Leftover Ideas for Porcelain Tile

In the Kitchen

• Create a little extra continuity in your kitchen's design by using the tiles on the bottom of the cupboard under the sink, an area that tends to get messy from stored cleaners and cleaning tools. Make a hotpad from leftover tile to save wear and tear on your countertop. Glue felt pads to the underside so it doesn't slide, and set hot pans on it when you take them off the stove. Create a one-of-a-kind backsplash with broken tiles. Place the tiles in a paper bag and use a hammer to break them up. Make a mural, repeat a pattern or use random placement to make the backsplash.

In the Living Room

• If you have a bay window, tile the flat surface to protect the wood from dampness when you set plants in the window. Make a decorative holder for a potted plant by gluing four ceramic tiles together at the edges. Glue an additional tile on the bottom. For a weekend project, buy a piece of used furniture, strip it of paint or varnish and refinish it. Make a new top from leftover tiles, either whole or set in mortar as a mosaic. Grout and seal the tiles so they're waterproof. Small tiles with felt backing glued on make economical coasters for glasses.

In the Dining Room

• Chargers are plates placed under dinner plates on the dining room table for an elegant meal. Use large ceramic tiles in place of chargers when you feel like doing something a little bit different. If you set hot serving dishes on the table, use tiles that match the chargers as a trivet. Glue marbles or pretty pebbles to the underside of the tile as feet. Using Legos in place of the marble or pebbles and adding them to the underside of the charger tiles adds a fun element to the table.

Other Uses

• Create a message center with the leftover tiles. Glue three tiles and a piece of cork cut to the same size in a square to the wall near the kitchen door or in the mudroom. Use dry erase markers on the tile to leave messages, and stick pushpins into the cork for hanging coupons or permission notes that need to be returned to school. A leftover porcelain tile is an attractive alternative for the craft room, workshop or garage. Crafters can set hot glue guns and paintbrushes down on them. Handymen might use a white one to set nails or screws on so they're more visible during a project.

Outdoors

• Create mosaic patterns or use alternating colored tiles to decorate concrete sidewalks or terra-cotta pots. Make wind chimes by gluing ends of fishing-line lengths to tile shards and tying the other ends around a crochet hoop. The hoop itself can also have tile embellishments.