Kitchens haven’t changed radically since the refrigerator took off in the 1940s. But in the next decade, as food prices go up, water and energy become more precious, and Internet-of-things tech proliferates, there might be another big shift in kitchen design. That’s the prediction, at least, of Ikea, which worked with the design firm Ideo and a group of design students from Lund University and Eindhoven University of Technology to design a prototype kitchen for 2025.

“This project allowed us to explore our curiosity around food,” says Marcus Engman, head of design for Ikea. “There is so much more to food than food. And 10 years in the future, the world will be a very different place. What does that mean for us, for the design of kitchens, and the people who make them–and how will we be able to live a sustainable life at home?”





The design students spent months researching people’s attitudes about cooking and eating and how the world of food might change over the next decade. After the students came up with more than 20 visions for future kitchens–from a shared community kitchen for city neighborhoods to an interactive chef’s hat that teaches kids to cook through games–Ideo built a working prototype.

Thanks to pressures on agriculture and swelling populations, the cost of food may go up as much as 40% in the next decade. That fact–along with growing awareness of water shortages–led designers to focus on a simple way to reduce food waste: If you can see the groceries you brought home, you’ll be less likely to forget about them. The shelves are shallow enough that nothing gets hidden, turns moldy, and ends up in the trash. Instead of putting food away in a fridge, you put it in a clear storage box on an induction-cooled shelf.

The system doesn’t take up as much space as traditional storage–but you’ll also have less food in your kitchen at any time, since drones will make it simple to get instant delivery of whatever you need.





Under the sink, any organic waste washed down the drain is blended and the water is squeezed out, so you end up with tiny odorless pucks of compost instead of a smelly compost bin. The waste water can be reused to water plants hanging above the sink.

A recycling system with sensors recognizes materials, crushes and seals them for recycling, and then keeps track of how wasteful you’ve been, giving energy credits if you’ve managed to conserve.