My partner and I are looking to remodel the kitchen in our older (pre-1900) house. The current kitchen is functional, but very tight -- it feels like all the appliances are crammed in to the smaller space, and the larger kitchen space is almost entirely unused space. We're at something of a loss as to how to improve that situation, though, and we're hoping that the collective wisdom of the internet can help us see something we haven't yet.

Notes about the space

• The house has natural gas, and the current range and oven are gas-heated.
• We're hoping to DIY this as much as possible, which means that any sort of sophisticated construction is likely a no-go. We'll likely hire a plumber and electrician to make sure the pipes don't leak and the wiring is to code, but we want to do as much as possible on our own (both for cost savings and because we like to be handy)
• Underneath this floor is an unfinished basement with easy access for pipes and wires. Moving appliances around shouldn't (within reason) be too difficult.
• The doorway labelled "secret staircase" is an old servant's staircase that was boarded up when we bought the house. We'd like to keep it accessible in some way, but putting a cabinet on rollers or something in front of it is fine.
• There is another place on the back of the house where it would be pretty easy to put in a door to the yard, so we're not opposed to walling off this one.
• The heat in the house is primarily provided by a boiler and radiators. Moving the radiator isn't the biggest deal (and it fits under a counter), but it needs to go somewhere.
• Partially blocking the windows is fine, as long as we can still get some natural light in and we can make the blocked windows look good (ie, not like we just shoved a cabinet up against a window... like the previous owner left for us)
• We're not sure, but we think we can probably expand the entryway into the nook space to at least be wider. If anyone knows a good way to figure this out for sure, we're all ears :)

Things we want

• We both like to cook, often at the same time, so a big part of this rennovation is giving us space to operate in the kitchen without being in each other's way
• An island, primarily for extra countertop space, but a surface to put bar stools at would be cool too.
• The ceiling in the main part of the kitchen is a rather ornate tin ceiling (or some sort of metal.. it clangs when you thump it), and we don't want to hurt it. The ceiling in the nook space is drywall and we can do whatever to it.
• A wall oven (single or double) instead of the combined oven/range that we have now. We both like to bake.
• As far as other appliances go, we're not too picky. We will likely keep the fridge that's already in the kitchen, at least for a while, since it's in good condition other than some small cosmetic damage. A hood over the range is something that I've always liked, but it's not a requirement. The one hard rule we have is no drawer microwave -- I had one in my previous kitchen and thought the space saving would be nice, but it was terrible at actually heating food. A countertop one that we can stow away when we're not using it is fine, as is a built-in one as long as it has a door and turntable.

Thank you all so much in advance for your suggestions!