The Obama Housing Project: Planning a home budget

Monday was a busy day! I am proud of my level of productivity. Following are a slew of pictures which summarize the day (prepping the kitchen floor for new flooring. yay!), but first a financial note: I am tottering dangerously on the $3000 mark for overall house repairs. Obama has graciously given me $7500, but I have always planned to set aside a little over half (about 4000-4500) for emergencies (i.e., I was scared silly that I'll stop being able to pay the mortgage and will need a cushion). So basically, I am encroaching upon my self-imposed financial limit, and there are yet things to do! Two windows need to be replaced/repaired and the kitchen walls have not been started yet. Most frighteningly, I received a letter yesterday saying that if I didn't fix the 2nd floor balcony, which is railing-less, I will be dropped from the policy! I was momentarily panic-stricken, but came to my senses and decided to act instead of panicking (a good decision much of the time). All that to say this: the open shelves plan for the kitchen is looking expensive (500+) and no longer fits in the budget (recall: I bought an expensive oven and new kitchen floor unexpectedly). Here is a pic. The previous plan was to fix the tongue-and-groove flooring which covers the walls, but that stuff is expensive. Any suggestions on less-expensive ways to fix the walls/add shelves are welcome!