We built much of our house ourselves, using reclaimed material to make the new house feel old. Although we had no experience in masonry, we felt confident we would be able to figure out how to do the fireplace. Turns out, laying rock is much like playing tetris! Order more rock than you think you will need, make sure you've got plenty of corner pieces, and lay out a rough plan before you actually start laying the stone. Always measure twice before you cut. Then, it is just a matter of trial and error.. and patience. It took us about two days from start to finish, but we couldn't be happier with the results!
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~Bliss~