I had a horrifying kitchen in my 1898 house. It had terrible cheap MDF cabinets (1970's?) that were just a little big, so the PO CUT the 4.75" trim to make them fit. There was textured 4 x 4" ceramic tile, that had been painted Cheez Whiz orange. There was also a folding closet door on the powder room, adjacent to the kitchen. The walls were turmeric yellow, with dark charcoal grey trim and cabinet color. The floors were some "neutral" peel and stick vinyl tiles. The fridge was giant for the space and obstructed about 40% of the drawers from being opened fully.
On the bright side, there was the original tongue and groove wainscotting, the original window and back door, and most of the original trim. There were the original wood floors a couple of layers below.
Challenges included 4 doorways and a large window opening in a 140 sq ft room, terrible plaster, one wall that had the original chimney below.
I had an antique cabinet from a butler's pantry(CL), an antique wall hung sink with a drainboard(CL), a vintage pendant light(CL), and a small (22") refurbished 1950's electric stove. I acquired an antique cabinet that I put casters on for a work surface and extra storage, bought antique trim that was a good enough match on Kijiji, found a small porcelain vintage task light for over the sink, and made a pendant light for over my work surface. I also bought a couple of new doors that were very similar to the original back door. I also bought a smaller fridge.
I worked with an older carpenter who was willing to humour my ideas, and used a plumber that was agreeable about installing the antique sink, etc. The butler's pantry cabinet was a little too long for the longest wall, and had to have a single section trimmed off to make it fit. A little bit of plumbing and electrical needed to get moved around to make things be in the right places. There was a LOT of plaster repairs and drywall patches. The vinyl floor and subfloor - with its billion nails was removed, and I painted the floorboards.
It's not a craftsman kitchen, but an approximation for what I felt was sympathetic to what might have been here originally ? The four doorways and windows made the placement of anything a real challenge. Two years later, I am still happy with the kitchen, and the only change I would have made is to bump the sink over about two inches. I did have the sink placed about 4" higher than what is standard - and that was a huge improvement for my back. If you or your wife are tall, I encourage you to consider the heights of your sink and work surfaces.
I don't know if this helps with what you are contending with, but it's what I did. I just could not stomach a) the kitchen as it was - and no coat of paint could have helped or b) any kind of modern kitchen cabinetry, or plans involving an island, etc. I don't entertain so that was also not a consideration.
There is lots of information online about planning a good kitchen. The principles are sound, but you will probably need to ignore current design trends.
This is what I started with, with the colors really desaturated by the realtor:
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The actual horror colors I suffered through for 12 long months:
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After about 6 weeks of intensive repairs and improvements, the cabinet was installed:
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Work surface cabinet. Casters help to elevate height but also because the only heat register is on the floor below.
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Looking towards the powder room. The trim around the door is the antique replacement trim, which is not a perfect match, but was the best I could find and the right width:
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As kitchen renovations go, this was on a very low budget. I didn't do anything major, like move walls around. It was exhausting, but made a huge improvement.