A stoneworker’s error forced Grace Lee-Lim to problem-solve creatively—with stunning results. Here’s how she went back to the drawing board and made it work.

It was the final stretch of a long project, and everything was coming together beautifully—until Grace Lee-Lim saw the fireplace surround that had been installed in the primary bedroom. The stone was intended to be cut in three pieces, with two equally wide sides and a narrower top, but the stone fabricator had instead cut it into a single, symmetrical square, with all sides equidistant from the center. Lovely, yes, but not what Lee-Lim had specified.

Grace Lee-LimCourtesy of Grace Lee-Lim