Global furniture giant Ikea has been noticing that the average apartment size is shrinking in its homeland of Sweden. The Atlantic reports that San Francisco, Seattle, and Boston apartments are seeing even bigger drops in square footage.
A possible solution is movable walls, which allows apartment dwellers to reconfigure their home’s plan, creating and eliminating rooms as needed.
Ikea has been testing the product in an apartment built in the 1980s in Malmö, Sweden, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to The Atlantic, “Aside from the minor frustration brought on by the constant unplugging and replugging of appliances and electronics, the walls seem to be a hit.”
The product is still in the early stages of testing and prototyping. Ikea officials estimate the product won’t start appearing in catalogs for about three years.