We weren’t living in the house at the time the work was being done, but our project manager approved each step moving ahead which i guess he shouldnt have done? yes it was definitely not the right sink (confirmed by a second opinion), but they werent willing to admit it or fix beyond covering up the cracks because they didnt want to rip evetything out (though didnt do themselves any favors with a bad paint job instead of replacing the cracked pieces). Cabinets are CNC (not my first choice, they convinced me to sub them in) so arrived with a finish. Paint does not stick well to them at all- not sure why they decided to attempt to fix them that way. I asked why they chose that fix method and what they intend to do about it since it didnt work but have so far been met with radio silence. yeah the white thing is hideous. i think they added it to fill the space between wine fridge and wall. wine fridge was ours in our last house and we asked them to build it in, and it just wasnt a seamless fit. yes crack is in a filler piece. all of them had nicks or cracks. they should have just replaced those instead of filling and painting, right? Thanks for linking my old thread, i searched but couldnt find it! At that time i wanted to get validation that my expectations werent too high, now that i know im justified to be upset, im ready to know how to proceed so we dont end up flushing our money down the toilet! i honestly want to walk away and find someone else to do it better, but im not sure how to recoup what weve already paid since the 20k we have outstanding is less than what it will cost to redo. talk to a civil attorney? not sure if i can file a complaint with bbb, atty general, etc if it’s ugly but up to code.

I think a lot of people think they should avoid mentioning a death in someone else's life, especially if it's been a while, because they don't want to 'remind' them by bringing it up. Rest assured, no one ever forgets and mentioning it is not going to dredge up some long buried trauma. I always mention someone's loved one's passing, if I haven't seen them in person. Even if I sent a note at the time. It probably wouldn't be the first thing out of my mouth, but something like, "I sometimes think of you and wonder how you've been doing," is a sincere expression acknowledging the loss. If the conversation moves to a place where you can more specifically mention his death, then I certainly would. If you knew her husband, then saying his name is a nice gesture, too, I think. "You and Steve seemed to be so well matched (or always had so much fun, or something similar), I'm sure you miss him terribly."

Thanks for the input! I like the visual of the drapes and rod. I don't know if it would work here or not. I found a photo of the same floor plan, just reversed, that better shows the wall straight on. Any thoughts on treating the windows differently, like using the faux wood horizontal blinds on the side windows, the same as the rest of the house, but treating the slider and possibly the transom above it with a roman shade, or sliding panels for the middle section? Or one vertical blind for both the sliding patio door and the transom above it, mounted outside and above the transom look best? I am on a budget but also don't want to put up something that is going to look worse than no window dressing at all. My realtor thought it maybe should be a faux wood blind on top of the patio door and a separate blind on the door, How would it look, or mount, for a vertical blind on the slider, with no wall space on either side for mounting or stacking? Sorry for all the questions but my thoughts are going too many directions!

First, if your plans show the door opening the other way - the cost to switch the door and move the light switch and wiring are not your responsibility - also, the other items that were not completed in accordance with your plans are not your responsibility either - your builder needs to address these issues for you. I had several items that had to be changed prior to moving into my home due to something on the plans being missed or simply installed incorrectly. My builder gave me the option to (i) have all of the items corrected, or (ii) receive a cash reimbursement. I have a "no shoes" house (I'm not OCD about it - just taught my daughters to take shoes off as soon as they came in the house when they were little mostly bc I don't like wearing shoes in the house). We used the door from the garage to enter the house 99% of the time. The house was built before mudrooms were a thing (1996) - my girls just learned to take their shoes off on the rug that was in front of the garage door and then take a few steps to put them away inside cubbies I had built inside the closet in the hallway from the garage. Will you have a rug in your foyer? If yes, it doesn't seem like it would be a big deal for everyone to take their shoes off on the rug after coming in the house - and then taking a few steps over to the mudroom area that you are building on the other side of your foyer. OR - you could add an IKEA Hemnes cabinet (the taller one isn't as wide as the shorter one - it would fit in your space). There are thousands of ways people have made them look nice. The next few examples are all of the shorter/wider Hemnes shoe cabinet - but the same things could be done to the taller one: The bottom left one is a taller Hemnes - again, you could do the same updates to the fronts of the a unit regardless of how tall/wide it is. People have also used IKEA Stall shoe cabinets (and one of these would fit in your space): Etsy also has quite a few sellers that make doors/drawers/overlays for IKEA furniture: Artroom (seller on Etsy) made the above overlays + is having a sale right now. They have many different patterns/styles + types of wood/stain colors that you can choose: Here is another IKEA Stall: