APEX, N.C. — Dianne Reaves' bedroom was once also part of her kitchen.

She had to store dishes, pots and pans there because she did not have her new kitchen cabinets.

"My little grandsons come here all the time and say, 'Nanna, where are your cabinets?'" Reaves said.

Reaves wanted to know, too. Last September, she hired Ernest Farrar, of Farrar Custom Wood Working, to build new cabinets in her kitchen and laundry room. She paid him $2,300 of the $5,100 total, up front. The cabinets were supposed to be installed by Oct. 31, 2005.

"The week before Thanksgiving, he called and said he was not able to do the job then," Reaves said. "'I said, 'Oh God, I don't have no cabinets for Thanksgiving.'"

Christmas came and went, and Reaves kept calling and even stopped by his shop. She said she last heard from Farrar in May.

"When will I ever get my cabinets? And it's like, I can't keep living like this. It's not fair," she said.

When 5 On Your Side called Farrar, he said he had hurt his back in a "car accident" and was "unable to work." He said Reaves' cabinets were done, called her and started installing them within a week.

"Now, I got my bedroom back," Reaves said. That's because her dishes are back in her kitchen cabinets -- where they belong.

"Overall, I am very pleased. They are very nice. I am so happy to have some cabinets on my wall, so now I can have a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas."

Reaves says Farrar still needs to do some trim work and install the laundry room cabinets.

David McCorkle