I had tile for years in a kitchen, the grout was black so staining wasn't an issue and I was happy with it at the time. But there are so many products available in todays market that it's not wise to just settle on a product that you don't sound thrilled about all because you can't afford granite.

By now it's probably buried 3-4 pages down, but recently there was a thread asking for pics of kitchens that cost under 20,000. One poster used Butcher Block for her counters. I have never been thrilled with Butcher Block counters until I saw hers. They're absolutely gorgeous and if my DH would let me paint my cabinets white, I'd cancel the granite we have on order and install them instead. I was surprised to see how affordably priced they are. She got hers at Lumberliquidators and stepped it up a bit by adding several coats of poly to them. They shine shine shine, and look amazing.

I suggest you go to that thread and check out some of the options people came up with before just settling on something it appears you may not really want.

i had tile countertops and let me tell you, there wasn't a person that didn't come to our house who didn't compliment them! They were porcelain but looked like a tumbled marble. My grout was a dark beige and staining wasn't a problem, but i am they type to clean the countertops after every meal. Anyway, we just got our new granite countertops installed and i have to say, it feels like a breeze to clean them. when i had tile, it didn't really bother me but now that i have something to compare it to, the smooth surface is nicer from a maintenance standpoint. i also had a hard time finding a granite i liked but keep looking.....you may find something. but if you like the look of tile, don't feel like you are "settling" because i think you have more design options with tile. one con, which i'm sure you've heard, i don't think it is good for resale. although everyone complimented the look, they also asked about the cleaning so i think it scares people away. good luck!!!!

I'm biased in favor of formed tile because it's such a classic and time-honored material, used right on through thousands of years by many cultures around the world. With so many people sealing stone counters of various types, I've been wondering if there weren't some good sealers out there that now would make grout easier to keep nice. ??

I hate my tile counters - 80's 6" tile with 1/4 grout with oak edging. Not only is the grout beyond help, its impossible to work directly on the bumpy surface to roll dough...have to use a pastry board or move to the kitchen table. Other than the fact that you can put hot pans directly on tile surface, I would rather have formica...but will use stone in upcoming remodel.

That said, I've seen some beautiful tile counter installations. Perhaps you could use tile in one area and use stainless, wood or stone elsewhere?

When house shopping, tile counters were a definite "replace before moving in" to me. I haven't seen a tile installation yet that didn't make me immediately question the cleanliness of the grout. If you LOVE it, put it on the backsplash, or maybe an island. If it's a matter of wanting granite but not being able to find/afford it right now, I'd put laminate down for the time being. It isn't so permanent or expensive that you'll mind changing it out later.

I just replaced tile counter tops on Thursday a week ago with granite. I had had them for 15 years. The only thing I liked about them was you could place hot items on them. It was impossible to keep the grout clean. It became a real issue especially around the sink area. I couldn't roll out pie or cookie dough or even make cracker crumbs with out getting out the marble board to use. I would rather go with a formica type product instead of tile.

I LOVE tile! I love the way I can put a hot pot or pan down and not worry that it is going to burn. I also didn't mind cleaning the grout. I had white grout. When I moved into the house, it was black from dirt! I bleached it and scrubbed and low and behold, it was white! I resealed it and it was fine. I had to reseal it every couple of years but kept it clean with a bleach spray for the kitchen and a scrubber.

Now, that said, I did go with granite (found mine which I absolutely am still ga ga over!) I love not having the grout but I STILL love tile. It is classic! The variety of the new tiles are amazing and so beautiful!

If you can't find a granite you love (trust me, there are granites out there for every taste and budget--check the internet and stone yards), then go with tile. You can go with big 24 inch tiles so you can minimize your grout lines. It will also help in rolling out pie dough, etc. You can roll out dough directly on the 24 inch tile and not have to worry. There are also beautiful granite and marble tiles out there as well. You can use a 24 inch tile of one of those (granite or marble) for your "baking station," and have the rest be ceramic tile if you wish. The choices and possibilities are endless.

BTW, my sister in her "high end" house in San Diego has granite tiles. I had to get up close to them to realize they were tile and not a slab. They were put in before they moved in but have left them.

I saw another kitchen on Room Service on HGTV/Fine Living (one of those). It was a budget remodel. They kept the same cabs as they were good, replaced the doors and painted them black on the bottom and cream on the top. She had the doors professionally spray painted and stated it was a much cheaper alternative and the finish was going to last.
The designer on the show installed 24 inch marble tiles as an alternative to the slab for the counter and backsplash. They were to die for gorgeous! She then used a similar cabinet(s) she found at a big box store and made a peninsula/island out of them (it was a small galley kitchen). That remodel inspired mine. It was gorgeous! French bistro! I still love it!

If tile is in your budget rather than a slab--go for it. Check out the larger tiles and the possibility of doing a "baking" station with a tile of marble or look for a remnant (much cheaper!) at the local stone yard. Again, the possiblities are only limited by your imagination. Oh, and let us know what you decide to do. I love looking at tile and granite. Yup, even though my kitchen is 99% done, I will be going to a granite yard this morning just to see the beautiful stone! I should have been a geologist.

My favorite kitchen of all time (to look at) is an unrestored 30's kitchen in a house right around the corner from us. It's all white with painted cabinets, tile countertops, hex tiles on the floor and restored period appliances. The owners own a commercial catering kitchen within walking distance and never ever cook in the "time warp" kitchen. They say, "it would be a nightmare to clean, especially the countertops."

My favorite kitchen to cook in (mine) has soapstone and butcher block countertops.

We had tile countertops and HATED THEM (coupled with the overmount sink). The grout catches every crumb and it is so hard to get your countertops clean. Not to mention that the keeping the grout white is hard (we used Clorox bleach pens). I would strongly advise against.

I second the advice above about looking into butcher block. If you do edge grain, it should not be terribly expensive, and you can get finishes these days that are fairly sturdy. Best of all, if you think the top is getting worn, you can just sand it down and finish it again.

The quote we got for 25" x 39" BB counterop was about $300.

I can't tell you, GW community, how helpful these responses are! Let me clarify: we've just about decided on a plain, quiet black granite for the perimeter counters. Thus around clean-up sink, cooktop, in baking center: granite. The island will have a prep sink and will be partly butcher block; it's where I'll do all or most of the daily food prep, chopping, etc., really close to cooktop and ovens. So in my blue/white/yellow kitchen I was longing for blue granite for the island, as sort of the showpiece of the kitchen. BUT all the blues that I truly love, even for a relatively small area, are just beyond our budget. Or at least they seem to DH and me to be more costly than is justified. So then we thought about tiling that one area. But all the caveats against it--I am paying close attention to them, believe me. One posting here that intrigues me is the one about butcher block counters. Now THAT is an idea for that island, though I worry about the prep sink but I must go look for that thread with the pix of the bb counters. Actually, DH last night even mentioned that possibility. Then I could put some blue in the back splash tiles which hopefully would satisfy my blue need. And of course, I will continue looking for an affordable blue granite. We have been to stone yards in a big city nearby and to the ONE here in our local community. Found blues in the big city, but too pricey. Thanks for great, great and most helpful responses! Ali

momali3, just wanted to say that if you do go with the black granite, that entertaining serving dishes and the like, will look beautiful on the black granite! I always think of that because we entertain quite a bit. We are having Madura Gold on the permiters and Uba Tuba on a good sized island. Everything you put on Uba Tuba looks great!

I have also posted before that one of my favorite kitchens was a mexican greyish-green tile.

It is hard to beat granite, but tile is a classic too, IMO.

I like the granite tile at my current house, but still plan to use slab at the new house.

Very narrow grout lines with a dark green that blends into the [pine green] granite. Very easy care.

Working pie crusts and the like requires a pastry board, though.

I had a tile counter at my last house and I hated it. Grout was dirty, the surface was uneven so my scale had to be used on the table to work correctly, the grout was gross and I diod not like the way the rim of the sink looked on the tile as the grout lines were lower then the tile.

You can have butcher block and sinks if you use waterlox to seal them.

-Robin

Had them, hated them, ripped them out and cheered when I did so.

You *can* have an undermount sink with tile. We did. Of course the sink rusted through and there was no way to replace it without ripping up at least some of the tile.

I think I'm going back to granite. Maybe black--love what Olliesmom said about it and how everything, serving dishes, etc. looks good on black. So might put black granite everywhere and forget my idea of blue for island. Black is sort of a neutral, right, so everything looks good with black, even my cobalt blue and white every day dishes. Am going right now to check out Madura Gold. Yellow/gold would also work in my kitchen with pale yellow walls echoing the pale yellow in liv rm which the kitchen is open to. Thanks for great ideas. I am nixxing the tile!

Your cobalt blues and whites would look stunning against black.

Oh, but I just looked at the greatest thread. Have bumped it: What granite always looks clean. Found it when searching for Madura, never saw that, but saw Colonial Gold, lovely. The general theme of that thread is that lighter granites with movement are easier to keep looing clean. Still looking for Madura, still thinking about black, decisions decisions.

The happiest day of my life was the day that sledgehammer hit my tile counters. Happier than my 21st birthday, happier than the day I successfully defended my dissertation, happier than the day I got married...yes, that's how much I HATED those &%#!ing grout lines.

In my defense, I had the worst kind of tile countertops there were: 4" white ceramic tiles with 30-yr old 3/8" used-to-be-white grout that no amount of bleaching could restore to even "non-grungy" status. They were just AWFUL and they've scarred me enough that I cringe at anyone installing tile countertops, even though I know there's a right way to do it so that (supposedly) it's possible to be happy with them. Please keep in mind that this is just my opinion.

We just did a budget remodel of my sister's kitchen. She pulled out laminate and put in tropic brown slab granite on the main work surface and island. But she couldn't justify putting in slab on her desk and the butler's pantry area between the kitchen and the dining room, so we used tropic brown tiles over there with very thin dark grout lines. It looks great, and with the slab in the main work areas, it reads very well. It was a great compromise for her to do part slab, part tile.

Anita