[tevake]

Hey My wife didn't want stone counter tops for just those reasons, too hard, to cold.
We went for silestone, a manufactured material. One of the factors was the installer. The guy that did ours was excellent to work with. Plus we couldn't believe the price for stone here. I was so glad she felt as she did.

Sounds like Madmmac may be working up a new lay out for you. That stove does look just jammed in there. A half wall to its left could improve things. IMO

Cheers Richard