I love those mini kitchens! Ikea used to have some free-standing kitchen units, but they discontinued them all, at least here in the US. They still might have them in other countries.

Yes, they still do have them in other countries. In urban areas, like NYC, San Fracisco, or DC, I imagine that there would be quite some demand by studio dweller. Rip out the old kitchen and buy a ready-made studio kitchen, including the small appliances.

Yes, it seems to me like as apartments and condos continue to shrink in places like San Francisco, there would be increased demand for things like those mini-kitchens.

And in the suburbs they are great for guest rooms and granny flats. I think that is one trend that really should come around.

Dh actually had something a lot like those mini kitchens (though not nearly as slick looking) in his BOQ (bachelor officer quarters) when he was stationed in Okinawa. He had a pretty nice amount of space with a small living room then a hall with the mini kitchen and a bathroom off it connecting to a small bedroom.

I think food prep will change entirely. Someone will come up with a way to make healthy, quick pre-packaged food. I'm talking a ways away... All unless something major happens to our economy or electric/gas prices...

sbkh,

I agree with you about the gourmet chef thingie. I always hate seeing people trying to compete and do all these weird things to be chef-like. I'm a cook, plain and simple and proud of it. I would like to see more people use their kitchen and cook without fear.

It's easy to take make 3-4 course full meals in 15 minutes from scratch with some prep over a couple of weekends.

My husband lost 50lbs before our wedding because I came over, ate with him and packed his meals. He actually couldn't finish all his lunches some of the time.

@beachem, could you develop on online class for those of us who cook but haven't figured out how to do it low-cal and quick without being extremely repetitive and boring? Seriously. This gal needs help in that department!

I think the rising popularity of meal kit delivery services ( Blue Apron, Plated, etc.) will make it easier for people to cook from scratch. Funky camper, if beachem can't help you out, try Blue Apron or your local equivalent.

I did a series of videos for my blog a couple of years back but pulled it down to redo. I'll redo the videos after I get this kitchen finished or film it in a studio kitchen this time. I got tired of spending 2 hrs cooking American food from scratch after working a 12 hr day (after I got married). It became a game for me to shorten the time period until I got it down to 15 minutes and the best budget I could get down to was $2.25/per person for the meal.

FYI, I had no pasta dishes except on weekends. There was no way to make a 3-4 course meal with a pasta main dish in 15 mins cook time unless it's reheated precooked. Steamed vegetable was a frequent mainstay as one of the courses.

Quiche is my favorite easy one. Preheat oven to 325 deg. Pull out the veggies or stuff you want in the quiche. Chop them up fast or break with your fingers like broccoli. Cheat and buy premade crust in pan if you don't it premade. Spread the ingredients in the pie dish. Throw eggs and milk in the blender with salt, pepper (I like to add cayenne pepper and pepper jack cheese) or you can whip it with a fork in a bowl for 20 seconds. Pour it into the pie pan. Put in the oven and bake for 45 mins or so.

Get a glass of wine, watch some TV or shower. Relax and check in 40 mins. Stick a chopstick or knife into the quiche. If it comes out dry, it's done. Take it out, let it sit for 10 mins to set and then serve. Total working time shouldn't be more than 5 mins.

Here's the trick. Don't stress over a recipe. Throw a couple of dash of milk into the eggs. If you don't have enough to fill the pan, make a few more eggs mixed with milk. Next time you will know how many eggs you need for your pan size. More milk will make it fluffy. Adjust things each time til it's exactly how you like it.

While it sets, I throw a salad together, prep dessert and serve soup to start.

The nice thing is that you now have lunch pre-cook for the next day with the leftover. There's also enough left to play with for the following night's dinner as well.

I second the request to see those videos. Feeding myself properly has been the hardest thing about being an adult by far. My diet is, like, 50% apples and peanut butter.

I am an avid baker for special occasions (hence my strong feelings about kitchens), but cooking normal meals for normal, everyday consumption is so much less exciting.

I'm coming in late to this question, but I think it has no solid answer because kitchens vary so widely: While many people on this board want a large, expensive kitchen, a whole lot of Americans alternate between take-out and frozen lasagna, and -- whether by design or budget -- they want a minimal kitchen that'll allow them to warm their leftovers and make coffee. Average or typical doesn't exist.

For the upscale kitchen that we're discussing here, one big trend that hasn't been mentioned yet is the move towards ONE dining area. In the 80s "a nice kitchen" had to have island seating PLUS a small table set into a bay window PLUS a nearby formal dining room (and that didn't count eating space on the deck). Today we eat out more, we're less formal ... and it seems that more and more people want ONE NICE dining area instead of several little ones.

I don't think the VERY expensive items like 48" multi-task sinks, refrigerator drawers, paneled appliances and so forth are ever really going to become mainstream. They're just too expensive to start to show up in tract housing in every suburb. A spin-off of this idea, I don't see the "smart appliances" becoming a big thing. I mean, we've all seen the refrigerator with a built-in computer in the door ... but do you know anyone who actually owns one? I don't.

I do think that people are using technology more in the kitchen, but I think for most people that means bringing the iPad into the room to use as a cookbook. We already have a demand for more electrical outlets for this reason -- and so we can use the laptop at the island or charge our phone in the kitchen -- but I don't think the super-expensive smart appliances are going to become an everyday thing. I wouldn't spend my money on them.

I agree, it makes much more sense to bring your iPad into the kitchen when you want/need technology. I'd like to put in an outlet that has a USB outlet built in, but I guess I need to find one that is also GFCI...

Re The move toward one dining area: which is where we were 70 years ago. But differently: the kitchen was closed off from the dining area. Personally, I could totally go for that, but with a small breakfast spot, like the little enameled-top table I have that my dad remembers eating his morning oatmeal at in the 1920s-30s in the middle of the kitchen, a la "A Christmas Story". These days it would be an island instead of a table. But that little table could be moved around.

mrspete - I agree 100% on your definition of smart appliances. I would not buy them either. I'm thinking more along the lines of appliances that do more internally. Refrigerators are getting more compartmentalized for specific types of food; more drawers and humidity and temperature controls. Better shelf adjustments, etc. That kind of thing.

I'm also befuddled by the need for three, four, or more cooking appliances; double ovens + steam oven + toaster oven + microwave oven + coffee maker + pizza oven + fireplace with rotisserie. Yikes! It's getting out of hand. With households getting smaller and living spaces getting smaller, we should start seeing smaller oven options in both wall and range with more advanced heating controls. No reason one oven can't cook multiple ways.

I'm pretty sure as people get more comfortable with tablets and touch screens and the software gets more sophisticated, we will increasingly see menu planning, recipes, nutrition, cookbooks, food tracking, etc., all moving to screens in the kitchen, and it should not be a disruptive technology either.

I would be up for some dumb appliances, in reality.

The house I grew up in had a 1970 avocado green refrigerator in the basement that never presented a day's trouble in 45 years. We left it in the house when we sold. The double ovens were original. The thermostat was off in one of them for many years, but strangely enough when my sister talked my dad into buying new double ovens because he was thinking of selling the house, both ovens started working fine again. The installer blew him off a couple times to go fishing so my dad cancelled the installation. (the reality is that they will remodel the kitchen to reflect current ergonomics and esthetics anyway).

The first microwave lasted about 30 years, the second 5, the third six months.

I am sure all these appliances will be replaced with something more efficient where the computer blows out the first time they clean the oven and that will need to be replaced in 7 years or under.

Those who want a small, simple kitchen are not all fans of takeout and frozen. Although we do enjoy the occasional Trader Joe's entree, our diet is based around our garden produce, fruit and berries from our trees and vines, fresh eggs, and whole grain bread (purchased, as we lack the acreage necessary for wheat). Oh, yes, we also purchase fresh coffee beans. We enjoy fresh, nutritious food -- we simply don't spend a lot of time preparing it.

Absolutely...a simple kitchen that puts out healthy, simple food. Nothing wrong with that :)

I'm not a fan of the smart appliances...although I do like Star Trek reruns. I guess that replicator food didn't look all that good, because I still don't like to cook anything in a microwave! LOL But maybe that's just me....

It's hard to say how reliable appliances are nowadays. Our first microwave lasted 25 years but had completely rusted out around the door, but still worked. Our current one is two years old and works fine, cost half the old one, and does way more stuff. Actually, new appliances are pretty easy to fix if you know what part to replace. The problem is the electronics. They are hurtfully expensive, but this is very new technology still. It will take time for the costs to come down.

Perhaps once the government stops shoving energy efficiency standards down manufacturer's throats, they can return to concentrating on designs that are more reliable and cheaper to build. In the meantime, they have to recover their development costs somehow.

As for simplicity, after cooking on nothing but wood for seven years a long time ago, it was sure nice to just push a button or turn a knob to cook something again.

This 1960s refrigerator has my favorite feature: the shelves are adjustable from the front, and they SWIVEL out! They are remarkably sturdy. I don't see this feature anymore. And the bottom freezer pulls all they way out so you can see everything in the drawers, two medium ones and a shallow tray one on top.

It's yellow, with a nice snowflake pattern on the grey freezer front :) just to let you know it's cold lol!

rmtDoug, I agree with you about the increase of cooking appliances, but it seems that most people don't share our thoughts. I personally don't see the point in outfitting your kitchen as if you singlehandedly prepare Thanksgiving meal for 20 on a regular basis: oversized ranges, double or even triple ovens.

Palimpsest, I agree with you about appliances. We've been in our house for 12 years now, and we're on our third dishwasher and our second refrigerator (and WOW have appliances gone up in price). In the last few weeks our washing machine has started making nasty noises. Appliances ought to last more than a few years.

As for the color, I really think the avacado green is what's fueled today's "ultra neutral" all-white kitchens. Why? Because when I was a kid, the avacado green and harvest gold was SUCH an ULTRA-TREND, and it lasted -- what? -- the better part of two decades. And it was a LOUD color choice. When the trend was gone, so many people found themselves "stuck" with that super outdated look, so the trend has swung the other direction, as if people are saying, "I'm not going to be suckered into that again! I'll go with no color at all, limited personality, but safe!" I think the kitchen industry is still reacting to avadado green.

absk & Lavendar, I'm totally on board with the idea of a small kitchen, and I cook much more than the average person. I think the key is an adjacent pantry; storing things in a pantry is so much cheaper than miles of expensive cabinets and countertops. However, for those willing to pay big, I think the trend is towards a larger, more showy kitchen.

bpathhome, I've never seen a refrigerator with swivel shelves! Are they strong enough to support the weight of casserole dishes and such, given that they're only attached at one spot?

I do like the glass, pull-out shelves in my refrigerator, and if I were buying a new one today (and if my refrigerator wasn't crammed in a corner, preventing the door from opening completely), I'd totally choose one of the new French door refrigerators. Refrigerators have come a long way since the simple, wire-rack deals of my childhood.

MrsPete, that refrigerator served a family of five and lots of parties...mom hosted some lovely dinners, cocktail parties, and events for 40 with it. The shelves themselves are pretty lightweight, maybe aluminum? They've never had a fridge I've liked as well. Well, maybe the current one with glass shelves and three clear drawers, one is adjustable. Now that mom is even shorter, she can see what's on a shelf from below :)

In the future I want completely customizable appliances, so I can have the swivel back. And digital vs analog, knobs vs fingertip, electronic vs electrical/mechanical are among the choices. And every refrigerator has easily-adjusted shelves...one brand has that now for a few years, can't remember who.

I think you are right about the avocado thing influencing color neutrality. Fortunately, it's so easy to use paint, fabric, accessories, for color. But why not "skins" for appliances?

Any graphics company that does vehicle wraps ought to be able to wrap a fridge. In fact, there are a few options out there already for those who want Something Different.

International Harvester made a refrigerator in the 1950s that had a door that could be customized by the homeowner.

The swing-fridge intrigues me. Of course, it doesn't matter: I'll never own such a thing.

Refrigerator wraps are nothing short of brilliant, though I have to say that a giant mug of beer doesn't fit in with my own idea of decorating. Still, the ability to change the look of expensive appliances is a good idea. I expect such wraps would be moderately expensive, and I don't know if they'd work for stoves, which become hot.

I've bought lots of wraps over the years -- for phones, for my kids' video game system, for the Kindles, for laptops. I buy from DecalGirl and have always been pleased.

Well they wrap buses and the interior of entire subway cars so I guess you can wrap anything.

I said a few years back, when I was in a particularly bad mood about the word "dated" when it came to people wanting to change the exteriors of their houses because they were "so 80s or so 90s" ( "dated" instead of just being architecture of a period), that they might as well start building featureless shapes of "houses" that you could get wrapped and snap on some accessories.

And there are people who said they would want this.

The problem with wraps is that they are cheap plastic film and they look like it. They are meant to be ephemeral. If this is a technology that someone wants to apply to interiors it is going to have to look a little more "real".

I've seen the carbon fiber wraps for various automotive accessories. The graphics are really good. Stunningly real. I think they've come a long way in a short time with that technology.

I wonder if the wraps could be customized with the dozens of pics of kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, that are currently stuck to my fridge door. And maybe the take-out menus, too.

Of course:

custom fridge wraps

The vintage Dr Pepper pop machine (wait, it's Dr Pepper...they don't say "pop" in Texas...) speaks to me, but the dishwasher wrap made me laugh! In my kitchen it would probably make me gag, though :Q

I missed this thread, and there are some interesting musings here. I'd thought I'd toss out my own...

There are many forces at work to make the kitchen smarter and more connected, as part of the "Internet of Things". A fridge can be easily capable of sensing contents, reading bar codes, using vision based systems to identify objects (e.g., how many eggs) and keeping track of inventory levels and age (e.g. that curry paste is 10 months old). Reminders will be sent to your phone, or sent to Amazon or Google directly for delivery. I personally welcome some of this -- but not all. If the fridge or cabinet could automatically scan my labels and tell me when my old jar of something has been sitting open for too long (well after the little "use by date" has worn off) or that I'm done to my last two eggs, I'd be a happy camper. Sending it back to the cloud for Google to analyze and sell, not so much. (Unfortunately, that oven is one of the tougher environments to manage for things like camera sensors)

The precursor to this is Amazon "Dash", aka the real life one touch click to buy.

The downside of this, of course, is a nightmare for many (myself included). The first LG refrigerator was hacked two years ago. And when your fridge gets scanned and Google notices that you've been eating a lot of ice cream, offers for weight control programs will soon follow.

The drive for further resource consumption will fight against some consumer preferences. In many areas, water consumption and carbon dioxide emissions will shape certain regulations, and we'll hoard large sinks and fast flow faucets like we do the old toilets that can flush more than a gallon at a time. And what if we find the fears over excess EMF are well-founded, and we realize we can't afford the higher carbon footprint of induction.

I believe much of the reliability issues with many appliances are really
the result of economics; the drive to cost reduce everything has
sacrificed reliability at the expense of hitting price points and
driving up profits. A more reliable product could be designed, but
would people be willing to pay for it? It may seem things are
expensive, but relative to the rate of inflation they really are not. A
toaster that cost $21 in 1950 would cost $204 today (Dualit pricing!). A $705 SxS fridge in 1972 would be $3075 today. (And yes, those products probably were more reliable --- or so we think)

My I do not need Google to know more about my life. Ice cream consumption should be between me and my pillow. Hubby not allowed either.

Unless smart technology provides a private chef on call at low cost, I prefer manual on my appliances such as gas rangetop.

Say, that would be nice to have a scanner that knows how old something is...even better, how long since it was opened. So that adds technology into packaging. The scanner doesn't have to be in my fridge, though, it could be on my phone, so I can also easily check at, say, the church kitchen, the cottage, or Mom's house, or DS' apartment. But I sure don't want that info shared!

How about this: a virtual Julia Child, so I can ask how to do a technique, what something should look like at a certain stage, etc, and the answer appears on a screen or as a hologram.

A blanket statement that induction cooktops have a larger carbon footprint than gas isn't correct.

The carbon footprint is dependent on the energy mix of the grid in the location you live in. In my location for example, we have an electricity grid that is made up of clean, renewable energy, therefore induction has a lower carbon footprint than gas.

And since this thread is about the future, and the grid is only going to get cleaner, there will be fewer and fewer instances where a gas cooktop is the better choice (carbon footprint wise).

Great thread, I love so many of these ideas!

Gooster, I really do not want a refrigerator that informs me of how many eggs I have left. I'd rather just open the door and look! And, yes, I totally agree with you when you say, The products could be developed ... but we don't want to pay for them.

I can see that it might be useful to a restaurant that deals in higher-quantities, especially since their food stock probably varies less than mine. And I can see that such technology might be useful for an adult child whose parents live alone but are starting to have trouble managing small parts of their lives (like remembering to buy eggs).

Bpathhome, I think we have the "virtual Julia Child". You can bring your ipad into the kitchen and can watch a you-tube video of someone doing just about anything. Okay, it's not a 3D hologram, but it's been enough to help us fix the dryer!

Totally off-topic except for eggs in the refrigerator. I had a great-Aunt that lived alone until she was in the latter half of her nineties and started giving the family reports of stealthy break-ins and robberies, sometimes when she was sleeping, and sometimes when she was out. The evidence?

On Monday mornings she always bought a half-dozen eggs and by Saturday there was only one left. And this happened repeatedly. She lived the next eight years or so fairly happily in a nursing home.

Gooster, I want to turn your idea around and have an AI that I can tell to create a shopping list or add such and such to my shopping list. Then the AI will send the list to my phone so I have it when I go out.

At one market I go to I can text them the deli order and have it ready when I arrive instead of standing in line and waiting.

Nostalgia is very powerful and I even love my Grandma's broken oven as it taught me to roast on high heat. But I also remember my first few
kitchens and how terrible those appliances were. The fridges were low,
noisy, small and badly lighted and had a funny smell. At least that's
how I remember them. I admit I'm spoiled but this is my fridge this
morning. The lighting is amazing, it cleans like a breeze, keeps veggies
usable for 3 weeks, I can see everything and it holds a TON. So
future's here for me on that front.

MrsPete, you are right about the iPad, and I have done that! What a great invention! Maybe that's the third thing that has changed cooking the most for me.

First is DH who is a creative cook and good with sauces, so I watch him for ideas.

Second is my meal-planning subscription, it changed our lives.

Third is my laptop and now iPad, so I can have it right there and look things up. I don't have Italian seasoning? How do I make it? food.com to the rescue as I stand in front of the spice cupboard.

I am sure that fridges with that capability will be the norm someday and be affordable, and I would love it. Especially with apps that sync with all devices. For now, I get by with Pepperplate.

@beachem -- well everyone we are buying from today is already tracking what we buy, whether or not we actively signup for "loyalty" programs I've noticed my email inbox gets flooded with offers when I shop for something new.

@rococogurl -- oh, yeah, I'm certain you you could get it sent to you as a list, rather than it just appearing at your door with your weekly Prime shipment. There are already apps for your Phone that will scan barcodes, and ones that track inventory and create shopping lists. I think the convenience of having it in your fridge or pantry is that it could be invisible and seamless, and require no intervention from you. As you load in the jar or it sits on the shelf it gets scanned and photographed and the information will be sent to the cloud. It will then note when its been opened, track the consumption and calculate the "use by" date.

Image recognition, sensors and scanning technology will be able to gauge when something is low (your son just drank down the last of the milk and put the carton back in the fridge), and send you an alert when you are in market (location aware), to remind you that you're running low of milk.

I would not be surprised if scenarios (aka "use cases") like these litter the whiteboards of conference rooms in Seattle/Bellevue, Cupertino and Mountain View.

Good point Gooster. My fridge actually can have a module that communicates with the manufacturer but I didn't instalI it. Much more useful would be your device & idea.

The whole tracking thing strikes me as completely creepy. But don't care if what I buy is tracked or if they make money from it because I can't do much about that. I can, and do, hit delete and unsubscribe.

Anyone with a flat screen in the kitchen can install an AppleTV to watch You Tube cooking videos on a big screen.

Yes, there are already apps that scan barcodes. I actually print barcode labels to all of the glass jars in my pantry. People laugh, but they are so handy for shopping, tracking calories, writing recipes, etc.

Palmalist, I'm laughing at your great-aunt and the eggs because it rings so true to me: In the last year of her life, my 99-year old grandmother moved in with her son. In her old home, she'd taken great pride in her glorious home-grown tomatoes. Although she SAW deer frequently in her new yard, she was CONVINCED that some ner-do-well neighbor was sneaking in and stealing tomatoes off her vines while they were still green. Her son started buying tomatoes, telling her he was picking them early in the morning before she woke up.

RococoGirl, I think there's a "sweet spot" in which improvements are worthwhile, but then we reach the point of diminishing returns. Large shelves, good lighting, and easy to organize shelves? Sign me up! The ability to connect to watch TV on the 'fridge door or receive a report from the freezer? Too much money, too little return.

FunkyCamper -- cool name -- I think that in addition to these larger, nicer refrigerators, the old-fashioned, small, cheap models will continue to be available (at rock bottom prices) because they'll always have a market in rentals.

BPathHome, I agree that the internet has been great for cooking. I used to prize my cookbooks -- now when I want a new recipe, the internet is my first stop. I'm actually going through some of my beloved books, copying the recipes and ... discarding the actual books.

Errant, I don't have any interest in adding to my chores by scanning barcodes. Simply looking at the pantry shelves seems like so much less work.

So Yahoo had an article on hot new kitchen trends that for once had nothing to do with countertops and open shelving, but tools. Most of them seem to have to do with a tool "anticipating" my needs and making suggestions, but I think the smart scale could be cool, and while I don't do sous-vide, that tool looked interesting. The smart countertop that knows when I've been working out and suggests a snack? Nah. Coffee maker that says "it's time for "Ellen", don't you want a cup of coffee?" Nah. But the smart oven made me think that a really smart oven would be able to automatically, or at least let me easily, change the rack heights on the fly.

What do you think of these?

Yahoo kitchen trends

This looks to me like a sponsored post for Wolf/SZ. It's called native or sublimnal advertising.
Anyone who writes that Epicurious is an "app" needs to do some fact checking.

I often wonder about that...usually I notice. Even ads can let us know about new things, but yeah, it'd be nice if it were more obvious.

Technology and new appliances are the two areas that will change how we use our kitchen the most within the next few years. We pinpoint a lot of current/upcoming kitchen trends in our2015 kitchen trends article.

Kitchen "trend" articles are behind the market. Most anything cited has been on this board for quite some time. The trends come from western Europe. Scandinavia is very influential as is Britain and Belgium in the last few years. Appliance styling comes from Germany, Italy and some from America.

Here's a recent article on the IKEA kitchen of the future

In 10 years, no way. Maybe 50. I like the gray water idea.