I think you should consider stone veneer for fireplace surrounding. Stone veneer looks a lot like the real thing, with styles ranging from stacked stone to river rock. And if its nicer price tag makes it an option that's hard to pass up. I am telling you this because I have the experience of selection of stone during the construction of fireplace surrounding in my sisters house. We also were confused in making choice between stone or tiles but finally we decided with stone and the choice was correct. The stone veneer really looks cool and I think you should read this blog post http://www.northstarstone.biz/blog/12-ways-to-add-beautiful-stone-veneer-to-your-home/ which will help you in this.

I wish someone would answer you, I was going to post something similar myself. We have a contract on a home and I had the chimney inspected today (realtor says I'm the only person in her entire career to have a chimney inspection, but you'll see why) Inspector told me the flue tiles needed to be replaced and the to reline a chimney was about $4K-$5K or could have the tiles that needed to be repaired which iwas about half that price - he wasn't positive on pricing as he does not do this type of work. He actually called me back and the low end pricing from the company gave him a guesstimate of $1500-$2500 depending on what I decided to actually have done. Originally, this was a wood burning chimney and now is gas. I know there was an issue with the damper not opening correctly and was having the owners clean it out before the inspection. Due to the issue above, he didn't do the cleaning - not until we decided what to do about the flue issue. Anyhow, I'm not putting out any more money on the home, it would be the owners who'd have to repair. My realtor called me back a little while later and said the listing agent spoke to the owners and came up with what they think would be a solution - a vent free gas fireplace. Since I'm a Floridian who's never had a fireplace in her life, I know nothing about any of this. I'm trying to find out if what they are proposing, how it differs from the gas fireplace that's there already. Will what they put in look the same as what's there now? They claim it's more energy efficient. I'm glad you are asking the questions you did above because I wouldn't have known to ask them, so I really hope someone knowledgable will answer. In the meantime, I was given the name of a guy who does gas fireplaces for a living. Will try to reach him and if I can , ask those questions and let you know what I may be able to find. If I go with the ventless, I'm still having them clean out the damper. With it not opening all the way, that means cool air is still coming in, and in summer, cool are is going out. Please let me know if you came across any info. THANKS!!!

Got pictures?

Please stcked stone is already dated and IMO never really belonged indoors at all If you really want help we need info . What is your style maybe some pics of your interiors where you are , IMO the srched window will drive the rest of the design of the FP.