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.

Our can lights are Cooper. (See above) In the GW world, most use the Cree We went with cooper for 3 reasons 1. I made an error putting in 5 inch cans as I thought I would use bulbs which fit the 5 inch best - but decided I wanted the trim kits as the light is less harsh than bulbs- I hated our old bulbs as well 2. The Cree trim kit only fits the 4 and 6 inch cans- but the Cooper fits a 5 or 6 inch can. 3. I did not use a box store but a lighting store. They were very helpful and I could see different options in action. I felt their time was worth a few extra dollars. The carried the Cooper brand plus many bulb types. This was early in the renovation process and I was just discovering GW The cooper only came in the 3000k - but DH preferred the whiter light. They dim nicely- down to 5% but it does look brighter than 5% Maybe my eyes are getting older(I am sure this is not true) but love having lots of light options in the kitchen (also gave UCL and a lighted cabinet) I have most of the cans on one dimmer with the over sink on a second dimmer. I do have decorative lights in the center (on a dimmer also) which are standard incandescent bulbs for now. My former boss didn't like them the first time she saw them but by the second time - she thought they were great- I adjusted the dimming ahead of time so when I turned them on - it was not a full blast experience. Most will like them but some won't - see if you have a lighting center in the area. Just spend time making your decision. LEDs are expensive so you want to be happy with your choice. Let us know what you do :-) Cryptic and typos from iPhone

From those pictures, it looks like you have some really intereting corners in your kitchen. Sometimes you just have to stand back and let go of how you think it should be and ask yourself, "Do I think that looks good?" Really, only your opinion matters. But since you asked us... Usually the trim corners do align with the cabinet corners. With your tricky angles though, I think the first three shown above look fine. The last one looks off to me only because it's different than the others, not because it itself looks wrong. But that's just my opinion.

"Your cans should be 18-30" away from the upper cabinets (for 12' upper and 24" base cabinets). This rules applies for any walls they maybe near by, as well, if you want to avoid glare. Closer than 18", they start generating glare. Further than 30", your head will be between the light and the counter and you will have a shadow on the counter." I just thought I would mention that I got different advise than pinar about the spacing of the recessed lights from the upper cabinets. My kitchen installer specified that the electrician install them as close to the upper cabinets molding as possible . I asked him to move them out from the upper moldings just a few inches for aesthetic reasons and they work very well that way. If they were 18-30" beyond the upper cabinets, they would be behind me when I stood at the counter and not provide good lighting over the counter. I wonder if pinar, you might have meant 24-30 from the wall? Then they would still light the counter you are working at which generally extends 25 1/2" from the wall and backsplash. WARNIING: You have to have a dimmer that is compatible with dimmable fluorescents. I believe most, but not all, are. Check with the place you purchased the dimmer from. I know I specified I wanted to be able to use these bulbs and the lighting salesperson had to look up each dimmer to check. Some were OK and some were not. Also, you should get the correct size can for them. They only come in certain sizes, and I believe mine are 5" to fit these, not 6". Anyway, this is why I went to a lighting store for these so everything worked together properly and could use the types of bulbs I wanted. If you are not sure about your equipments compatibility certainly try replacing just one bulb first and use them for at least a day or two before investing in enough bulbs to replace all of them. I put regular incandescent bulbs in my fixtures for a couple of weeks until my R30 bulbs came and they kept tripping the circut breaker in the light and they would take turns going out for periods of time. I would hate to order a bunch of those at 8-30.00 each and find out they don't work for you. Also make sure they are returnable, first. Also, only the "new work" cans have that slider on them, and require the ceiling to be opened up. If you ask for "old work" (my electricians terms to tell the lighting store) cans, they can be installed BEFORE the cabinets but without opening up the ceiling, possibly saving a lot of labor and money in patching and repairing the ceiling. They do need to be installed in the correct spot from the beginning, though. My kitchen cabinet installer gave me a simple drawing of my cabinet layout with the exact measurements of where the CENTER center of each recessed light should be to fall exactly at the center of that upper cabinet, by how many inches from the it should be from the from the outside wall and how many inches from the wall the cabinets would be hung on. After the cabinets went in they were perfectly placed and she was very happy when she saw them. She said she has seen them poorly done before when are not placed properly and it can not easily be changed once the cabinets are in. Again, then you WOULD have to open the ceiling and do patching and everything. An expensive and messy mistake. Many people live with poorly done lights afterwards because of what is involved in fixing them. Sue