28 Reader Tips That Save Time and Money

The stone and tile retailers wanted more than $1,000 for a single piece of honed black marble threshold to match the mosaic tiles on my shower floor. So I bought some inexpensive polished marble tiles and sanded them—first with 60-grit paper and working up to 220 grit—until the finish matched the mosaic tiles. Then I cut them to size and rounded the edges. Voilà! Honed marble trim for pennies per linear foot!

—Janelle DeRuosi, Escalon, CA