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american universal tile has a lot of great inexpensive options...google the name for the website. (I don't work there, but I've bought from them twice now, their prices are always the lowest I can find.)

They are beautiful and practical but really do consider the cleaning issues with tile counters. My house came with them and it is really hard to keep the grout looking clean (even if it is clean, it gets really dingy fast). In fact I am now eagerly awaiting the day I can rip them out. :(

I agree with sally305. I know it seems to be a common solution for counters. But we just ripped ours out because the grout looked horrible even when clean. Granted ours were (very) poorly installed by the previous owner. So they didn't have much going for them to begin with.

Maybe it would be worth asking at your local tile store what is recommended when doing tiles on the counter. Perhaps there's a grout sealant that could help keep it looking new and clean.

I've never seen a hex shape on counters though. Would definitely be a nice way to keep the tiled look interesting.

Give Rejuvenation a call. Many of the photos in the catalog are from home here in Portland (where they are based). 503-238-1900. They have a resource sheet for things they don't carry.
B.

Not that you asked but i would nix the idea of using tiles as a counter top. It will date your kitchen in a couple of years. perhaps you can use the tiles as a back splash.

"Not that you asked but i would nix the idea of using tiles as a counter top. It will date your kitchen in a couple of years."

Um, Yeah - They're clearly going for a period kitchen for their bungalow, otherwise they'd be at Home Depot slapping in some black granite & stainless steel like everyone else.

There are lots of great resources for period tile and fixtures on Retrorenovation.com...
...but I've also found some here:
http://www.missiontilewest.com/styles/revival/2.html

Tile counters are uneven (if subtly so) and sometimes things with narrow bases tip. They are hard to keep clean. (Can't use the surface to write on, either, without padding.)

I wouldn't be happy with anything but some version of solid surface, whether butcher block or granite or Corian... Your mileage may vary, of course.

Any tile dealer should be able to get you pretty much any tile you want, even if not in stock.

Thanks for all the suggestions! We're still deciding if this is the way we want to go or not. Unfortunately, the budget doesn't allow for nice solid surfaces or stone, but we wanted something nicer than laminate, that would be of the period. We worry about the grout issues too, but if that counter in the Rejuvenation picture is from the 1930s and has lasted that long and still looks good, than I don't think it will be a problem!

Sally--

Did you know that there's such a thing as grout sealer?
It helps keeping the maintenance of your grout to a manageable level.

http://www.thisoldgrout.com/

McIntyre Tile makes exactly what you are looking for. You can go to thier website to find a dealer in your area.

http://www.mcintyre-tile.com/

I agree that tile counters are not a great idea. The grout is one issue, but they are also annoyingly uneven and can look dated in a bad way. You can still get a retro look with solid surface countertops which I'm sure would be much better for resale (should you move in the future) and you do a hexagonal tile backsplash.

My father has been setting tile for the past 20 years, and he would just cut square tiles to the type of hex you would like. Also if they are a skilled tile setter, they will ALWAYS use a grout sealant (impregnator) and I'd use one that is water soluble. Only apply to the grout joint, and not onto the tile itself. It can damage the finish on the tile.

That is a nice idea to put a modern spin on a period kitchen. I considered doing black penny rounds, until I figure out we have 70 square feet of counter top, not including the island I wanted to do in butcher block. Black penny round starts at $15 a square foot!

So, yes... hex normally wouldn't have been used on a counter, but I think it is an interesting look and much better than any of the trends going on now.

Mission Tile in Cali has large hex tiles:
http://www.missiontilewest.com/styles/revival/2.html

Hope that helps.

P.S.
I decided on concrete counters made to look like soapstone in our 1906 home. Hubby does concrete (for the dept of transportation), so it seemed a cool way to make the kitchen a statement about us, yet keep it fairly traditional.

I agree with Sally. I have tile counters (which were there when we moved in) and I HATE HATE HATE them. They're impossible to keep clean, and anything wet runs over the edge onto the floor.

They look great in pictures, but in real life I can't wait till I can rip them out.

I also couldn't manage solid surface counters on my budget at my last house, and instead went with very large tiles. The tiles were quite large (maybe 18 inches square). We had full tiles at the front 18 inches of the countertop, and cut a few pieces to 6 inch pieces for the back 6 inches of the countertop). We only needed something like 20 total tiles (small kitchen) and had very few grout lines to deal with. The large size of the tile also meant we could put down plates and other large items on a single tile (so no wobbling of things hitting different tiles or part of a grout line).

The cost of each tile was fairly high, but the cost per square foot was very low (I want to say under $10 a sq foot). I think our total cost (including tile, thinset mortar, grout, sealer, etc....we already owned a tile saw after a DIY bathroom remodel) was about $300 and it took a weekend of work (large tiles are much easier to DIY than lots of small tiles). I think we found the tiles at Costco (of all places....) or some other big box store.

We used a dark gray slate and matching dark gray grout. Cleaning wasn't much of an issue because there were so few grout lines and the color was quite dark (and we resealed the stone and grout annually). While not recommended by tile pros, we set them right on top of the existing stained/burnt/ugly red formica (our counters had straight profile edges, so we didn't have to worry about covering any edges.

We sold the house about 3 years ago to friends. The tiled countertops are still going strong after 10 years of use.

This is not a photo of my old kitchen, but it gives some idea what I am talking about. We didn't use any edging strips because the cut edges of stone tiles are the same color as the face of the tile (generally not the case with porcelain or ceramic). My old kitchen a lot better.

http://www.europamericantile.com/tileinformation/countertop.html

The photos here are not very good, but also give some explanation:

http://www.schluter.com/3779.aspx

mmm thats a lot of grout to clean for a counter.....but i have them on a wall made out of travertine, bought them in florida the store number is 407 7748600 you can get a sample before ordering ....i love them!

http://www.subwaytile.com/mosaics_P.shtml

I have large white hex tiles on a bathroom floor which is sorely in need of repair; we've been able to piece together most of them, but still need a few ~ so...thanks to all who posted resources for these...believe me, we've looked on-line and otherwise.

The kitchen in my 1938 home has yellow hexagonal tile for the countertop, and burgundy rectangular tile for the borders of the countertop and the backsplash. The burgundy tile also surrounds the faucet. Yes, the grout gets dirty at times. I clean it with bleach. Yes, some of the grout is old and chipping. A few of the tiles are even chipped. Nevertheless, the tile is almost as old as, if not as old as the house and it still looks pretty good. I wouldn't replace it with Corian or any solid surface. In fact, I'm thinking of replacing the two chipped tiles with the same exact tile if I can find it.

Go with the yellow hexagonal tile!

I had those exact counters in my kitchen!- they even had the red line on the backsplash and black border on the counter edge. My house is 100 yrs old and the kitchen was probably the original kitchen installed when they finally got indoor plumbing.
At first I thought "oh how charming". Then a few years later I couldn't wait to tear them out. The grout was gross, they never looked clean and the color was just sad!
I finally ripped it out and put in Caesarstone. I love them now!
At the end of the day, get what you love- if you adore tile, cleaning them won't be terrible. Just don't stay with "original" because you think you need to!