Customizing the start screen's appearance further beyond the base options

[Gharst]

So here's what my Start screen looks like for my Media Center. http://i.imgur.com/hOxjyH9.jpg

 

I use Unified Remote on my Android phone/tablet in order to control the TV. I try to avoid using the mouse where I can and use keyboard keys which have been prettified, etc.

 

Questions about customization I haven't been able to find on Google:

1. How can I remove the word Start at the top?
2. How can I remove the username and picture?
3. How can I remove search button?
4. The down arrow/more apps button? Or the scrollbar? Neither matters much, as it's only when the mouse is moving, which I don't use with the remote.
5. Can I make it so that the wallpaper doesn't dim with a black overlay when the Start screen is open? It's a slide show, so I can't just increase the brightness in PS without changing all of them.
6. Can I remove the words "Desktop" and "Weather" from their tiles? The rest are custom tiles, so those are easy fixes.

I've been able to find everything else on Google, but it's getting really frustrating typing in "remove account picture on start screen" and it shows me the shitty "tech pages" for the tech-challenged who don't know how to change their account picture.