I put metal lath over the liner on the curb (if that’s what you are referring to as hardware cloth). Metal lath holds it’s shape when bent into a ‘U’ so it is not necessary to attach it with fasteners, although you can on the outside of the curb should you choose to. Just overbend it a bit into a U shape and it will spring back when you place it over the curb to hold it in place. Once your curb is mudded you’re ready for tile.

I agree that you can put the wall and floor tile on in any order you wish. As long as your shower is properly waterproofed it makes no difference. I prefer the wall tile over the edge of the floor tile so I do the floor first – I just think it looks better. However you think it looks best is the correct way.

On shower floors we normally use mosaics consisting of tiles no larger than 3″x3″ square. They are normally 2×2′s. The smaller tiles can conform to the shape of the shower floor. If you want larger tiles you can have a flat shower floor if you use a linear drain at one end. This way you can create a flat slope all the way to the drain and use whatever size tiles you want. I recently finished one with 18″x18″ tile and a linear drain. If you use a regular drain in the center, though, just use smaller tile.