Hello All.

I'll finally be remodeling my 1973 kitchen, after 7 years of tolerating it (purchased home in 2004), and I am looking for some clever ideas. The room is an interior 10x10 space. Proceeding around the room from the entry door -- Wall A has the door and, strangely, a large window, into the laundry room. Pointless window, but it does bring light in. The baseboard heat also runs along that wall, so wall A is basically unusable. Wall B has the stove (under the window in one corner), a 24" 4-drawer base, a 36" sink base, and the fridge (in the other corner). There are no upper cabinets on that wall, and NO stove hood/vent fan (my house fills with steam every time I make pasta, grrr). Wall C has a doorway into the living room and upper and base cabinets; wall D has upper and base cabinets (large blind cabinet into the corner) and a doorway into the "dining room" (I don't use it for that - it is too small). Uppers on walls C and D are placed under soffits. I'm not sure whether C or D are bearing walls (is there an easy way to determine that?)

I am seeking help with several things:

I can't install a standard stove hood - it would be right in that darned window. But could I tie a ceiling vent fan (like a bathroom fan) into my existing bathroom vent hose? I don't fry - I really just need to vent steam. The bathroom fan hose exits out the east side of my house, not through the roof.

I have considered taking out the window and walling it up - but it is 3X3 and the other side is paneled - no easy way to fix the appearance of that...

I want to do as much work as I can to save money. I have tried to remove some upper cabinets, but they won't budge. Sorry if this is silly, but - do builders GLUE cabinets to the wall before screwing them down? And if so, how on earth do you get them off? I was hoping not to destroy the cabinets, so I could donate them to Habitat.

How big a job is it to tear out soffits? They look so dated... and I don't THINK there's any wiring in them.

Any opinions on lazy susans versus blind cabinets? Lots of room as is (blind cabinet), but it's hard to access stuff way at the back.

And - can anyone think of some great ideas for making this kitchen more user-friendly? Or for making it frankly amazing - for very little dough? I don't love having the appliances and sink on one wall, but it's the way the room is plumbed and wired (trying to avoid hiring those high-cost pros); and I can't seem to come up with a different layout.

Thanks!