I have two false indigo plants growing in my butterfly bed, with lots of other full-sun perennials growing around them, including Shasta daisies, Echinacea, Nepeta/catmint, Rudbeckia, Caryopteris/blue mist shrub, rose of Sharon, peony, & butterfly bush. My artemesia has gradually diminished over the past half dozen years so I no longer count on it returning every year while cushion spurge (Polychroma spurge euphorbia) has been with me for more than 25 years. A low-growing option that requires zero care is Stachys 'Helen von Stein.' It's a sterile (without the ugly flower stems) lamb's ear cultivar that just looks great 11 months out of the year.

it is a small family room (living space for furniture is about 15x 13), so don't want to add shelves I think... The niche is centered but previous owners have the TV way off. re: covering the hole, my husband and I are on two different pages! I'd like to cover it and my husband doesnt, because he worries about placement of furniture. my question would be, how would you cover the fireplace to suit the style of the house? easier fix, the better.

The best DESIGN option = same tile throughout. The sad thing is the tile may no longer be available. Now you are into some weird design elements that no one explained at the time you installed the wood-look tile. In essence you have "wet" areas that are covered in "wood". You are now looking at having to put traditional looking tile or stone in the living areas normally reserved for wood. This is Bass Akwards in the eyes of many (myself included). Personally, being a cork flooring expert, I would replace carpet with cork floating flooring. It is soft and quiet and is NOT wood looking. But I know cork and I know how to live with its eccentricities. I'm 1% of the population. The other 99% can't handle cork. In an ideal world, you would have used a stone look tile in the kitchen areas and a wood-look tile for the rest of the house because that's traditionally where you would put wood. I would check to see if you can find the original wood-look tile. Be aware you will have issues with colour - assuming you can find the same product. Photos of what you are dealing with could help us.

that looks nice. Although, it's very neutral and monochromatic. instead of the almond color countertop, I'd do something whiter. and then maybe do a dark navy (Like Hale Navy) on the vanity, and soft brass hardware or, this white w/the brass, white marble top. or, the darker stain like in the lower pic. some other options. darker walnut stain (but without the red tone), or a grayish/brown stain oak. Other colors would be black or a grayish blue. remember, all those tiles are marble so it will have to be sealed every year or so, and you'll have to use stone safe cleaners for the shower. If you did something like this porcelain tile for the shower floor (or maybe the wall mixed in w/4x12 subway tiles,) you could do any color vanity w/a whiter quartz top this looks like marble but it's porcelain. easy to clean. https://www.flooranddecor.com/porcelain-ceramic-decoratives/calacatta-labrinto-porcelain-mosaic-100465350.html#prefn1=look&prefv1=Marble+Look%7CStone+Look&prefn2=productSubtype&prefv2=Floor+or+Wall+Tile%7CMosaic&start=34