You can cut them off. These are more for support growing up structures or collecting more nutrition and water when they hit "pay dirt" I cut mine off every year when I bring them back indoors for winter - no problem. The top of mine broke off this past fall so I stuck the top into a trug of water. Many roots have formed since then. This photo is from 2016 I rarely take photos of it so I was happy to find this one in 2014 showing a little of the roots in the ground. I could try to pull all the roots up when I bring it back indoors but it is so much easier to get the pruners out and clip those things.

Haroldine, you misread my comment. I said "...it doesn't NEED a side node to grow". Regarding the side node, some are flat and hard to see, others are "born" slightly raised. I think I see the node in the top pic of the two Nicole took with her camera, a white area just above that dark dot. That said, and again, this cutting will grow from the tip, not a side node. It would be highly unusual for a side node next to the growing tip to become swollen and produce another lead, especially in monsteras which are not prone to branch spontaneously like some philodendrons and other aroids. I agree with you that a cutting without aerials takes much longer to root than one without them. In my experience they usually produce roots, then leaves, but not always if the cutting is vigorous and in ideal humidity, temp, etc. This cutting already has a leaf that will make energy. Leaves of some plants readily root and produce plants, within aroids, the tuberous types come to mind. Other genera are highly reluctant but might produce a plant in only 1 out of 50 or even 100+ separate attempts, this is my experience with hoya leaves. While science says it's in the realm of remote possibility, in my opinion monsteras, philodendrons, epipremnums and the like don't fall into either of these categories.

I personally would repot. Are there a lot of gnats in soil? Chances are if there are flying adults, there will also be eggs in the soil. You’ll want to check for spider mites because of webbing and hose down the plant and wipe down the leaves on both sides. Can then take preventative measures against gnats and mites- common one is neem oil + soap detergent + water spray on leaves. Systemic granules can be added to the new soil mix too. I’ve never had snails, but they are damaging pests.

For the table, I think orchids would be nice as they don't take up a lot of visual space to interfere with conversation. I think the common dark pink orchids (sorry, clearly not an orchid expert, but the dark pink I associate with "orchid pink") would be too much for your palette, but orchids come in a zillion colors and I'm sure there is a softer pink that would work. But I think white would be lovely.