder. It just becomes a place to load up on knick-knacks and clutter and the place soon looks like an old lady's house. A few larger, well chosen and well placed objects make a better statement than a whole lot of little things all packed together. The room definitely needs art work and interesting objects hung or placed on brackets. It also needs three dimensional things of interest to be displayed in the room. Some examples are: Juju hat (feathered ceremonial headress from Cameroon) Large specimen seashells, coral, butterflies, and fossils. Pieces of sculture (not just anything, something really good or that has meaning to the occupant.) Pieces of architectural or archeologic interest. Ethnic textile art from anywhere. A vintage globe. It doesn't even have to be vintage. (It doesn't have to be those ridiculously expensive ones with semi-precious stones.) Have you ever been anywhere with a globe where someone, an adult didn't go over and start looking at it, and say "Lookey here, I was here or there," or "Look, so that's where this place is, I wondered where it was." It's a great conversation starter. A vintage orrery. (You know it's old because it will still have Pluto.) It's a great conversation starter, too. :

I'm not exactly sure of your depth constraints, but they're not particularly thick. I'm using one of their patterns on a project I'm working on now, so I happen to have a sample. You'd be hard-pressed to find something thinner - most floor rated porcelains will be at least this thickness.