You have a good footprint for a smaller space. Will you keep this basic layout? You mention the back door being in a bad location. Do you plan to move it or remove it completely, or is it just stuck there and will have to be worked around?
We recently also remodeled a small kitchen with the goal of keeping as much storage space as possible. Being empty nesters we did sacrifice a floor to ceiling pantry in favor of a new upper & lower configuration in that corner to increase counter space.
We made some minor changes to our cabinetry that resulted in slightly more and much better storage and use of space. Our 34 year old kitchen cabinets had frames that are up interior space and access, shallow drawers that did not go back the full depth of our cabinets. We also had lower cabinets that were black holes and blind corners that made seeing and accessing items further back difficult and painful.
Biggest game changer improvements in terms of cabinetry was all frameless cabinets….also, using all full access banks of deep drawers instead of cabinets with interior shelves and doors. Upper cabinets built custom 1” deeper than old cabinets. (You’d be surprised how much difference just an inch can make!) We had a cabinet built around the fridge which allowed for deeper cabinet above, which because a new home for large cutting boards, cooling racks, cookie sheets, griddles, sheet pans, etc. Our silverware drawer is deeper than the old drawer and has a second flatware tray beneath the main divided tray, which slides to access the lower tray.
There are a lot of little changes to cabinetry that can make giant improvements to how your space functions! Some are cheap, some are expensive. I recommend having a kitchen designer and/or cabinet company come and see your space, listen to your concerns and do some drawings for you.
Q