Don't worry about his not talking in front of you, he will. Some birds like to practice alone before they start talking 'in company'.
As to his chewing your baseboard and furniture, well, personally, I have learned not to fight them because, in my personal experience, it never works. What I do is allow them to do WHAT they want BUT not TO WHAT they want to do it to. So I simply 'cover' the spots they like to chew with 'chewable material'. In the birdroom, I have pieces of wood covering the baseboard as well as all the moldings around the doors and the windows and, when they are chewed down, I just change them for new ones. And the two zons in my dining room have branches, boxes and pieces of wood to chew but they also have covers all around the moldings near them (but these are more discreet and painted with the same paint as the 'real' ones so they don't stand out like a sore thumb when people visit). Try putting 1 x 4s all along the baseboard where he chews and making a U piece from them to cover the edge of the coffee table - this way, he will be happy that he is chewing the stuff he likes but he won't be damaging your moldings or furniture. Living with a happy parrot always implies a household that is NOT aesthetically perfect - you won't get anybody from Homes and Gardens taking pictures of your home but you will have a happy parrot