I'm Kevin. I live in Salem, Mass with my wife and little boy and I build software.

The Fireplace has been begging for some TLC as we spend the majority of our time at home sitting in the living room. The brick facade was drabby and made the room feel dark. Since we don't have the original woodwork, we decided to make our own surround, inspired by the fireplace upstairs. Most of the wood is new clear or #2 pine, except for the main panel. I resawed an old floorboard to make it. Melissa wanted the new surround to use /something/ from the house, and we'd been saving an old wide-plank board in the basement for nearly three years. The floorboard has a great patina and the tung oil really brought the contrast to life.

The next step is to attach it to the brick, trim it, build a decorative mantle, then paint it up!