NEVER BUILD A CASTLE!

I probably sound bi-polar with my ups and downs....After you read my NYC thoughts and now this you might be wondering.

We broke ground late October for the Queen's Parents In-Law Quarters. Maybe it's my lack of experience but I thought that we would probably move them in by the end of December. Didn't happen. Now we have a move-in date of 26 January. Of course I am not holding my breath on that one either. Kitchenette cabinets arrived yesterday and the stain was to be put on them. When I arrived home yesterday afternoon I took a look. They were horrible. One coat of stain is the norm I was told. Well one coat of stain on these cabinets looked like somebody had shot paint balls full of stain on the cabinets. They are splotchy uneven and not pretty! I asked Shane, the painter to add another coat to a drawer to see what that did.....Well it pretty much did the same thing only to a greater degree. Parts of the wood are light and parts are dark and parts are between the two.

I chose Maple wood on the recommendation of the cabinet company owner. Being told that it was good wood to stain. I'm here to tell you Maple is not good wood to stain in the Brinker Castle! Of course now we have options....all of which will require lots more time, lots more money and lots more frustration for me....at least the way I see it. Not that this is all about me.....So I did some research last night on the internet for help. Found an article that says if wood is sanded with the wrong grade of sandpaper it will become unable to accept stain. Could this be our problem? Also found that you can use a stain that is semi-transparent rather than transparent....should this be what we used? Who knows? All I know at this point is that we have cabinets that look pitiful....we are being billed for them....and I have not idea what we should do to make them look good.

Call me crazy, call me hormonal, tell me I'm off my rocker, but I believe that there is some way to make these cabinets look like they should. Meeting with painter and contractor later....I'll keep you posted.....