I have a small awkward kitchen and I need to remodel

First thank you and your husband for your service,many people don't get that its a family affair. Sorry,but without pictures it's impossible to offer ideas. Can up post some with what you are trying to ultimately achieve, and be very specific. Thanks 😊

Thank you for your service!! Reach out to the local VFW for anyone that can help or that they recommend? Would not want you to get taken advantage of! My Dad was in charge of our VFW & he always reached out to members for answers.

If you want to be efficient, just organize your drawers. There are so many ideas on this website for that. If you want to update it on a budget, I'm your girl. Start slowly and do things that you can do, like cabinet fronts. Sand them down and then restain. That's a huge start and little cost. Add new knobs and pulls. Any walls that would make for a good accent wall and you can use this link to make some faux bricks. I love these bricks. https://www.hometalk.com/diy/decorate/walls/easy-faux-brick-wall-36316768

There are lots of stick-on mozaics that would make for a great backsplash. My refrigerator needs to go (crisper doors broken and the runners are broken), but it still keeps my food cold, so I'm hanging in there until it dies. Here is what I did to keep it from looking so old and frumpy. I painted my dish washer with an aluminum paint and that bought me some time and revitalized it a little. I might just do the same to my stove. Investing a little more money, you could replace the faucet, light fixtures, sink, cabinet tops. A little at a time and a little quirky creativity and you can save lots. Good Luck.

As a fellow former Service spouse... I wish to THANK YOU and your husband for his and your service..

One improvement to your kitchen could be to convert the lower cupboards to large drawers.... it makes it so much easier to reach things without crawling into the cabinet...and it is surprising how little actual space is lost. There are also organizers that are designed to give better access to corner cabinets.

I would suggest this.... if you have an IKEA in your area....go there and look thru all the sample kitchens... you will get a lot of ideas on how to improve function... some of the IKEA organizers can be retro-fitted to existing cabinets... many are not that expensive.

Sometimes.. moving the refrigerator to a different location in the kitchen can give more space especially if you make it a "counter depth" model.

Another possible source of more counter space is to raise the level of a window so that you can put more cabinets or counters underneath... or a portable island... one that can move out of the way when not needed...

The one I have is a KALLAX bookcase (on wheels) with 4 door inserts and a piece of large format, 16 x 32, ceramic tile on top (for ease of cleaning)

Another source for ideas is DIYnetwork.com or HGTV.com.