The original fireplace had a traditional dark wood mantel, red brick surround and a dilapidated brass and glass bi-fold door. If you're wondering, it IS an upside Christmas tree in the corner!
The new fireplace has cement board that is built out from the wall a few inches. This was necessary to bring the top level with the existing bricks that we were not about to rip off the wall so we needed to build on top of them. The hearth was laid first and set for a couple of days before work on the wall started. There were only a few four letter words while the wall was going up, but it went pretty smoothly. A shiny sealer was applied to the stone which brought out their individual characteristics.
