WHAT THE HECK???

I suppose I had been lulled into a sense of complacency.  I mean, sure I'd heard all the stories of remodel nightmare - difficult contractors, surly deliverymen, cost overruns.  But we've had none of that - our contractor and all of his workers are just joys to work with - they are creative, experienced professionals who are truly helping us to shape the kitchen/dining room/GREAT room of my dreams!

And with only a couple of surprises that have been quickly dealt with (and have generated even MORE GREAT ideas!), it seemed that we were chugging along not only ahead of schedule but under budget as well.  UTTER PERFECTION!

UNTIL...

It started so ordinary.  Yesterday, the "vent people" were here dragging debris from crawl space area under the house and working to relocate some of the heating vents so they won't be right in front of each of the doors.






Meanwhile the construction guys were working on finishing the flooring, the electrical and the sheet rock - all of which need to be completed before the cabinets (now taking up pretty much every available space in our house) can be installed.

Todd decided to pop open one cabinet so that he could check out the "toe kick situation" just as I happened to be popping in for a peek (and possibly photo op).  He asked if I wanted to see my new cabinets (because he knew I was anxious to see them - all I have is a sample door).  Imagine my surprise when I saw this:

Surprise rapidly turned to horror - somebody tell me I hadn't really ordered EXACTLY THE SAME DAMN CABINETS I HAD BEFORE!?!?!?!?!

Todd said he was a bit surprised when he saw them and he went out in the garage (where many of the old cupboards are still stored) to see just how similar they were to the new ones.  Other than a different finish (this new one appears to be Hickory while the old ones were Oak), it was EXACTLY the same.

I looked at Todd in total shock - and he asked me if maybe I had a picture of something?  Not only did I have a photo, I still had the sample door.  We compared it and while the box was labeled absolutely correctly, the cabinet before us was a) not the right finish; b) it wasn't even a cabinet we had ordered.

ARGH!!!!!!

I called my designer, Sue and left voice mail.  Then I emailed her.  She said she and her husband, Tom (who's company we placed the order through) were on their way over.  Tom, was stymied - and not at all happy (because he's still trying to figure out how/why they put this 30" vanity cabinet into a 27" box).

I figured we were going to have to open all the crates (56 of them...well, okay...by now only 53 because Todd and I opened two more to see if they were all going to be wrong which would create a HUGE delay in the project) in order to determine that we actually had all the correct pieces in front of us.  Sue & Tom assured me that this one piece was an aberration and that everything else should be correct.  I sure hope they're right but we probably won't know for certain until next week when installation begins.

Good thing I set up the mini bar in the laundry room!

~later, "hoping this is our major glitch for this project" tw