I think you have to let it go. These look like very minor issues, definitely nothing that would require a redo. Hopefully once your kitchen is 100% complete you will be able to look at it with enjoyment.

I agree with kcatherine. This has been a nightmare of a project for you and you spent a lot of money on your cabinets, so you are going to over focus on everything. You will notice everything. It won't be perfect. My kitchen is done and there are things that are not perfect. Perfection does not exist. I have fixed what can be and have had to let the other stuff go. No one else will notice any of the things you are noticing. Try putting these issues into perspective. Often times that helps me get a grip :)

I sympathize with your frustration. I am a bit of a perfectionist also and small things like this make me crazy. I do think that some of the things you have pictured here should not have happened. The GC and the KD should have caught and immediately corrected these issues. Also the contractors performing the work should have discussed the problems and gotten your input on solutions for example the walls being out of level and impacting the installation of the tile. Just my opinion. On the other side of the coin, we reno'd our kitchen in 2008 and most of the things that initially caught my attention such as one travertine floor tile that seemed to be a different color now don't even catch my eye. WE DIY'd so we were responsible for all the good and bad, which is it's own kind of frustration. Also other people did not notice the things that made me crazy or so they said :-) I tried very hard to let some things go so that my husband who was working so hard on the project would not be overly stressed. We were working full time and doing the whole reno at night and on weekends. It was tough and my perfectionistic tendencies could have put us over the edge. I guess in the end if I were in your shoes I would research options, discuss with the GC and KD and if the options are worse than the current situation then breathe and move on. I know lots of people on this forum will identify with your frustration as anyone involved in a major project will eventually deal with these types of issues. Best of luck and try to focus on the things that you love about the finished product.

I sympathize with you, but from the sidelines it seems like nothing is making you happy. If I'm trying to provide you a service, I don't know what to do at this point. I think you have to pick your battles and be realistic that nothing is ever 100% perfect. In time, most of these things will go away as first world problems usually do. When you cook, is every part of your meal perfect? Mine aren't

Your backsplash looks to me like you used large format tile, but maybe you really wanted a mosaic? It looks beautiful by the way.

We have only one issue that still puffs my feathers three years later. I had asked the architect and contractor to widen the doorway from the dining room. Turns out the architect didn't get it in the plans and I wasn't home to notice it. My problem was work had me traveling out of town so much. There wasn't an easy way to make it happen, so I live with it. First world problems.

Oh, and when it's all done, you are going to find a couple things you might have chosen differently. It just happens.

I think when you have things go wrong early in a project, you start looking for other mistakes and notice everything. The knobs, let that go. No one will ever notice & you will forget about it. The tile, you don't have many seams so each one that is not perfect is more visible to you. I can see where you'd want consistency in the size of the seams. If you have extra tile & they can promise you it won't look worse, let them try to fix it.

Don't beat yourself up - you've had enough issues that you are entitled to your feelings. I've followed most of your posts. In the end, you are going to have a gorgeous kitchen. The backsplash is beautiful.

Agree with other posters, sometimes you just have to let the little things go. When we did so remodeling before we moved in to our house 6 years ago, my daughter chose an accent tile border for her shower that came on a mesh backing. The tiles were various shapes, but evenly spaced on the mesh. When the installers were done, the first thing I noticed was a small 2 inch tile that had shifted on the mesh and was crooked! It jumped out at me every single time I went in that bathroom, straight ahead when you walked in the door, but nobody else even noticed it. To be honest, I don't notice it now, but I do know it's there and always will. It was one of several "let it go" items from that remodel. Someone mentioned a floor tile, we have travertine floors throughout all of the common areas and right as you walk in the front door, there is a tile that is significantly darker(to me) than surrounding tiles. We spent hours sorting through pallets of tiles, making piles of tiles that were to be used for cuts only, with blue painters tape on the areas to be discarded. But the guys who layed the floor gave no mind to aesthetics, hence one dark tile in my foyer! As with the tilted bathroom tile, I still see it, but it has long since become just part of the floor.

Your new kitchen will be beautiful and once you are done, all the little things you see so distinctly right now will just become part of your gorgeous new kitchen, I promise!

I agree with Romy--the knobs ( which are gorgeous btw, who makes those?) are not a big deal but I might try to have the tile fixed. Seams bug me too.

No one else would ever notice these issues. Your kitchen is going to be gorgeous. Everything you have selected is beautiful.

Doing a new kitchen draws your attention to every single detail. Spending time on these boards will make you notice things you would never have seen otherwise. Go visit some friends' kitchens, and really focus on the details. You will see flaws everywhere.

Spend a little time in your kitchen at a typical viewing perspective of cooking, hanging out, etc, instead of close-up views of the issues. See if they still bug you. Large format tiles are difficult to get completely even. Cabinet pulls can be moved. Will the possible damage from trying to fix those things create more problems? Don't make yourself crazy seeking the unattainable.

When you are sick and tired of having decision fatigue and stressing over every last thing.

I get it, I really do. I am the same way. But 6 years into a whole house reno, and I have given up on arguing the small things. And you know what? I am a heck of a lot happier.

ETA: A few things that bugged me but I have let go:

The kitchen windows are not as big as I would have liked, and since they are two windows side by side they have a large divider smack in the middle of my view. I only recently let this go because we finally redid the kitchen, and it makes the room as a whole look so lovely that the windows seem fine.

The faucet is slightly off-center to that center divider. Meh, turn the faucet head a bit to the right to disguise the issue.

The rangetop is not centered on the hood - it lines up on one side but not the other bc the hood is 47" not 48". I noticed this after DH spent all.day. installing the lower cabinetry. Does it mess up our backsplash plans? Sure. Oh well though.

DH installed the handles on the upper cabinets and lower corner pullout lower than I would like. I still think they look funny. Not enough to move them and patch or replace the doors, though.

We were instructed to leave a larger, nickel sized gap between every 5 boards or so when DH laid the prefinished hardwoods years ago. The thing is, we laid them at peak humidity for the year, so we shouldn't have done that. The wood shrinks and the gap gets even larger in the dry winter heat. Does it catch crumbs? Yes. Am I going to deal with having them relaid, even if DH had offered to? NO.

I should have gone with satin instead of semi-gloss trim. The trim is only half painted so I should really bite the bullet and do everything in satin. I'm not going to, though.

I'm sure I have others if I thought about them. The thing is, I am so tired of this reno, and the house as a whole is so much lovelier than it was that I can overlook these things. I promise you will stop seeing these issues eventually.

Your backsplash is really cool! And the knobs are beautiful.

I would see those things too - for a while. Pretty soon it becomes less obvious; later, you only notice if you're looking for it. Once you get the trim work done, and have things on the counters, the seams will no longer be the most prominent thing you see. Right now, with the window and light switches unfinished, your attention is drawn to what is NOT done!

I hope that once you are able to move into your kitchen and use it, you will be so taken with all it's wonders and charms, you will no longer notice its small flaws. Two years after our remodel, I still find myself saying "I love my new [fill in the blank with whatever feature I happen to be using at the moment]!"

It is hard to see the tile on my computer. I feel your pain on your knobs. I am usually a bit OCD but in this case, I must have had blinders covering my eyes. After 3 years, I just noticed that one pull out of many is not level. I am the only person who has noticed this. Had I seen it originally, I would have have wanted it fixed. I doubt I can complain after 3 years. - Fortunately, it is on my "cave" drawer which is in the sun room and not the main part of the kitchen.

I have mostly under cabinet outlets but have a few switches and outlets on the tile. One is slightly crooked - no one has mentioned it. The other goes into our trim. Had I known about the laser(or whatever they are called) GD switch, I would have gotten rid of the one on the wall (which is crooked). And I could have done without the one that goes through the trim piece totally. I thought I wanted a switch for the UCL on that side of the kitchen but in reality, I could have done without.

Bottom line - in reality, you probably won't be bothered as much down stream but might kick yourself for not doing something else.

Hm, is it something that you notice immediately? And how big a deal is it to fix it? I guess you need to pick your battles. I'm more bothered by crooked outlets and uneven hanging doors.

At this point, just get them out of your house. Once it's yours again, you can fiddle with stuff. It sucks that things can't be right the first time, when you pay for them, but your sanity is priceless.

If you trust your GC and he thinks he really can do better on the tile, let him try, but walls are walls and it might not be better. It might just prolong the project. Or think of going back with a colored pencil to get creative on the grout lines.

The knobs--that I don't get. Didn't they use a template? I'd be pretty irritated by that, but I'd still just want them gone. You can fix it later if it bugs you after a while. It's not so far off that enlarging the hole slightly and putting some filler in to hold the knob where you want it won't work.

Make the knobs get fixed! That will bug you forever, and should NOT have happened. Poor installation.

We built our home 4 years ago. Similar problems. I can live with the grout. The knobs would still be driving me nuts. Also, do not pay installation on the knobs until they are right!

I am OCD and I have had to train myself to embrace minor imperfections. I have adopted the Wabi Sabi world view and am much happier for it. Yoga also helps alot. My mantra is "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

Jerzee, is that the polite version of "Half-assed is better than no-assed"?

rotflol. It was a hard-learned lesson but over the years I have discovered that chasing perfection is a fool's errand.

thanks, guys. they fixed the one knob for me and i had a pointed conversation about details and how exacting i am, and therefore need them to be.

with regard to the backsplash, we are going to definitely change at least one of the tiles that's really bothering me. and see how that goes - if it gets better or stays the same.

i am hopeful that these issues will fade from my mind once i'm actually using the kitchen. i did finally use my new dishwasher last night and that was awesome!!

to answer questions: knobs are top knobs trevi collection in polished nickel and backsplash is DECO NACARE BLANCO from Porcelanosa http://www.porcelanosa-usa.com/home/products/tile/wall.aspx/d=37820/title=Deco_Nacare_Blanco

Me, the tile would not bother me because with large tiles you almost can't help some misalignment. Smaller tile allows more room for correction and is easier to work with. But the knobs would bother me only because even the most unskilled, inexperienced cabinet maker knows how to make a template (as Fori also mentioned above). A template would enable every knob to be placed in the identical spot in each cabinet door.

Having said that, as others have pointed out, you should step back and keep things in proper perspective. For example, I have been living with my front entry door, that I bought at great expense, with its knob placed at 33" high rather than 36" standard, and also the 36" height is the height of the knobs on the 2 foyer closets, so the difference is noticeable. It never occurred to me in advance to ask the guy who made my door where he would be placing the knob. It's my front door so of course it's noticeable. The door is otherwise beautiful and makes me happy, so I've shrugged my shoulders about the knob. Think about truly awful things that happen to people and can happen in life, and put in perspective your tile and knob installation.

step back about 10 feet and take another picture of the tile.

Late to the party, but for what it's worth, I just wanted to say that I cheered for you when I read you'd had a 'pointed conversation about details'.

Yes, there is value in letting go; yes, there is sanity in accepting things that no-one else will notice. But it's not no-one else's kitchen, it's yours. You have spent years planning, designing and dreaming and are paying for the work; of course some compromises are inevitable but there should be very few, only those caused by 'force majeure'.

I lived in Tokyo for 6 years with tradesmen so perfectionist that sometimes I'd want them just to leave rather than watch them painstakingly readjust that screw again. It made me realise, though, that all too often, we put up with 'good enough' because a contractor is too lazy, too hurried, cares too little or is just not good enough to do it right. And we shouldn't just have to accept it all.

So yay for you from me and I hope your new kitchen will be like you wanted it.

Tile lippage these days is simply unacceptable with few exceptions such as the wood plank look floors. There are several systems that eliminate it. If the walls were in bad shape, they should have been repaired beforehand. No excuses. None. Tear it out and do it over. Let them cast lippage shadows in their kitchens, not yours.

Pull the hardware and enlarge the hole enough to provide knob adjustment, but still cover the elongated hole with the knob base. Do this on your own; they've gotten it close enough to deserve payment.

There is no excuse for off center/mismatched hardware either. If you've got a kitchen full of holes to drill, it makes sense to hot melt glue a drilling jig together out of wood scraps that has a left and right side. After fine tuning, you drill the same hole in the same location every single time without measuring. (My nephew's IKEA dresser has a stainless steel "decoration" added to each drawer because 30-years-experience Uncle Joe apparently cannot accurately and repeatedly read a tape measure.)

thanks, guys. they moved that one knob. we're going to work on the tile in a few spots once the new hood piece comes in (issue discussed in separate post). at that point they're going to have to remove tile, so they want to just do all tile stuff at one time.

but i'm otherwise feeling pretty good. all my knobs and pulls are on. i've used my dishwasher the last few nights and will be putting stuff away in my fridge tomorrow. feeling like the light is distantly at the end of the tunnel! i'm trying very, very hard to let go of total crazy exact perfection seeking. my therapist tells me there's simply no such thing ;)

So glad to hear things are moving in the right direction.

And your therapist sounds like the lady who sold me my first of two custom livingroom sets this last redecorating adventure. After it was delivered, within a short bit I realized the back on one couch was crooked, noticeably. Called her out to the house where she promptly agreed with me it was crooked, and then preceeded to say we use the word perfect where it doesn't belong. The funny thing is, I never said it should be perfect. But what it should have been, and everything else we pay good money for, is acceptable. A crooked couch back is not, and neither is a lot of what you have gotten/received. Unfortunately that seems to be the way things roll more and more. Less than, acceptable, but they want you to accept it. (and sometimes pay a LOT of money for it) I feel your pain, I do pray it ends soon and you can just embrace and enjoy your beautiful kitchen. I can't wait to see it. :)

How did things wrap up with your kitchen? Did you get some of your issues taken care of? Curious after all of your problems how things turned out on the end.

ha - this would presume that we're wrapped up???....

we are not. we are still waiting on a date. simply a date. for when the new hood piece will be ready. waiting on a side fridge panel. waiting on a large set of doors from a cabinet that was originally made 3.5" too small - they got us the box so we could mount, but it's been doorless for over a month.

many/most of our other finishes are done. toe-kicks and tapmasters went in today - yippee! and we're fully living/cooking/eating in there - we share space with the contractors daily. but it's still not a finished space. i would love to share photos - but it's just not good enough to share yet :/

thanks for asking

Well at least you have your kitchen back :) and you are coming down the home stretch. I have been waiting on 100 sq ft. Of flooring for 8 weeks because my salesman measured wrong... Ahhh. Well I will be anxiously awaiting your reveal. Thanks for the update!

I'm glad Lily asked, I wanted to but was affraid. lol Good to hear things are coming along, sorta. Hope the rest falls into place soon, we want pics of that (we are sure) gorgeous kitchen! :)

I understand. We finished, mostly. It took me a month before I could consider things complete enough to take pictures. I'm still waiting for the security man to install a carbon monoxide detector in the basement. Without it, I can't pass the final inspection. It's always something. At least, most of your mess is over. The last few items won't make dust or debris.