Marble CountertopsPenpak Ngamsathain // Getty ImagesMarble countertops are a classic, but the soft, porous stone is not always practical for every home. Glass doors and partitions strike the right balance between the privacy that clients want and the openness that they may have originally desired, she says. Trendy TilesTile selection has been an issue on a number of projects that Alexis Woodbury Earman, Wilmington, a North Carolina-based interior designer with The Woodbury Home , has worked on. “Since glass doors reveal what's inside, any clutter or mismatched items are easily visible, which can make even a new kitchen look messy if not perfectly maintained,” she says. A quick fix is to update the clear glass to reeded glass, which obscures the visual, while still keeping the elegance of the material,” she says.