We have just completed a Manhattan galley kitchen and since I have used the input of many of you, I wanted to share some of my experiences.

Kitchen consists of:

Ikea cabinets - Nexus white wall cabinets with Nexus black/brown base cabinets

Liebherr 30"counter depth fridge

Blue Star 30" range

Miele 18" dishwasher

Prestige 30" recirculating range hood

For kitchen design and installation we used The Kitchen Couple who left their card at Ikea. I must say that we were very happy with their professionalism and willingness to work with us until we got the job just right. For example, when I had a last minute thought about a pull out cabinet to house our trash can under the sink, Ron came up with a few custom ideas, ordered and picked up the new parts and installed them. It was clear they have installed hundreds of kitchens. They came in and in two days were done.

We also used All Marble and Granite in NJ - as recommended by The Kitchen Couple. They have great variety and can install the countertop in 48 hours from placing your order. Just be prepared to pay cash and to get everything in writing. They were extremely experienced, but I don't get the impression that they will go out of their way for after service.

Now, a few words about the appliances -

Blue Star Range: Great machine. Works beautifully and is actually better looking in person. Only "but" is that in a Manhattan apartment, it really is a bit of overkill. But, hey, its the same price as a Wolf or Viking and I think a much better product. You'll definately need a very sturdy range hood like the Prestige or Viking. Don't buy a cheap one or it will get burned up in no time. To be fair, the oven seems to take a long time to heat up, but once up to temperature, works great.

Liebherr Fridge: So far so good. It will take you a while to line up the shelves to fit your stuff, but once you do, you'll find you can fit a lot into it. A few pet peeves....would probably prefer a pull out freezer rather than one that swings out...but we dont' use the freezer that much. Also, the fridge is so accurate that it starts giving beeping warnings when the temp is a few degrees off....You can turn this off. But, looks great and performs well. No reason to buy Subzero.

Miele 18" dishwasher: We opted for the small version to suit our relatively small kitchen and family of three. Works great so far. Quiet. Only qualm is that it has trouble drying plastics, but that's not a big deal to us. Also, I'm sure its the same with other brands, but the cycle time is really long.. almost 2 hours to complete a cycle. Would have preferred a mini-cycle if time is of the essence.

Range Hood: Here is the big dilemma in a Manhattan apartment. Most places don't let you vent out. Thus, does a range hood do anything? So, here is my experience. The range hood does suck up grease so if you do lots of sauteing or wok cooking, you will reduce, but not eliminate, the amount of grease that flows around your house. However, the heat is a different matter. The heat goes up from the burners through the baffles and filters and then back into your kitchen. Thus, it can get hot in the kitchen real fast. So, if you never cook things that spew out grease...and you don't like hot kitchens, then a big recirculating hood may not be for you. I think it looks great and does perform a meaningful function, despite the fact that it doesn't dissipate the heat as much as I would like.

The Ikea cabinets are working great and so far over this short period of time seeming to holding up nicely. Saving money on the cabinets allowed us to really splurge on the appliances.

Thanks for all your help and hope this is helpful to many of you.