Upgrading a ho hum built-in

 I am currently working on a re-vamp of an exsisting built in for a family in a near by town...we had a chance meeting when I bought a couple of shelves from Ellen about 4 years ago or so...I built her a couple of padded headboards and have done lot's of trim work and a banquette.
It was time to re-paint the family room but Ellen refused to repaint this less than beautiful built-in that they inherited when they purchased this home.
With a lot of re-working this will be a truly beautiful white fresh center piece of the great room.

 The plans were/are to remove the tile and mantel re tile and build new mantel, remove the tile from the hearth and clad with trim and wood painted white, add a shelf on either side, remove glass doors and middle vertical piece, fill in gap above unit and add crown moulding, face frame all the shelving and add bead board to the back of shelves.

This is the style and over all feel I am trying to create.

What has been added to the project,( these things happen all the time, you get in there and other changes become obvious )...remove angled hearth to create a flush with the flooring tile hearth, add foot detail to both base cabinets and new doors for the base cabinet.

Day one was demo day of course, for the most part this all went well a little messy but all that needed to came out successfully.

 Day two we searched and selected marble for the surround and hearth, Ellen picked a classic carrera marble subway tile, a great timeless choice.

 Removing this framing allows us to re shape the hearth, cutting the hardwood I can square this out. The previous owner was a contractor and he loved angles.

 Day three progress was good, I was able to add the two extra shelves, the shelf on the right went smoothly but the left shelf took over an hour because of the angled duct running up the left side, I had to create a template, let's just say it wasn't that easy...I'm just glad its over.

 I face framed the shelves for a nice thick look with the most beautiful poplar.

Today I will tackle a few more details...I will post the progress here, check back in a couple of days.