One day, cooking will be a hobby. Something special we do on holidays. A rarity. And we will stop wanting enormous kitchens visible from every room in the house.
Today, every HGTV show describes home owners and house hunters unhappy with their choices: “It’s so closed off.” “The first thing we would do is open it up.” “Wish List: Open Concept.” (There is literally a show called “Open Concept.”) “We love to entertain, so the kitchen needs to be more central.” “The kitchen is so small. I’m trying to imagine my family on Thanksgiving gathered in here.”
But 364 days a year are NOT Thanksgiving.
I hate my giant island. I never cook. There are no friends and family seated at the stools watching me sauté something amazing. It is the place where full arms are unloaded as we come into the house. Why is this mess visible from my foyer? From my living room? From my dining room? There is no reason why I have to read the mail because I have guests coming over. There is no reason why a four-bedroom house should have one giant room for all waking activities.
We are 5-10 years away from GenY- and GenZ-ers walking into houses on HGTV asking to repurpose the cavernous kitchens to VR rooms or close off the messier kitchen functions from view. A refrigerator, a microwave, a small convection oven, and a mini-dishwasher will be sufficient to prep the takeout or delivery we crave. Appliances will get smaller, smarter, and may even take deliveries. Future home buyers will want to convert mudrooms to delivery vestibules and the kitchen island will go the way of the peninsula.
Why should I cook when specialists can do it better, faster and cheaper than I can? As delivery of goods and services becomes the expected, our homes will be shaped to accommodate them.
If you were designing a house for someone who cooked 20x/year, what would it look like? If Amazon were the only company on earth, how would your home interface with them?
Meredith Sandland | COO | @meresandland