Our fireplace is easily the most important part of our renovation.  The fireplace was the only original piece of character that our house had left.  Everything else had been stripped out over time.  When we bought the house, the fireplace was in rough shape.  REALLY rough shape:

 

We stripped of many layers of paint and stain.  There were layers of white, gray, bright red, more white, stain and some permanent marker.  You can see the tutorial here.

 

Once the fireplace was cleaned up it already looked much better:

 

Last night we were finally able to sand and stain the surround.  I love the way the stain turned out.  The color matches our dining room table almost perfectly.  (The color is English Chestnut and we let it soak for about 6-7 minutes):

 

We ordered a custom cut mirror to replace the old one.  Also, I started building a custom made hearth, but it is not quite finished yet.  I will write a tutorial post for that as soon as I finish up.  I will also be putting tile in around our fireplace insert.  Here is our most updated picture (still needs a little work):

 

 

It sure makes a big difference in the room! Let me know what you think.  Thanks for reading!