I think the three kitchens are pretty equivalent in equipment. I'm assuming that out of sight in the first one is a full sized (30") Miele oven? It depends on what you want. Which has a bigger fridge, or if you like the freezer drawers in kitchen #1, whether the grille bothers you in kitchen #3, whether you'd rather have a separate cooktop and wall oven or a range. Which has more storage. Whether you like an open kitchen or a galley, etc. (Galleys are great to cook in, but don't have the social element that open kitchens do.) Which color you like best. Viking isn't in such good odor currently, but if it's there and it works it should be fine. The design is nice. The third apartment looks older and lived in, and not so well designed. More homestyle than architectural. I wouldn't throw over the third apartment just because it wasn't brand new, if the price, location, amenities and view were right, but the pot filler sitting like a navel in the middle of sheet stainless? Not pretty. Hm... Looking again, maybe it is a new kitchen. If so, it's a bit, um, yellow-beige. It might look a lot better in person. Also, in my opinion, a built in espresso maker is an attractive toy. If you have continental breakfast with cappuccino every morning, it's useful. If you only make espresso for twee little dinner parties, not so much. But considering the sizes of these kitchens, it doesn't waste enough space to get really mad about it. Keeping all the stainless in kitchen #2 spotless and smudge free, and the same for the gloss white in kitchen #1, might be a big problem if you don't have daily help. Especially in kitchen #2 if you allow people to sit at the island and their shoes hit the stainless. From that point of view, the bland kitchen #3 would be the easiest upkeep. In terms of quality, I think they're all in the range you're looking for, so the thing I'd really really check out, like bring a ventilation expert with you when you go see, is the hoods. Make sure they really vent to the exterior. See how much they really draw, find out where the exhaust exits and what your responsibility, vs. the board/association/freeholder or whatever, is for keeping it clear of nests and other maintenance is, and find out if the hood isn't adequate for you what you are or are not allowed to do to improve it. For instance, are you allowed inline blowers? (Is that a stupid question for an NY apartment? I've only been in NY for four days in my life and was baffled the whole time.) Oh. I guess that's an assumption, that you'll be able to see before buying? I know some people buy from abroad. Consider we're talking apartment in New York with big kitchen, however, my guess is this really is the equivalent to a house in Beverly Hills. In BH, people tweak their new spaces to suit themselves. This is why I think the ventilation is the most important thing. You're not likely going to be able to change the ductwork or anything like that, and it's probably not worth the money and hassel even if you could. The rest can be altered slightly. For instance, I agree with Rococogurl that putting in a Wolf rangetop would compromise the design of kitchen #1, but it would still look fine, and might be just the thing to make it less clinical. (And the Miele should be fine to cook on and keep the architecture intact.) As for the rest, I'd think those other things, like location, parking (if you have a car), amenities, rooms, bathrooms, location, storage, view, location, square footage, outdoor space/access and location, are more important than the specifics of the kitchen.

abby I'm sorry if I offended...I was kidding and perhaps didn't add enough funny faces to my text. I have purchased many wire racks for wine glasses, and have yet to find one that we could use for our stems. I haven't purchased one from Ikea, and maybe I should, because most are about 3" and I've found a 4" but never a 5". The majority of our wine glasses are between 4 and 5" across, as are the martini and then we have a couple of bordeaux style that are 5 1/2" across. I think if you took a measuring tape to the glasses she was showing, you'd see that they are between 3 1/2 to 5" in width. No you don't miss out on a buzz if you use a different glass than intended for the wine, but you do miss out on taste. There's a reason to airate a red, and a reason whites are in smaller bowls, but for both, it's nice to compare the legs, color, etc., and you can't do that with smaller glasses. As far as I know...we've yet to reach elite status, but if we do I'll be sure to post a note. In the mean time...I've been drinking wine in the right glasses since I was a poor college student. I continued to do so while managing an oyster and clam farm, and then throughout my career as a banker...so I think I can say...oil has nothing to do with being into wine. I do like to drink out of lovely crystal. I learned that from a great aunt, so even in my poor days I had pretty stemware (antique stores sold it cheep) so I am a bit of a crystal snob. But then I love a sparkley table :O) and nothing does it like crystal. So I have a lot of it. (Because we also don't use the same glass for a different wine...see we really are into the taste even more than the buzz) :oP I may have to send off to Ikea and see if I can use their wine racks.

edenchild, I bet you could find fancy stuff online or in an upscale sort of store if you wanted to... but just the basic stuff a local fabric store would have would work just fine. Most fabric stores sell felt by the yard in basic primary colors, some pastels, and sometimes some prints. Get it by the yard, it comes in different widths, but common around 36 or 44 inches, sometimes wider- then you can cut it to whatever size you need it and you don't need seams or anything to finish the edges. Don't get squares or sheets of the stuff, you got too much racks to play with that. If you want, you could pick something bright to add a wee pop of color to the shelf fronts while still being functional. Red would be traditional, but light or bright colors would be nice too. Cut the felt to be barely inside the depth of the shelves, draping over the front edge is a PITA and usually looks like tacky crap. But do be sure to leave yourself with a few inches of drape on both ends over on the width of the shelves, gives you shift room for bottle movement as they get added or removed from the shelf. To do this... and use a fabric tape that's soft and not a hard ruler or metal measuring tape... measure the depth of your shelf just inside the braces, and that's final. Then lay the tape across the width of your shelf, using a bottle in each slot to make sure the "dip curve" is accounted for, and use that for your width measurement. Also... you might not be one for chardonnay since it's a white, but since you like reds... watch your cabs and pinot bottles. Some of them have a slight taper with the bottle and it's better to store them punt facing out instead of the wall if you stack your bottles on top of each other. Again, vibrations can cause a slide, and better to slide into the wall instead of onto the floor.

Pot rack aka something to be pulled over by baby in 18 months or sooner! Sorry, don't think that is a great idea. My DD used a couple of her drawers to hold all the baby bottles, cups, plates, bowls, etc. And it was the one area that didn't have locks on it so the baby could have a "safe" space, because they all love to get into stuff.