Thanks for the replies...I love this forum. Great humor, too, just when I needed it. This morning we talked and had an enlightenment. I had to do some pretty slick talking. Husband just came in and saw me on the forum...he reads/enjoys it, too, and said, "Well, are you going to tell them you're finally getting your way?" In reality, our cabinets are contractor grade, cheap cabinets which are about 17 years old. Some of the doors have warped. Husband had actually purchased 3 additional oak cabinets and tried to match the doors, etc, as best he could, but they don't match. We would have used them in this galley kitchen...2 rows of cabinets parallel to each other...and not matching at that. And, even painted, they still wouldn't match. We were going to top them off with expensive granite. We decided it just didn't make sense to do that....we don't plan on moving any time soon, but, still, I don't think it would add to the value of our home. So. We are going stretch a little and replace those cabinets with ones we love. We found some Kraftmaid cherry cabinets in a shaker style we really like with a nutmeg or ginger glaze (still contemplating which one) and it won't break the bank. Now we are back to the countertops...we're going to worry about those first, and finally the flooring. Back to the granite search next. It's been a long day....but the sun was shining in Indiana... I'm turning 60 this month! We decided this would be a gift to us...(he will be 60 next year) a nice, new kitchen we both love. I didn't want that darned Tiffany celebration ring anyway. :)

And if you haven't seen it, my kitchen is green and white. I have a very busy quartzite. As a full slab it looks almost overwhelming but once on a horizontal surface, it calms down quite a bit without overwhelming the rest of the kitchen. My slab:In my kitchen:Along the perimeter before my stained glass window went in:On the countertop: Notice how it's not so overwhelming on the counters? Also I have lots of reds, oranges, peaches and purples in mine too but once it's all down, it doesn't override the greens. If I hadn't seen my slabs, I probably would have picked something like that last slab you showed. It's stunning.

Blaming the stone for this unacceptable. It is obvious that they couldnt handle this simple mitering project and they should had never accept to do it. My suggestion is to: -Show them some of properly done mitered projects to prove that it is their fault. Unfortunately I got no photos of this material in my website but I do have many pictures of other quartzite complicated projects with Cristallo quartzite or Taz Mahal . Cristallo quartzite full mitered vanity Taz Mahal quartzite polygon full mitered island Since it is not installed the right thing is to get a refound . If you cannot be refound you might be able to accept the loss of your deposit and get your stone as is. Find an appropriate fabricator that may can modify and work with whatever you got left of the quartzite plus little more of the same material to get the job done. Be sure to check some of the mitered work of the profesional you ll find before you make any deal. You can still save this job.

There are some articles online about removing permanent marker from wood. Try to remove it and do simple things first as you may change your mind about what you want to do as you progress. See what you think after the walls are cleaned up / painted. I would next paint the backsplash. I would look into cladding the island in beadboard - not sure if that can be done - there are some construction adhesives that stick to about anything. I have oak cabinets and am fine with them - but I am not living with all the other surfaces. I might remove all the uppers on the sink wall. My kitchen has about half the cabinets yours does and I get along fine - with 4 kids:) This is my wood kitchens idea book with both new and older refreshed wood kitchens. It might give you some ideas as to paint or working with the older cabinets - especially if a few years turns into 10 years and a new kitchen is still not in the budget. https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75202366/list/wood-kitchens Sometimes a new house has unexpected expensive cost - new roof or furnace and the more cosmetic projects have to wait. I live happily with my oak cabinets, but I agree that there are surfaces in your kitchen which would drive me batty, and if nothing else I would attack with paint those areas before the cabinets.