Why not put the stone you love on the exterior where it will actually add value to the home rather than covering the interior with something that will be dark, hard to clean, hard to hang pictures or cabinets from, and kinda cavelike. And EXPENSIVE! The stone itself isn't cheap, but you have to pay someone to put it up, you might as well be buying an all new home in costs. And vinyl? For the exterior? With 200K worth of stone on the interior? I think you are pulling our legs. If you are not, then you need to step back and look at your home's style and layout for cues for renovations that would be appropriate to it. And start developing DIY skills. It will save you a lot of money.

Perhaps we should get the OP in touch with the person who is building a "basement" house underground.

Not pulling anyones leg. We may put stone on outside, but we like wood look also. Can we not use stone veneer? not full stone? to cut costs? We won't be spending no 200K on the interior, not even close. Our house isn't that large. Mainly looking for stone in kitchen and basement. wood elsewhere.

basement house underground ???? huh?

Thanks for the help....

We plan to retire in this home, and won't be selling for over 30 years or more. We want something we enjoy and are not worried about resell value.

Here's a link. There are others if you search and you might check in with your library and home improvement stores for books.

Here is a link that might be useful: wood and stone interior pics

You need to research the meaning of terms like "thin stone", "stone veneer", "cast stone" and all of the synthetic imitative stone cladding materials. In general "stone veneer" is an exterior cavity wall system not appropriate for interior use.

Historically real stone houses had cement plaster finishes on the inside so there are few historical precedents for bare interior stone walls in living spaces unless you wish to emulate medieval castles.

Can your interior structure take the weight? Stone and brick, other than the very thin veneers, when placed on the outside of the home require a brick ledge on the foundation. If you're going to cover a non-load bearing wall in a stone veneer what structure is going to carry that weight? At least with outside walls which are covered with stone veneer, the weight is transferred into the load bearing exterior walls.

Guess that question could've been asked back in the day when water beds were hip. I've seen garden tubs with river rock surrounds, island cabinets with stone veneer, and everyone has seen enormous fireplace surrounds. It all has to be tagged in with the design process in conjunction with the structural engineers load calculations. Pretty decent advantage having a basement although it might include support posts/beams in unwanted space. I would stone and re-stucco the exterior vs. vinyl siding.