If you aren’t willing to move walls or shorten the window you need to apartment size everything. 24” fridge and pantry where range is currently. 24” induction range, 18” dishwasher.

pls show the layout of the first floor. its going to be a walled in kitchen so considering the smaller size..why the two entry passages ? One way in......close off 2nd passage to create more wall space to work with.

Here's the full house floorplan if that's helpful.

I don't think we could shorten the window because from the front of the house, it's symmetrical with the dining room window, so it would look odd if they're two different heights.

It would be nice if there was a way to set it up as more of a galley kitchen so the flow would be better, but there's not room to rotate the range in the place it currently is. The fridge almost fits in there, but it feels too tight when you walk in from the dining room.

I also thought about leaving the stove as it is, although it's not ideal, and putting a cabinet & microwave above that. We could possibly still fit a couple cabinets in that 45" stretch to the left of the window. There's nothing there now.

Say more about what you use the utility room for. What kind of storage, activities, is laundry in there? Can you sacrifice the utility room and combine it with the kitchen for a larger kitchen?

By remodel, do you mean remove everything and reposition?

I would put the dishwasher to the left of the sink (move the sink to the right a bit), and Put the stove/microwave where the refrigerator is now. Move the refrigerator to where the stove is, different swing. You may need to remove the trim on the wall opening and add a bit of wall to allow for space. Not moving any walls, but building up a little space.

Please post a pix of the front of the house. Windows can be different sizes and still look appropriate. The trade off may be significant.

What direction is the backdoor? is it a street view?

I would see if the fridge and stove can be swapped. Put cabinets and a microwave hood combo above the stove (regardless of where). You can fit a dishwasher to the right of the kitchen sink. If there is a code issue with a stove and dishwasher, then I'd put it on the left of the sink. You need 24" for a dishwasher. Either way, you have counterspace connecting your stove and sink and no floating stove! Maybe a counter depth fridge in that stove corner helps it fit better if yours is too deep. Also, put cabinets above the fridge and tall cabinets floor to ceiling across from the current fridge location, if there is room. The tall cabinets can be made to be shallower than the typical 24" and still hold all sorts of things. It could be 10-12" deep and hold canned goods/food/dishes, etc. Typical upper cabinets are 12" deep so it is still very functional.

The importance of giving priority to the most used function may come into play when allocating the kitchen and the utility room space. A comfortably functioning kitchen and a cramped utility space or stacked washer/dryer may be a better outcome here. Have to see the utility use. One option is to swap the door and window in the utility space and then move the kitchen wall to include the new window set at counter height. Doing this would open the plan to taking down the walls between the kitchen and dining area and the kitchen and living area all the way to the new relocated wall between the kitchen and the smaller utility room. The house entrance to the utility room can be relocated from the kitchen to the living room wall. It could be a pocket door.

And, you can absolutely raise the kitchen window up to 37 or 38" off the floor if you've also done the same to the dining room window. They'd match fine.

All these changes give you the maximum space to create your very important kitchen space. Maybe you can diy some or most of the layout changes.

A lesser option involves relocating the utility room door to the living room wall, pocket door as an option. Closing the wall up between the kitchen and utility. Now you have space for an 'L' configured kitchen. 36" 4 door counter-depth frig, 30" slidein induction range, 24" sinkbase with 24" single bowl undermount sink installed with a Hercules strap mount, 24" dishwasher and good work zone spaces between each component for prep and cleanup. You'll want strong 4" recessed led task lighting 3-6" in from the edge of the counter along both legs. You can leave the front window. You can take down the wall between the kitchen and dining/living rooms if you want an open concept feeling.

Please save that gorgeous light fixture!!!

Describe or show the utility room . its a lot of space. a straight path from that side entrance into property straight across to living then on to bedroom the other way......makes more sense. So by a switch of the utility room window with utility room door on that exterior wall…you then look at kitchen / dining situation / improved flow and more options for the kitchen.

Unfortunately the furnace is right behind the wall with the stove so it would be more difficult to move that.

This is the utility room

Is the white wall cabinet next to the hot water tank storage or an electrical panel? Since it looks the same as the one over the washer, I'm saying storage. Remove it. Hooray. Now you do a slight reroute of the vent pipes for the furnace and hot water heater. Then do a self-closing pocket door entrance from the living room. Or a regular door and keep it closed. Remove the kitchen to utility door to make a flat wall in the kitchen. I'd prefer an open kitchen and would look into removing the wall with doorway between the kitchen and the dining/living room areas all the way to the utility room wall.

This gives you space for an 'L' kitchen layout. 97" x 109". That's good sized. Not small anymore.

That low window is taking up valuable kitchen space and serves no purpose except creating wasted space that could make it a very functional kitchen. If symmetry is important to you consider replacing and shortening both windows to accommodate a better kitchen design.

Not ideal, but an idea. Even if you choose not to change the window, you might be able to ignore it. I have a friend who simply boarded over the window on the inside leaving it visable from the outside. In your case, perhaps build a counter with lower cabinets across that wall in front of the window. Agree that switching the stove and fridge will help with work spaces. Add whatever upper and lower cabinets that fit next to the fridge. Or, add a pantry cabinet next to the fridge. Have it custom built to fit on the short wall so it looks intentional. I like upper and lower there to leave a drop spot next to the refrigerator.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. What are thoughts on something like this? The fridge is rotated, so it’s not exactly a galley layout, which I don’t necessarily like, but it avoids moving walls.

For the wall with the sink, I wasn’t sure how to arrange that exactly, but I put the sink on the left so that there would be a longer span of countertop to work with. I’m not sure if that would look good or not. Also, I just divided the remaining space into 2 12-inch cabinets, maybe one would be drawers? Maybe it would be better to do a 15 and a 9?

Say more about not wanting to change the window or move the wall. Is it purely an expense issue? Have you gotten quotes for the work and know how much it would cost? Kitchens are expensive. To spend money on a new kitchen update that is not getting the most out of your space is money wasted. It if is too expensive now, then live with your current kitchen while you save up.

Part of wanting to keep the cost low is that this is going to be a rental property. While we want it to look nice & be functional, tearing down walls and moving utilities is probably not worth the expense when tenants are usually staying for a year or two.