Kitchen Design Factors part I

So you want to redo your outdated kitchen?  My kitchen was only 14 years old.  I bought the house new and didn't know the first thing about what is good and bad in a kitchen.

Here's a list of the good and bad in my existing kitchen.
Pros:

• Nothing is broken... don't fix it?
• Large kitchen area

Cons:

• Not enough cabinet space.
• Drawers are too shallow (4in).  Actually, the usable depth is about 3in.  A thick roll of aluminum foil and its box always prevents the drawer from shutting (OR OPENING!).  arrggg
• No cabinet for a trash can.  I have a standalone stainless steel can.  Its OK but recycling storage is non-existent.
• No efficient place to store pots and pans.  These always get put in a bottom cabinet.  The storage efficiency is terrible as pots/pans rarely fit into one another and if I am clever, packing density is just manageable.   But getting a pot or pan out requires removing half of the storage contents and then putting the rest back...stupid.
• Microwave sticks out of top cabinets about 4-5 inches.  ugly.  The microwave is white, cabinets are 1990's tan wood...wut?
• Fridge sticks out of cabinet line 7-8 inches. ugly.
• Sink is not aligned (centered) on window.  It is about 10 inches off center.  WTH???
• Counter top is not one piece.  When I wipe the counter, inevitably  crumbs and food drop in the crack between the counter and the oven.  And also in the crack between the counter and the fridge.  I cant wait to find the huge pile of food sitting there when I remove the oven.  I'm sure bugs love it.
• There are no cabinets above the fridge.  Just a big open space to the ceiling.  Perfect (sarcasm).  The fridge top serves as an alternate pantry (wine, cereal boxes, etc).
• Counter-top is Formica.  POS colored monolith.  Actually, rust-grey.
• Appliances are aging.
• The kitchen floor is linoleum with carpet bordering all work areas.  This is a typical setup...but the carpet gets so dirty and hard to clean.  Especially next to food areas. Whoever thought that walking on cloth was a good idea??
• The existing layout is so poorly planned.  I have a space just behind the existing island that is too small for a dining table, and too big to just leave unused.  The island is permanent, so I'm stuck with a big unusable space (200 sq ft) in the kitchen area.
• I have 8 foot ceilings. The upper kitchen cabinets don't go all the way up to the ceiling. This "gap" looks stupid to me. It just looks cheap because I'm sure these upper cabinets are the typical off-the-shelf variety cabinets.  The gap is pretty much unusable space collecting dust, aerosol grease, etc. Putting decorations there doesn't look charming to me.  And these decorations will also require cleaning because kitchens have grease.  Its like hairspray in a bathroom.  Not all the hairspray lands on the head. It gets airborne and will eventually land and coat a surface.  Grease does the same thing.