Royal Oak, Michigan | Custom Plaster Fireplace
& Firewood Cubby

This Royal Oak living room had good bones — high ceilings, generous natural light, and a wood-burning fireplace that the family used regularly. But the fireplace surround felt dated and disconnected from the rest of the home's aesthetic. And with an active wood-burning fireplace comes a practical challenge: firewood. There was nowhere intentional to store it — no place that felt like it belonged in the space rather than sitting beside it.

The clients wanted something that would transform the fireplace into a genuine focal point while solving the firewood storage problem in a way that looked designed rather than improvised.

The Project

Custom plaster fireplace surround with firewood cubby — Royal Oak Michigan living room remodel by Costello & Co Construction

Hand-applied matte plaster fireplace surround — Royal Oak Michigan fireplace remodel by Costello & Co

The Solution

We designed and built a custom plaster fireplace surround that completely reimagines the living room's focal wall. The surround is hand-applied in a warm, matte plaster finish — soft, textural, and continuous from the firebox opening up through the mantel shelf. The result is a fireplace that feels substantial and intentional, like it was always meant to anchor the room, not just occupy a wall.

The plaster finish we used here creates a surface with subtle variation and depth that changes slightly depending on the light — richer and warmer in the evening, softer and more luminous during the day when the room fills with natural light from the adjacent windows. It's one of our favorite finishes to work with because no two applications are ever identical.

The Fireplace Cubby

The firewood storage was designed as part of the same composition rather than as a separate addition. We built a custom plaster cubby directly beside the fireplace — finished in the same hand-applied plaster as the surround so the two elements read as one unified installation rather than an afterthought.

The cubby is proportioned to hold a generous supply of firewood at a comfortable height, open-fronted so the stacked wood becomes part of the visual composition. There's something inherently warm and inviting about visible firewood beside a working fireplace — it signals that this space is actually used, that fires actually get lit. The cubby makes that practical reality feel intentional and designed.

This is exactly the kind of detail we love solving for — a functional need that, with the right design thinking, becomes one of the most characterful elements in the room.

The Result

The transformation is dramatic from across the room. What was a flat, dated surround is now a sculptural plaster installation with real presence. The warm cream tone of the plaster connects with the room's natural palette — the linen upholstery, the wood-handled fire tools, the art above the mantel — in a way that feels cohesive and considered throughout.

The firewood cubby completes the composition on the right side of the fireplace, balancing the visual weight of the installation while giving the family a practical, beautiful place to keep wood close to where it's needed.

For a family that uses their fireplace regularly, this renovation turned a functional room feature into the room's defining moment.