Get creative with spare tiles

Whenever a tiling project is undertaken in the home, there are inevitably spare or broken tiles left over. Are your left-over tiles taking up too much space and you don’t know what to do with them? These can often be re-purposed in delightfully creative ways. The following are just a few ways in which you can put these tiles to good use around your home.

Small floor areas:

If you have enough spare mixed tiles, consider tilling the floor of a small cupboard, guest bathroom or shower floor. The trick to making this work is to mix and match spare tiles in a way that doesn’t look haphazard, particularly if the surrounding space and fittings are quite contemporary.

Plan your design carefully beforehand; include a few extra elements such as a mosaic border if necessary to round it off and you could end up with really appealing and unique floor space.

Countertops and backsplashes:

Spare tiles can also be used to add a durable, easily cleanable surface to old countertops or to create a new backsplash in your bathroom or kitchen.

Once the grout is sealed, ceramic tiles make an excellent water-resistant covering for tables, countertops and just about anything else in need of freshening up.

Coasters and trivets:

Spare ceramic tiles work wonderfully when repurposed as coasters and trivets because tile material is resistant to both extreme cold and heat.

Tile coasters and trivets are also very easy to make and can be personalised according to individual family members and styles. Simply pick the tiles that you like best, cut out felt squares the same size as the tiles. Attach them to the tiles with a hot glue gun. Then you personalize the coasters by drawing or writing on them.

Design ideas for children include painting their names on the tile, drawing their favourite cartoons or have them imprint their hands on the coaster using paint. Once you have decorated your tile, you can seal it to ensure that it does not get coffee stains.

Splashes of colour:

Bright accent colours are in. Use burnt orange, red and other hot-coloured spare tiles to add bursts of colour to focal points such as the area above your stove. Such pops of colour can really add a lot of character to an otherwise dull space.

Mosaic art:

A mixture of colourful leftover tiles can be used to create beautiful mosaic pieces. There are many things you can add mosaic to ranging from small jewellery boxes, and picture and mirror frames to furniture and cement surfaces in your yard. If you haven’t worked with mosaic before, first learn the basics and start small. You can also use leftover tiles to create unique pieces of flat mosaic artwork.

Tile photography:

Leftover tiles can be used to create affordable backing for photos. Choose your picture and match it to an appropriate tile then fit the picture to the tile and add a border around the picture. Attach an eyehook to the back of the tile and hang it up in your home for friends and family to appreciate.