LOL, bud! Thanks & love your "pose." You kind of look like my little brother, interesting. That tree is a turkey fig in my Mom's yard. It makes so many figs, just what we can reach is usually way too many. I took that pic 2-3 years ago right after I pruned it extremely heavily. You can't tell, but I removed all of the growth from inside so we could "step into it" and pick from inside & out... or hide a bus full of kids. Great for climbing in there, too. It needs pruning again, which I will do later this summer after the figs are gone. Some of the branches are laying on the ground again. The original owner of the home gets the credit for the beautiful "bones" of the tree, though. All I have done is maintain what was already done so well, removing crossing branches, those going straight down, etc... I'm still not sure how he got it into such a nice "low vase" shape instead of the "naked trunk" appearance of most other trees I've seen in the area, but I've only been a southerner for 5 years, still a lot to learn about the plants & trees that are new to me here. I hope the baby trees from my cuttings will grow up to be even in the neighborhood of such fantastic-ness!

Dannie, would love to see a pic of this plant if you would be interested and able to share one! Repotting gives an opportunity to return the plant to an appearance that's more pleasing, and give the roots room to grow again. It's actually a bunch of plants mushed together in the pot, not just one. So you can choose only the best looking parts to put back into the pot. The other parts probably have potential to look better if given more space and probably more light. They should grow new pups/sections that look great. (Then you could discard the leaning/curled/damaged older leaves, leaving only the great-looking new pups, or use them to start a 3rd crop of babies.) If you want multiple copies of this plant, sounds like you've got plenty of material for that. When you take it out of the pot, it should separate fairly easily into sections, making it easier to remove the old soil. If they snap apart, that's fine. Unless the soil is already quite dry when you do this, waiting overnight to repot can give any broken/cut roots a chance to seal so rot/bacteria doesn't have easy access. You may want a helper to hold the plant(s) in place while you refill new soil in the pot. Replant at the same depth as they were before, with as much fresh soil underneath as possible. Instead of staking or tying, a few rocks can help plants stay upright until the roots get a good grip in the soil again. If the new soil is moist, don't water more until dried. The first few times I water a newly-planted pot I try to make sure it's a gentle sprinkle so the soil doesn't compact before it 'fixes' into place. Packing/compacting the soil removes the tiny air pockets, which invites risk of rotting roots.

most professionals will tell you that you most likely would have to sand and refinish the entire area. One possiblility is to use prefinished on the new section, but doubt you'd be happy with the result. When I replaced my kitchen floor with wood it had to blend with the 50 yr old wood in lr. When I sanded the whole area the two areas blend very well.

I wouldn't knock down the wall to the mudroom since it seems a very important space for your family functioning. I also wouldn't knock down the wall to the living-a) much more expensive since it's load bearing, and it's something you definitely can't do yourself..you'll need a structural engineer to look at that at the very minimum..and have additional support built, and maybe hundred other things b) you strike me as a person who concentrates when she cooks..)) I think being open all the way into the living space might drive you crazy. I might be mistaken of course.. So. One wall option left-the dining. But I wouldn't knock it down completely..try to keep some sorts of partial separation, while adding on counter space.... If you're ready to let the kitchen table go-you also might get almost twice as much of a counter space you have now.. 10 000 budget is tough I must say. Definitely take load-bearing wall out of your list..these things need to get permits and staff..here two thirds of your budget gone, just on blueprints and permits and strengthening the whatever has to be strengthened... With cabinets you can go several routes..say, Ikea. or-Craigslist. people selling whole kitchens when they renovate, and some are not too shabby at all. Configuration might be more of a problem.. What did you have in mind for the countertops?