The popularity of subway tile (and other glazed white ceramic tile) shows no signs of flagging. It's a lovely, traditional look that works equally well in modern kitchens. If you want to try something a little off the beaten path, try a beveled option, or maybe go for dark grout, which gives the tile an extra little bit of depth (and let's face it, is way easier to clean).

Open shelving - highly controversial, freakishly popular. Pros: open shelving can make a small kitchen look much larger, and it's a great way to put all your lovely things on display. Cons: all those plastic stadium cups and souvenir pint glasses are going to have to be stashed in the lower cabinets. Can't decide? You could even try a mix of both!

This particular trend is actually quite accessible - if you'd like to try it out, all you have to do is remove your cabinet doors and see how it looks. Then you can choose to go 'soft' by replacing cabinet doors with glass-front doors, or replacing a single section of cabinetry with open shelves to display the pretty things - or you can go whole hog and tear out all your cabinets and replace them with shelving. (Hanging shelving won't be particularly hard, but you may have to re-think your backsplash.)

Painting upper cabinets and lower cabinets a different color keeps things interesting - and it's an easy makeover you can do by yourself (potentially by painting only half your cabinets!).

Sincerely,