Living Room Reno Update: And Then There Was A Fireplace

Anatomy of a fireplace... Above, the unpainted custom-made new surround, mantle and damper, built piece by piece by contractor Mike... And below, stage by stage. Quite a diff, I'd say eh? *

Here's where we began, above, with my humble, quaint FP... with the idea of installing a damper. Once the bricks were revealed to be a crumbling mess behind the surround, she was sent curbside... And then... step by step...

And look at this lady now... still as yet unpainted. She will end up a glossy bright white...