Home improvements: Personalised coasters

If you’re anything like us, you may not always remember to put a coaster under your drinks, resulting in unsightly watermarks and rings on your tables and shelves. Perhaps if you created your own personalised coasters, you’d be more careful.

We suggest creating chalkboard coasters. You’ll need plain tiles, matte latex paint in any colour, non-sanded powder tile grout, a paintbrush, sandpaper, something to mix the paint with, a container and chalk. First, sand down the tiles using your sandpaper so you are left with a completely smooth surface.

Combine half a cup of paint and one tablespoon of grout and mix until smooth. Next, paint each of the tiles until the front and sides are fully covered. Leave to dry.

You’ll now have small square chalkboards that both family members and guests can personalise each time they use them.

These will also make great gifts. Using chalk, decorate one tile any way you like. Stack the tiles, one on top of another, with the decorated tile at the top. Place a single piece of white chalk on top and tie the entire set together with a white piece of ribbon.