I found a really cool cold-steam electric fireplace on good a clearance discount, so I bought it before I really figured out what to do with it. It sat frameless in my bedroom for a few years until I set to work building a surround for it. Measurements that I carried in my phone's MyMeasures app for longer than I care to admit.

I built a box out of pine 1 x 12 boards, and added a layer of cement backerboard over the front. Then I got see how well my YouTube education on laying tile would serve me.

My friend Linda had given me a fantastic thick old wooden plank that had served for decades (centuries?) as a bar top in Boston. I love to run my fingers across the dented surface and imagine all the pint glasses that clattered down over the years from hands heavy with beer.