What does "don’t have a lot of say with options for layout" mean?

I'd scoot the dishwasher and sink all the way to the right and get a nice, wide all-drawer base cabinet between range and sink. This is not a kitchen to let symmetry lead the design.

I would recommend drawers all the way. Easier to use and you get the full access to the back area when open.

It means that we can’t open up any walls, and the one wall has a giant window so it really limits our options. With the kitchen being so small I’d rather have the two separate cabinets then one large 24” drawer cabinet.

biggest improvement to this would be a 27 in sink base and 18 in dishwasher

.... why dont you want anything installed on window wall. there's a ton of shallow style open/cosed/cubbies/shelves .....choice of set ups w counter you could place there. smaller sink base/ different dishwasher..skooch those to the left then ..... I bet you could get a corner susan....turn the corner then ease back the depth as you run along the window wall...continuous counter big help for the space. Center the fridge..put a pantry cab on the right..even 15 in..then just a little landing counter on left.....diag cut back or shallow counter because foot traffic there.

heres a susan for the corner/ then continue on w things on window wall.....reducing depth is very common but you should use the wall for something.

Storage Solutions · More Info

try even a narrow-ish pantry adjacent to fridge like shown below ..... a big benefit w this....holds a ton.........other side of fridge needs cut back..maybe one 15 in cab and counter ..terrible spot for working counter/ ok for smaller landing..

Large Pantry Area around Refrigerator · More Info

many ways / adjustments to make small spaces work. post graphic sketch with dimensions. cabinets of various depths avail/ various storage types /sizes w rollouts/fixed/ other / things for corners/etc.

With the kitchen being so small I’d rather have the two separate cabinets then one large 24” drawer cabinet.

No you wouldn't if you had the 24" cabinet with drawers. You can get a lot more storage in one 24" drawer than a useless 12" base and a nearly useless 15" base.

Where will you store your pots and pans?

And even with you having a small kitchen, I'm guessing there is a better layout than what you have. Even without moving walls.

If you're willing to listen to those here with some expertise, I'd post a to scale floor plan with all measurements, etc and see what they can do for you.

If you never remodeled a small kitchen, you've probably never thought about the details of squeezing as much function as possible out every square inch you've got. The reason we're recommending you have one wide drawer stack instead of two is that with two, you're wasting a lot of space that you could otherwise use for storage in a single base cabinet. The red circles represent the kind of storage space you would/will waste in your kitchen if you choose small cabinets. Also, you're significantly limiting flexibility in what you can store where.

Choose drawers for sure!

Huge drawer fan! This is my first kitchen with them and I will never go back. They are amazing

Listen to to Sheloves layouts, cpartist , west coast - just about everyone here.
Yes drawers, and larger will yield more storage capability. Separate cabinets equal less storage. Separate SMALL cabinets even more limiting.

If you have a chance at 24" drawers do it! We put in a new kitchen last year and followed the advice of our cabinet maker to do 24" drawers instead of cabinets. Holy smokes can you fit a ton of stuff in those drawers. I'm so smitten with them. Pots, pans, lids, salad spiner, food storage containers, our toaster, stacks of towels, dutch oven, a whole drawer where I just toss baking things. You can fit so much stuff and see it so easily in a 24" drawer. You will never regret that choice.

That being said, I *had* to fill a small space between the sink and fridge with a narrow base otherwise I'd have to get into complex moving of pipes behind plaster walls - no thanks. I think it is 12". I decided to go with a cabinet that has two sliding shelves in it. The top one fits my Kitchen Aide mixer perfectly, and my bottom one has become the gross place where dirty dish towels live prior to washing.

If your kitchen items are accessible, get a 24" container or box and play around with what you can fit in there. Then play around with what you can fit in a 15" and 12"box and/or shelf. I'll see a world of difference.

Here’s dimensions for those asking. We can’t use the window wall because the window is too low and it’s not in our budget to change that. I thought about doing pantry cabinets by the fridge but I don’t want to lose that counter space. And it also closes off the feeling of that entry. It’s a super tight space as it is. Having that counter helps make it feel more open

The dimensions

if I couldnt change the window to get a higher sill I think I'd wait until I could afford that change. Its the longest wall /out of the traffic lane. to spend and overhaul the kitchen and not optimize the space for the best kitchen makes no sense. You only want to do this once.

Drawers are all the rage. I assume they are twice the price.

Definitely drawers, UNLESS you need taller, vertical storage (cookie sheets, large chopping boards etc). We redid our kitchen last summer; it had only one set of drawers, the rest were all cabinets with pull-outs, which were AWFUL….now we have mostly drawers, except for a few cabinets for taller things. (I think the only reason some people use pull-outs is cost; drawers are more expensive but definitely worth it.)

Drawers work better in general but you will still probably need some cabinet space for storing bigger items like seldom used appliances.

Seldom used appliances should not even be in the kitchen. Store in garage, basement, linen closet, etc. if it's something you only pull out a couple of times a year.

Go for the wider drawers. You can always add a divider and move it around to suit your needs. Package of 6 for less than $28 at Amazon

https://smile.amazon.com/Dividers-Kitchen-Organizer-Separators-Bathroom/dp/B0972PDR2S/ref=mp_s_a_1_2_sspa?crid=3AIOTYJ9J8EGF&keywords=drawer+dividers+kitchen+utensils&qid=1675776941&sprefix=drawer+divider,aps,99&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFSUjQ1QlM5OEk3QlUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA2ODc4NDgySDVISFIySE9HVFNJJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAzNDE3MjkyVkRFUzU3MVhJMkNSJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfcGhvbmVfc2VhcmNoX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Is that your refrigerator in the lower left corner? Can you swap it with the cabinets on the right in the picture? Be sure you don't end up with a situation where you can't open the ref door all the way because it hits the wall / window. Check the specs for the model you have / will purchase for a diagram like the one below. (In the image, you can see that about 11" is needed to fully open the door.)

Drawers give you better access to the back of a cabinet. And less painful bending.

Let’s see if any of the kitchen wizards here can improve your layout.

Where do the two doorways lead?

Drawers wherever you can.

Only drawers for sure on base cabinets. They make life easier. :-))

Here are some ideas.

I wouldn't dedicate more than 48" to sink+dishwasher; either a 24" farmhouse sink (the one I have holds a half sheet) + 24" dishwasher or a 30" sink +18" DW.

48" dedicated to sink and dw leaves room for a 30" all-drawer base cabinet and a 36" corner cabinet to the left.

12" wide and extractor hood wall cabinets don't store much. If you want to have some openness, I'd consider no uppers on the exhaust hood wall and just run upper cabinets on the sink wall corner to corner, 18" above countertop.

You'll have more future-proofing in your kitchen if you place the fridge on the open end rather than in the corner. I put a tall cabinet to the right of the fridge. Regardless of whether you do a tall cabinet or a base+upper cabinet you'll definitely want drawers there.

To add a bit of counter space and storage, a small 36" high kitchen trolley might work at the window without crowding the space.

Drawers are the way to go; no more stacking seven frying pans and getting on your knees to find the one you want. However, for upper cabinets, are you planning on framed or frameless cabs? You can fit more and access it it more easily in frameless cabs. Here's the difference: between them:

Kitchen Cabinets Costs 2022: Framed vs. Frameless, Pros & Cons

We also have a small kitchen, constrained by an older house. I thought our KD was crazy to suggest a corner sink, because the sink belongs under the window where it always was! But she was right, a corner sink made all the difference. It's not a huge sink but it's plenty big enough, and standing "looking at" the corner, I easily see out the window too. Maybe moving your sink to the corner by your window could get you a view, and a longer run of counter space to its left. Add a small-ish cart for under the window, as suggested above.

Did you try a cab like below in the corner?

Storage Ideas · More Info

Storage Ideas · More Info

I'm not sure about the size of those cabs (Ikea's has 47x26"). I assumed 48x27-28" to be on the safe side and come up with 2 alternatives with slightly wider drawers.

In this one sink and the range changed places. On the wall side of the range 24" wide drawers and 15" wide on the other, then the corner, 24" sink and DW.

In the rendering below I have a 30" wide sink and 15" drawers for the second alternative, but you can have 21" wide drawers if you go with a 24" sink. I have 18" wide drawers next to the range.

For the fridge wall I have 30" wide drawers, fridge and facing sideways a 10" deep full height pantry cab with lots of shelves. I think that cab can be about 27" wide. I had such a pantry cab in one of my kitchens. It was extremely useful.

To be clear: Drawers are the way to go - unless you are talking about a 12" base cabinet. I can tell you from experience that you don't have much useable space there. If you insist on having a cabinet to the right of the DW, make it a 9" cab for cookie sheets and cutting boards. I would also cut down your sink cab to 30", to get the biggest drawers possible to the left of the sink.

For your uppers: again, my experience is that 12" cabinets are marginally useful - I had 3 of them in my old kitchen! When we remodeled, we increased 2 of them to 15", and that made a world of difference in function.

I also had 2 angled corner uppers, which are giant black holes. No matter how many times I tried to make efficient use of the space, I ended up either having empty (wasted) space in the back, or I had no idea what I had in there. I replaced them both with Easy-reach uppers, and they are fantastic. But even that leaves you with a 12" upper to the right of the range. You might be better off with a 24" cab next to the range, and a 36" on the sink side, using either a blind corner (accessible, but not convenient), or dead corner (not accessible).