How To Up-Cycle A Garden Table With Leftover Tiles

Have you ever fallen in love with a tile? I kid you not; it was love at first sight when I first saw these ever so beautiful Laura Ashley, Heritage Collection Mr. Jones Charcoal Floor tiles. So I really wanted to work out how to recycle leftover tiles to create something  beautiful. Thus I decided rather than let the tiles go to waste I would Up-Cycle A Garden Table with them.

What To Do With Leftover Tiles?

Last week when we were busy preparing the garden for summer we had the idea of transforming our decking table and using the waste tiles to create a tiled table top out of my left over Laura Ashley porch tiles. They are seriously too beautiful not to make use of.

It was a glass-topped table and just totally unpractical with clumsy boys. Joe insists the table was slippy, hence why he spilled almost every drink he placed on it. The table was also far too light and was easily knocked, thus all drinks on it spilt.

Why We Decided To Up-Cycle A Garden Table With Leftover Tiles

As part of national tile week, a nationwide celebration of tiles and in conjunction with The House of British Ceramic Tile we decided that we would up-cycle our garden table and create a new tiled top with our leftover tiles.. This would not only create a bit of weight and make the table sturdier. It would resolve Joe’s slippy surface problem and give me an excuse to use my beautiful Laura Ashley tiles.

I am going to be totally honest here, because if I don’t I will never hear the last of it. Chris is the hands on person in this house. And I am totally happy with that arrangement, thus my involvement is purely on a creative and supervisory capacity!

How To Up-Cycle A Garden Table With Leftover Tiles

Here is how we up-cycled our table in 5 easy steps with spare floor tiles.

• A. Firstly remove the table top, once the glass tabletop is removed measure the top of the table and cut a piece of wood to the correct size and attach to the table with a bonding agent.
• B. Now decide on a tile arrangement and measure for any cuts needed.
• C. You also need to decide on an edging, we went for a metal edged strip. This is available from any hardware store.
• D. Cut the tiles to the correct shape with a tile cutter, ensuring you wear goggles and use a guard.
• E. Position tiles and use tile cement and grout to secure. We went for grey for a more contemporary effect. Once the tiles are dry cut the silver strip to the correct length ensuring you cut the corners on an angle to meet neatly on the corners, and now attach with a bonding agent.

I am thrilled with how the table looks now. I always felt the table let our decking set down a little. However now it is super stylish and looks so much more substantial.

It just goes to show what a huge difference an up-cycle project can make. And that tiles are just not for floors and walls. They can be used in a variety of creative ways its just about being a little open-minded. If you thinking should I Up-Cycle A Garden Table or indeed any other piece of furniture I would say do for it.