Dandylandy, I'm so sorry to hear about this mess. You unfortunately do need to talk to a lawyer now. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to file a lawsuit--sometimes a stern letter or three from a lawyer is all it takes. Also, depending on the value of this (what's the total cost of the cabinets?) you might find yourself in small claims court or in mandatory arbitration, which is a lot easier and cheaper than a full-on lawsuit. Where I live any dispute worth $25,000 or less goes into arbitration, which just means you and the contractor show up (with or without your lawyers, but obviously I'm going to recommend WITH, absolutely) and say your piece to a group of three local lawyers who volunteer as mediators, and that group of three lawyers decides how to resolve it. It's much cheaper and easier than an actual lawsuit. If you're in NY, perhaps the cap is higher than $25k. Anyway, what I'm saying is that you may not be looking at a lawsuit at all; that's not the only way the legal system has for resolving disputes like this. So, put plywood on your counters or some other temporary fix, DO NOT pay the guy another dime, talk to a few local lawyers who specialize in real estate or construction law (ask friends and your architect for recommendations) and pick the lawyer who seems best to you. The first step will probably be for him or her to write a mean letter to the contractor, and then you go from there. Oh, about this: **"Some of the things that really bother me could have been avoided with better communication - e.g. if they couldn't go to the ceiling with the cabinets b/c my ceiling isn't totally level (or something, I am just speculating), and they warned me about it, that would have been a lot better than telling me "Yes" and then not delivering."** I don't even see how that would be possible; if your ceiling's not totally level, then the cabinets would stop somewhere below the ceiling and it would be up to you to decide whether to build up the ceiling a little bit or put some moulding on to hide the gap. In other words I can't think of a legitimate reason that your ceiling would prevent you from having ceiling-height cabinets. I just mention this to cut through any BS you may have heard from the cabinet guy. Anyway, gather together everything you have in writing (including any drawings or mock-ups) and write down everything you remember saying to or hearing from the contractor. Have your architect forward you any emails she sent to or received from the contractor. Also go through your voicemail and see if he left you any voicemails that could be relevant. Then try and write up in one or two pages exactly what you understood he was supposed to build for you, in every detail (dimensions, materials, etc.), and then what he actually did build, and what problems that caused or will cause (e.g. plumbing messed up, plates won't fit, layout changed so cost increased). Also note any scheduling screwups that occurred. Go over it with your architect and your hubby (if any) in case they remember things you don't. Then send this write-up to the lawyer, along with a copy of your contract with the cabinet guy and any other really critical documents like emails where the contractor committed to something that wasn't clear in the original contract or where he said X but it later turned out he did Y. It will take less time (and thus cost you less money) for the lawyer to read this than for the lawyer to "interview" you to figure out what happened. Best of luck.

here is a couple of things that come to mind and are all my opinion 1- keep the oak. I replaced my fake oak with maple and it dings/dents like crazy. I am less than thrilled! in my defense my cabinets were not in great shape so replacing was my goal. I now wish I had gone with oak again 2- before you attempt to gel stain, use a bathroom cabinet as a trial. I stain a lot as we do tons of unfinished wood furniture and I find gel stain miserable to work with. I stick with minwax or another liquid stain. if your are a novice at staining wood, painting may be easier. also if your doors have a center veneer panel vs solid wood, I doubt it will take the stain well if at all. 3- I like your layout(kind of) the L shape gives you lots of prep between stove and sink so that's great. the fridge is a little awkward but not terrible. so getting new appliance would make a huge difference to the cook. 4- if you are concerned about budget, an expensive range hood may be too much especially if someone has to come in to create a vent to the outside. it is not popular here but I kept my otr micro that does not vent outside (for budget and convenience) and I like it just fine. I will say that I do not cook meat on the stove top so that can make a difference. 5- I love the orb/dark granite someone posted and it would give the oak a whole new look. plus you can always paint/stain them later so just chaining faucet,hardware and counter can be done first good luck!

Thanks so much everyone for your reassurance. I was beginning to feel like I was crazy. Do you think it's a mistake to add recessed lights in the new part of the house (the back?). I'm not feeling bad about this, because this part was added on in the 80s and they'd made NO attempt to match the front of the house. Like zero. With this remodel, we're adding many architectural details (installing wood double-hung windows; adding matching trim around the windows, doors, and baseboards; consistent hardwood floors etc.) Feels like we're already taking 10 giant steps to make this "new" part of the house much more consistent with the original part. The kitchen, master bath, and powder room will feel vintagey without trying to be a restoration. Here's my architect's electrical plan. A few changes from the plans: -in the DR we'd planned to put the skylight over the table with art glass. I couldn't get my act together to commision the art glass, so we moved the skylight so it washes the back wall (the green wall in the photo). Thus freeing up space for a chandelier over the table. (I'm now wondering if that was a mistake, but that skylight is installed and so is the new roof). --There is a sun tunnel in the hall from the garage, but not the powder room. The powder will have a pair of cool vintagey sconces; --the kitchen will have vintage-y pendants over the island, sconce over the kitchen sink, and a semi-flush mount over the little breakfast nook in back. --I'll also have a decorative light in the room labeled "family room." (which will be my office/library.). I'll have corner desk (upper right corner on this plan) and want to a lot of tall bookshelves. Since it's my workspace, I'm thinking the recessed lights in that room would be useful. --The master will have four recesed lights (it's a vaulted ceiling) and lamps on the nightstands. (for some reason, my architect drew them as monopoints. My electrician suggested recessed, and if I do only 4--he recommended 6--he'd move them in a bit towards the center). What do you think? I'm feeling fine with this. I do have 1 random smallish light fixture (from Rejuvanation) that I could re-use someone (it will go in the office closet, if I don't have a better spot; it's ORB and schoolhouse like. Nothing wow-exciting but steady). Obviously I could buy other fixtures. One set of suggestions made by my electrican and designer was to put LED tape light under the upper cabinets. And LED strip (?) lighting in the reach-in closets (to the master bedroom closet and also... the pantry--which will be to the left of the W/D). Thoughts? Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate it! I'm not so crazy after all! ;)

IMO the most critical aspect of residential lighting design is the lighting of walls, kitchen counters and cabinets and the light quality and distribution of wafer and giant gimbal units is unfocused and disappointing. There are few affordable adjustable-angle and wall-washer recessed fixtures other than the small gimbal, elbow and eyeball fixtures that extend below the ceiling. Recessed lighting began with store displays and couched accent lighting is still its best use but today's open space designs and giant TV's have reduced the opportunity to create dramatic focus points in a house but that just makes those few opportunities more critical. For a tight budget the most affordable 4" retrofit adjustable LED I've found is the Nora Cobalt with a Haze reflector that matches the Cobalt Click 2 downlight. Its has a Cree COB LED and is Title 24 compliant for excellent color rendering at the price of a retrofit PAR 20.