Clearance feature and splashback tiles
Small areas where a distinctive tile earns its place. This is the best possible use of clearance stock: a splashback is a few square metres, so a finite lot covers it comfortably and the saving buys you a tile you could not otherwise justify.
Buying feature and splashback tiles: what actually matters
A feature area is where a finite lot stops being a limitation
The whole difficulty with clearance stock is that you cannot get more. On a 40 m² floor that is a real risk. On a 3 m² splashback it is close to irrelevant: buy the lot, use what you need, keep the rest. It also means the interesting, small-run, expensive-looking tiles that only ever exist in small quantities become genuinely available.
Measure to the underside of the cupboards, then check the powerpoints
A kitchen splashback is usually a narrow band, and the cut around each powerpoint and switch wastes a surprising amount on a patterned tile where the cut has to land somewhere sensible in the pattern. On a small area the percentage wastage is much higher than on a floor. Take the real measurement including the return behind the cooktop, then add a full extra box.
Why this stock is such good value
Clearance tiles are not seconds. Everything here is first grade. It is cheap because it is finite: a line an importer is clearing, a colourway a manufacturer has stopped making, or the tail of a container that nobody wants to keep warehousing. The catch is not quality, it is that you cannot get more. On a normal tile you can go back in six weeks for another two boxes. Here you cannot, so the quantity you order is the quantity you will ever have.