Android Users - Customization Tips, General Info/Questions, Screenshots

So I have the N5 which I've had since November and am just now finding time to sit with it and customize. I'm using Nova Launcher along with UCCW, Desktop Visualizer, Minimalist Text, Widget Locker, TeslaUnread etc... I have no plans on rooting, so there may still be things I want to do but can't, but that's OK.

Coming from an iPhone, customizing my N5 is so much easier and a lot more fluid and integrated than what I was used to. Jailbreaking and customizing an iPhone was always a tedious task for me, so the ease of customization with Android was well worth the switch for me alone.

One big thing that I am currently having issues with is the Multi-Live Wallpaper....I'm not sure what the issue is, I just can't get any wallpapers to display. Anyone had any problems with this?

Also, is there a way be able to receive and reply to texts from the lockscreen? (without actually having to unlock the phone and get to your homescreen). I think it was SMSbites I used with my iPhone where I could do this, but I haven't found a way to do it on this phone yet. Does that require rooting? It seems 'Lock Screen Notifications' might do this, but I'm pretty sure that just give you a notification but you'd have to unlock the phone to actually reply to it.

Any other little tips and tricks? Cool/useful widgets? I feel like I'm only scratching the surface on what I can do, even without rooting. Can/should I delete the Google Now Launcher, or should I keep that just in case something happens with my Nova launcher?

Screenshots are more than welcome.

Lockscreen:


Homescreen:


Other homescreen:


Still have a lot of work to do with this because I'm not sure I love this particular theme or how I have my layout, but this whole thing took me less than an hour (and I'm a newbie too -- goes to show how easy this is) after researching the different launchers/themes/widgets, etc. My second screen is kind of a mess, I'm thinking I should delete that weather widget...seems too big and out of place. Maybe find a cleaner clock, dunno. Seems like the possibilities are endless and it's awesome.