I've got a victorian townhouse - standard sized but tall victorian terrace with a basement which has a kitchen, lounge, utility room and shower room in it. I had the kitchen redone not long after I moved in about 10 years ago and although it's still quite nice, it desperately needs redoing as I had damp-proofing done at the same time which failed miserably. One of the walls has split so badly you can put your hand in it 
So I've started thinking about getting the whole thing redone in the next few months (before next summer at the very latest) and as our needs (and taste!) have changed over the last decade, I'm wondering how far/radical to go with the overhaul.
The current kitchen is an Ikea one, and I wouldn't rule out another, but I'm not sure if any of the high street design services would be up to making best use of the space. Challenges include the bay window in the kitchen which currently has some rather badly customised Ikea units across them - thinking about possibly making this the dining area and having a boxed window seat around a round extending dining table. Also, there's a rather useless but generous cupboard the other side of one of the kitchen walls - it may be feasibly to know through and create a pantry, which excites me!!
The space is generally tricky as we have it as a kitchen/diner and it comfortably seats 4 currently but we need to extend to 6, which would mean being inventive with the layout.
Has anyone used the services of anyone such as an independent kitchen designer, or had similar issues resolved by another professional? I don't want to be tied to a specific kitchen co, and really need someone who understands building work as much as kitchen space and can also point out which of my ideas are really silly Ideally I would get a design drawn up that I could then take to a builder in order to get quotes...