Posted on 7th Oct 2011 @ 1:57 PM

It's always fun to predict what the future will look like. How will the world look? Where will people spend their leisure time? What will be the new technological advancements?

What will our homes look like?

The International Furnishings and Design Association has weighed in on that last question. The trade group surveyed its 2,000 members to come up with a report entitled 20/20: IFDA's Vision for the Future. Respondents were asked about what they thought the typical home would look like in the year 2020.

One of the key terms that came up repeatedly was "ergonomic." For instance:

• Home furnishings will be designed to better fit the human body. This means more ergonomic chairs, sofas, recliners, and the like. Imagine: furniture that you actually feel comfortable sitting on! What a concept!
• Furniture will become smaller and more versatile. Say goodbye to bulky built-ins, large cabinets, and display units. Tomorrow's furnishings will be more moveable and modular, while also taking up less space.
• Bedrooms will become multi-use rooms. Specifically, the master bedroom may also double as a workout area, home office, or media center. In other words, there will be less emphasis on the "bed" and more on the "room."
• Dining rooms are going the way of the dodo. Over 7 in 10 IFDA members believe that most homes in 2020 won't include a formal dining area. Instead, the space will be utilized for other things, such as study nooks or home offices.
• We'll be eating in our kitchens. There's a strong feeling that future kitchens will not only be larger, but will also accommodate dining as well. (This should not be a major adjustment for today's bachelors who frequently eat over the sink.)
• Home offices will be standard. You may have guessed this already. Not only do more than 3/4 of poll respondents think every home will have an office, but 40% think that most dwellings will have at least two home offices.
• Bigger will be out; leaner will be in. Believe it or not, about 76% of IFDA members think that homes a decade from now will be smaller and have fewer rooms. But the space that is there will be more ergonomically designed for different uses.
• High-tech trends will continue. This may be the least surprising revelation from the study. In fact, 97% of those surveyed believe that touch-activated controls will be replaced by automatic sensors (for things like lighting) or voice controls (for TVs, air conditioners, and drapes).

That may seem like a lot of changes in less than a decade. But as people's needs and desires evolve, homebuilders and interior designers will adjust to give their customers what they want. After all, that's how home design has functioned for hundreds of years - and 2020 should be no different.