What to Know: Many large paint stores can custom mix a close or even exact match for your color. All that you need is a sample about the size of a quarter. Matching tile is oftentimes a much trickier proposition, although you do have a few options.

Where to Go: Lowe’s (www.lowes.com) and Home Depot (www.homedepot.com) offer free paint-matching services. “We can make a match 80 percent of the time, or we can find something very close,” says German Rosario, a paint and flooring specialist at the Lowe’s store in Jersey City. If you need only one replacement tile, head to www.daltileproducts.com, where you can browse through more than 75 tile collections and request a sample ($8) from the nation’s largest manufacturer of tile and natural stone products. If you can’t find a match, consider removing a tile from an unnoticeable area, such as a lower corner. (Warning: You’ll probably have to break several tiles for every whole tile you remove.)