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.

I didn't really find this cabinet (?); I built it 1989 when I was a single sergeant and had more apartment space than furniture funding. It sat against a wall in the center of my efficiency apartment. At the time I kept a swivel shelf on top of it to hold the TV; I could watch TV from the "bedroom" or "living room." I've always intended to build a hutch to go on top, just never got a round tuit. This photo was taken before we moved. Right now it's sitting out on the sunporch, buried in boxes and "stuff" waiting for the house to come together. There is one fixed shelf inside. I put a pull out basket on the left, top shelf to hold napkins and smaller linens.

Hello, thanks for the great suggestions! I like the idea of widening the doorway but unfortunately I have a powder room behind the wall which separates the kitchen from the dining room. Very poor design and hate having my powder room right there by the kitchen. Also, I don't have enough room for a peninsula. My primary objective was to get rid of the empty space; but I could always use some extra storage. I think anything I add to that wall is only going to compound the tight space. I'm now leaning towards getting rid of the overhang on the island; I don't like eliminating the seating but this will give me an extra 12 inches on top of my current 28 inches (total 40 inches) path to walk through the space. I could also add an extra standard depth cabinet to the empty wall. Either that or just leave it as it is and make no changes at all. I'm planning on investing in countertops and would rather make a change now to try and correct a bad layout.

You would think right? But no that was not requested. They do some sort of house bombing work and are basically using us to do the "heavy lifting." I just have no idea about the walls. From what I've read, a 2,000 SQFT house can take 1-2 days and run $300-$400, just for walls.