I think everything you said is right on the money. How about some pictures to show?

If you don't like stainless, then get the white! Like you said, you have to live in the space.

Love my convection oven. It is a slight learning curve though.

Yes if your kitchen is that small, I would definitely do counter depth.

Is your stove electric or gas? If it's electric, I would HIGHLY, let me repeat, HIGHLY recommend you look into getting a stove with an induction cooktop, especially since you love to cook. You won't regret it. If you already have gas, then stick with gas.

It's electric. I looked into induction but they all seemed to be stainless steel. The one I've got in mind does have the rapid boil element, and a keep warm element. It seems pretty nice and has good reviews. I've never had any experience with Samsung ranges before though.

I will add some photos.

Here are some photos. You can see my lovely 2 colored floor, my cabinets, the yellow walls, etc. The fridge is currently sideways on the wall next to the radiator. It works be flush against that back wall where it belongs once the radiator is gone.

How many people in your household? Could you go with a narrow-space DW, and add those 3" to the left of the sink instead? Or, swap the sink and DW so that you can toss things in the DW while you are cooking/prepping?

I think your storage space could be much improved with new base cabinets with all drawers. Have you considered new cabinets at all?

If you're at all curious or interested in Ikea cabinets I love playing with their planner and I can help give you a ball park figure of cost. If I remember correctly, our 12.5'x 7.5' galley kitchen with all drawer base cabinets and 30" uppers cost around $2400 for basic, plain white doors and drawer fronts.

I like the warmth of wood too so we're planning on bamboo counters. The counter expert here on Gardenweb recommended them as good for DIYers.

Anyhoo. If you'd entertain the idea of new cabinets let us know.

I thought about it but they're just not going to fit n the budget. I priced them out at ikea and also at just cabinets. There's also nothing wrong with these. They're in great shape and I think are relatively new, I believe within the last ten years. I like the color of them.

As far as the base cabinets with drawers, I could look into doing a 36 inch base cabinet with drawers instead of doors. Not sure how much that would run. Other than that base cabinet, the only other base cabinets I have are the sink and the one that already has drawers next to the stove plus the lazy Susan corner. I was also thinking of getting the pull out drawers within the 36 inch cabinet that I was looking at, so there would be two levels within it.

I'd love to see all of the upper cabinets. I have ideas on how to increase storage and need that info. And could we get a shot of the corner between the stove and the fridge? With a rough sketch floor plan, we can do wonders -- even with a budget!

I love the yellow color!

I think you have a good direction here. You know what you want, and you're willing to roll up your sleeves to get the job done. So you have half the battle won already.

As for appliances, I like my convection range for roasting, but I could live without it. I really, really like the double oven, and use both ovens frequently. I think the counter depth refigerator depends on your layout. You may be able to get by without it, and the deeper refrigerators tend to be cheaper. You can get more info posting on the appliances forum.

Have you seen the wall mounted pot racks? That might work to stretch your storage. Also, the Kitchn site, part of Apartment Therapy, has a lot of content on small kitchens.

Table and chairs

Where does the fridge normally go? Can we see a pic?

Outlets (duplex receptacles) and cover plates can be painted. Save that money and use it elsewhere in your kitchen.

What's to the left of your sink? I'm wondering if your dishwasher could go there instead of to the right of your sink. If you could post your existing kitchen layout the design gurus here (I'm not one of them) can help you maximize kitchen function by identifying possible tweaks to your layout. Keeping your tight budget in mind, of course.

The granite you chose looks nice and would go with your cabinets. I prefer laminate over granite, but it's not my kitchen. :)

You might be able to recess your fridge between the studs in that wall and then buy new cabinets to surround the fridge and make it look built-in. All that would probably be cheaper than getting a counter-depth fridge.

I love it when people creatively use their old cabinets when they are in good condition and add to it to create a fantastic money-saving face lift that improves function. I think you're on the right track. I encourage you to share a drawing of your kitchens current lay-out with dimensions. I'm sure we can help you come up with the best layout possible at minimal expense.

Ok, so obviously not practical to put dishwasher on the left side of the sink. Is the corner cabinet next to your range a lazy susan? Is that where you are storing pots and pans currently? Are you sure you only need one 36-inch drawer cabinet? When looking through your pictures, it seems you need space for pet food,
kitchen electrics, trash can, k-kups and whatever else you're storing in the little cabinet with colored drawers and the sideboard where you have the Keurig. Speaking of which, you need counter space for
the canisters and coffee maker. I see potential in rearranging some of your existing cabinets and purchasing a couple additional base and upper cabinets. I'm almost positive you can find matching, basic cabinets, off-the-shelf at a big box store such as HD or Lowe's. Just an idea to throw out there for consideration.

I'd consider adding crown molding to the uppers, and some black (maybe cabinet hardware).

Oh, and I very rarely use my convection oven. How much more does the convection feature cost?

I did some playing around. Just a few more cabinets will really give you a decent space to work in and store your stuff. As zmith said, you should be able to find matching cabinets at a budget price at the big box stores. I did flip your sink and DW. The plumbing costs to do this, if you're unable to do it yourself, should be minimal and will help separate your clean-up and prep areas so two people can work at the same time. If there's only one cook, it's nice to be able to leave the DW door open so you can plop things in while prepping as it makes clean-up faster.

If your budget can expand to move the window, it would be nice to move the range down farther to create a larger prep space.

Thanks for all of your advice!! I actually found some stainless appliances that I don't mind the look of, so I may be going that route afterall. Does anyone have the stainless platinum fridge by samsung by chance? Does it match decently with other appliances?

I also decided to get a cabinet with pull out drawers/trays instead of a normal cabinet. I love the organization that adds.

I found a tile I love for the floor. The metro charcoal at home depot.

Backsplash I'm leaning towards an off white with 2 or 3 rows of the luxor brick glass tiles to add some color to it. I'll upload some pictures of my choices when I have some time.

update - I decided to go with GE Slate as my appliances. The Stove was delivered today and it looks great.

I love the slate color. We still haven't replaced our bisque appliances because I don't really want SS but I am hesitant about the slate, due to GE being the only one who makes it. My concern is that the color might be discontinued and then, if I had to replace one appliance, I would have to get another color (SS or white) and would not have all my appliances in matching colors. So, meanwhile, I keep the bisque until they die, which won't be too long I think.