i would leave it whole, that's what he wants, and then get some solids/texturals that match and make 9 patches from them...then use some of the same to do his borders with... the 9 patch isn't feminine at all and i think the linear quality would look nice with the stairs... then just quilt around the largest of the features, moving out into swirls (again from the center design) into the 9 patches and the borders.