Twenty Fourteen: Completely remove feature space?

Hi all,

When I first started working with this theme for http://heathyrjclift.wordpress.com/, I liked the simple black strip at the top with my title and the black left column with the basic widgets. This was all preset by WordPress and super-basic. Then I decided to add a header in the design settings and all heck broke loose. Instead of simply adding a header at the top, it changed all the design elements. With the help of the forums, I have reset almost everything back to the basic look.

However, I cannot seem to completely remove the extra space on the homepage for featured images and posts. Is there a way to do that without digging into code? I realize the featured content space is the main point of Twenty Fourteen, so if anyone has a better theme suggestion for a thin black header and black left column for widgets, I’m open to that. I’ve looked, but maybe I’ve missed something.

I don’t have WordPress software, I’m just working online. I’ve tried to change themes, then go back to Twenty Fourteen in the hopes that everything would reset. Unfortunately, the theme remembers my previous settings even after switching.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!!