Google tells me that "hearth" is the correct term, but basically I'm talking about the floor area right in front of the fireplace.

We are looking at using painted cement tiles in front of our wood-burning fireplace and are wondering if there's a reason we haven't seen this usage much before- something kind of simple and dark colored, but more fun than just a standard stone style slab. I know virtually nothing about fireplaces (ours will be restored in our renovation) but cement seems like a good choice. Is there a reason this is unpopular?