Isn't it the correct way to smooth? *GASP* That's how I always do it. What is the correct way? (been using maya for two weeks now..)

3 is a smooth preview, it doesn't actually change the geometry. To do an "actual" smooth, you'll have to go mesh > smooth, and you can change the number of divisions etc.
3 is a lot easier to undo, and I think it provides a similar result, although it's not really hard-meshed in. (Coining the term hard-meshed).

Nice render already ;) good luck with the uv's.
Oh and don't think that texturing this one will be easy at least not if your goal is to paint the textures as nice as the models...( yes that is a compliment... ;) ).
My advice would be to start with a basic color palette and then build up texturing from there, looking forward to see some texturing ( edit:) done

Cabinets. I think I'll need to separate and rotate the uvs for the top and bottom front faces of the cabinets because the wood grain runs vertically on the sides and horizontally on the bottom and top. I mapped out the uvs in such a way that I can use a single texture of wood and then when applied, the grains will all be running the correct direction.

Here's a test render to see what the wood will look like.

ahhhh simply perfect :)

Lovely ;)
( I type this because I got a message :' Message is to short ' ...LOL )

what are the horizontal scratches? are they just in the texture?

Yeah, the side scratches are just part of the texture I found. However, I don't think I'm going to use the texture after all. I'm going to grab my camera and go out and take pictures to make all my own textures. I didn't think I would like texturing so I was always trying to take the easy road and either not texture at all or just add some colors but now that I'm doing it, I'm really getting into it.

The small cabinet

Having trouble figuring out how to map the knobs. I'll skip them for now and continue on. Anything I have trouble with, I'll come back to once I finish everything else. I also notice that there's a seam that needs to be sewn near the oven handle on the right, just inside the vent hole on the right side. Didn't notice it until I took the screenshot. Not sure how I'm going to lay out the uv's yet so I'll post a uv layout screenshot later, probably after I figure out what I'm going to do with the knobs.

I do not envy you having to UV map all that, looks great so far though.

I like the render and texture, maybe too many horizontal scratches, but It will probably work when the whole scene is put together. I suppose you're going for the used looked, not a studio style job... which is cool.

Thanks Mayaniac, I'm really not sure what look I'm going to go with yet. The model is a model of my kitchen. Not sure if I'll texture it the same or something else. The cabinet texture I posted is very similar to the cabinets I have except my cabinets are darker. I like the idea of a "used" look though. Hopefully I can do it justice.

I decided to work on the uv's for the stove knobs and this is the best I can do. Hard to believe I spent almost 3 hours on just a knob. That's about how long I spent on mapping the whole stove. At least I know how to half decently map an odd shape like that now.

Here's a screenshot, I'll lay out the Stove Uv's and post a screenshot once I finish.

Here's the Stove Uv Layout.

Question: Since different parts of my stove have different types of surfaces (ie. plastic, glass, metal, chrome, etc) do I need to have a separate uv layout for each type of surface?

Every time I look at this thread it reminds me of how much I hate doing uv's :)
Looks nice though.
With regards to your question I think it's wise to even keep different parts/materials a different piece of geometry and most definite keep different materials and such, it makes it easier to tweak and adjust stuff .