No footprints or tracks in the soil around the plants?? Doesn't sound like deer. They'll decimate the plant foliage and sometimes the fruit. Raccoons? You'd see their prints. With their human hand-like front paws they can pick the fruit without disturbing the plant. Squirrels..if it's exceptionally dry,droughty weather they might take a few for the moisture. Such a massive taking requires an animal that can carry what they can't immediately eat. HUMANS Get a game trail camera and set it up to a post. If it disappears, it's a human stealing your tomatoes.

You may try the following on small area first: Wet clean the floor with mineral spirits / paint thinner. Make sure to ventilate and extinguish any pilot lights. Charcoal filtered face masks for workers are recommended. Dry white cotton rags work well, and you should see a visible yellow residue on the rags (oil residue). Wipe from the clean area into the contaminated area, refolding the rags to wipe with a clean face, and changing rags frequently. Let dry, and clean a second time with a good water based surfactant cleaner (like Bona / Basic cleaners). Repeat water cleaning until no color transfers to the white cotton rags. If the floor is tight with no open cracks filled with reservoirs of oil, you may have restored the original appearance and gloss. If this procedure doesn't remove all dulling film, you have greatly increased the likelihood of a recoat succeeding by removing most of the contaminant. If the floor is "open" with lots of cracks filled with contaminant, it may require a resand and refinish.

There are SOOOOO many factors that contribute to the timeline for a particular kitchen that it's impossible to guess without input from the contractor who has seen your house and your plans and will do the work. Even then, it's just an estimate. Who knows what surprises your house is hiding? Who knows what will go wrong with your cabinet order? Who knows how long your municipality takes to process permits and schedule inspections? Who knows...?? I have seen remodels that involved what looked from my vantage point to be very simple changes take a year or more. My own kitchen remodel, which involved drastic changes to the footprint, including removal of a wall between kitchen and dining room, took five weeks from beginning to end. And that was with a two-week delay from the cabinet maker, so it could have taken three weeks or less. There have been DIYers here who completed 90% or more in a week, while others took three years to get to the same point. If every single thing is ordered, checked out as correct, and on-site ready to install, the actual work time is determined by how big your crew is, how skilled they are, and how quickly they work. My GC had his own plumber, electrician, tilers, and carpenter, so we only had to wait on the gas guy to come do the hook-up. Coordinating schedules often means a kitchen sits empty waiting for one person to come by to do one thing before anything else can proceed. Other than the GC's crew and the gas guy, the only other people on my site were the installers for the cabinets and the countertops. Good luck, and here's hoping your remodel is as trouble-free (not that mine went perfectly, but the snags were quick and manageable) and quick as mine.

It's too bad you aren't interested in redoing the fireplace w/tile. (when that fireplace was built, it was built w/a wall. leaving it as is is not the best design choice. It's very heavy and bulky looking in the middle of the room. Let me show you some options that you may not have considered.) Jasmine Roth did one just like that and it came out spectacular https://www.jasmine-roth.com/hidden-potential/help-i-wrecked-my-house-season-1-episode-4/ I would copy this in a heartbeat. trimming off the sides, creating more of a flat front,, makes it a focal point but not in a over-powering way. you mentioned a slate/blue-gray. You could do this tile on the lower portion, or the entire thing. it's stunning Bring in your color w/art, or a bright sofa, pillows, etc. If you like the white brick, consider getting a solid beam for the mantle and try decorating it like these photos You could get some thick basalt tiles and do those for your hearth (or a remnant black granite piece) stage your furniture like shown here, along w/the fireiplace decor I love this one. redo it w/black Zellige tiles surrounded w/white walls/ceiling, and some great furniture. does this look like a black hole? of course not. it's gorgeous. use any color you like Blue Zellige? Aqua? I love this tile. When surrounded by coordinating colors, it's beautiful. here's your teal zellige. something like this all the way up in a herringbone would be amazing. you could even close off one side, or, do an attached built in shelving (similar to this) on one side. another alternative, you can stucco or use a roman clay right over the brick and paint. around the hearth do a cement overlay and polish until the aggregate comes through.