In my area, riverstone is out and drystack is in: people got tired of looking at all the mortar between those round rocks. 'Cultured' stone is a trademark of Owens corning, but has become a generic term to stone cast of lightweight concrete. Weighs less than real stone, costs more to buy but less to install. Can be used in situations where real stone would require too much structural retrofitting. Cultured stone and el dorado stone are two popular product lines. One of the least expensive looks is to use granite or travertine tiles: sleek and elegant. Choose a stone that compliments the style of the room, and that you'll enjoy looking at for years to come.

Do you have any photos of how you want it to look? I would also worry about the cave effect. We have had a tv ( for movies, not actual tv) over a fireplace in our basement for years but it is a gas FP and therefore the heat can be turned off or down very quickly, unlike a wood fire that burns for hours. If you have a massive Fp I would probably make sure there is a goof layer of heat resistant material above it.

I've posted my kitchen alot lately, so you've probably seen it...if not, click my screen name and there's an album. My island is 11'8" x 4'3" It's where we spend all of our time when we are in the kitchen. Every meal is eaten there, homework, visiting with friends, you name it. It's only ridiculous if it's not in proportion to the rest of your kitchen. ;c) I remember Sharb's kitchen has an island with similar dimensions. Her kitchen is to die for!!!!!!!

We've seen many friends use different colors of "lava rock" to keep people from walking in the flower bed. We have gold Quartzite as part of a wall on our pool, so we needed to find something to go with it. We have a salt water system, so we were told to avoid lava style rocks as the splashed water leaves salt deposits on the rocks. We picked a combination of medium and small river rocks.