Lead with your theses statement. There is no clear single question here. The forum is not a substitute for a designer. 57 different meanderings mean you need the help of a Kitchen Designer to chart a clear path forward.

How long have you lived there? If not very long, you could take some more time to figure those things out. I wouldn't rush it and the answers are different for everyone. Those are the types of questions you need to answer yourself as everyone's opinion on here is different. To see similar pictures, try bing photo search. Go to bing, then there is a middle button next to search bar. Click it and you can load your picture. Good luck!

I've been here for over 4 years now, so it's time for a change. I wasn't aware of that tool on bing, thank you!

Your kitchen transitional cabinets in good shape. Base cabinets with drawers look even modern. I would remove the wall, paint cabinets and invest money in countertop and flooring.

A corner sink says to do something else.

Adding the kitchen layout. It's a small kitchen, so there isnt' much space to work with.

You actually have a very spacious kitchen, although removing that wall in favor of an island reduces your options in terms of refrigerator and/or pantry space. The cutout on the short wall also limits your options - are you completely opposed to closing that? If you close it, you could do something like this:

You might also consider making that sliding door smaller to allow you to have a full-depth counter there. Additional windows on the long wall would be nice too (flanking the range, for instance, or you could enlarge the one that is there).

The layout you have currently gives you almost no working space between sink and stove and has you crossing zones constantly. If you don't want to close that pass-through, have you thought about putting the sink on the island?

This is very helpful. I'm trying to be concious with expenses. We have a large pantry in our basement, so I won't need additional pantry space. I love the idea of a kitchen sink in front of the window, but then it really cuts down on the usefulness of that corner space. We had talked about closing off the pass through, but might need to revist this idea.

Definitely understand about budget. Replacing the cabinets is going to be the biggest line item, though, so it's something you want to do once and do right. Filling in the pass-through should be a relatively inexpensive task that will give you a much more functional layout. As for the sink, I think you will find that the corner becomes much MORE useful without a sink taking up so much space. The big triangle behind a corner sink is basically dead space with a faucet blocking it, but is useful if you can actually reach it as a regular counter.

I’m less worried about the counter space behind the space, but eh storage space in the corner. I think I could move my pass through to the left a bit and still fit my fridge and keep the pass through?

Your floorplan doesn't include the exact measurements of the pass-through, but it looks like if you shrink or move it over about a foot, you'd have the 36" you need for a fridge. As for the corner storage, I can't imagine that a corner sink base would be nearly as useful storage-wise as a Super Susan or a blind corner outfitted with a pull-out shelving solution. I have two Super Susans in my kitchen and although I didn't choose them, I really like them - they hold a ton of stuff and make it all very easy to access.

I'm trying to be concious with expenses.

Then keep the cabinets. Save your money & buy a house with a kitchen you like. Because someone will love this kitchen.

Your cabinets seem to be in good shape. They had traditional raised panel doors - is that what you don't like? You could just change out the doors and leave the boxes in place. You could even change the doors and paint the cabinets if you really want white. Painting cabinets the proper way is not cheap. Whatever you do, NO to anything gray in this space. The maple cabinets are warm in color and gray is a total clash. Gray's on the way out anyway. Do you need a pass through? That's another 1980's- 90's thing that dates the space.

Thanks for the feedback. I wasn’t really thinking of gray other than maybe a tile floor with gray in it. I’ve been working with the original cabinet fabricators to see if just changing out some of the doors is an option.

You can definitely change out the doors, but given that you want to remove the wall and add an island I'm not sure what purpose that would serve. Unless you are thinking of keeping the entire cabinet layout along the L and just sticking the fridge on the end? I would suggest that you get price quotes on the cost of new doors vs. all new cabinets - since doors are the most expensive part of a cabinet, you might find that the savings aren't all that substantial.

I'm working on that presently, I should know more next week about how much it is to get a few new doors. Thanks again.. I appreciate the helpful feedback!

You could do something like this, but this is a complete gut. I removed the pantry and scooted the range over. Put the sink in front of the window, then the fridge on the right. Made the island larger.

I would not replace solid wood cabinets, and those ones actually look really nice to me. Changing the hardware, countertops, and flooring would go a long way to "de-traditionalizing" the style of the cabinet doors. And I would definitely not replace actual cabinets with open shelving, unless you want to spend your life dusting & washing the things stored on the shelves. Open shelving looks great for a couple of months and then everything on the shelves gets absolutely filthy with dust caked into a film of cooking grease.