Ikea's 2017 Catalog Is A Terrifying Glimpse Into The Tiny Apartments Of The Future

Micro apartments. They're all the rage, mostly because they're all that the majority of metropolis-living millennials can actually afford. But the jury is still out on whether micro apartments are going to be the utopian cure to cities' housing shortages . . . or just another step toward a crowded Earth dystopia where we're all packed together like pink, gill-less krill.

My feelings on micro apartments after checking out Ikea's 2017 furniture catalog,which was released yesterday? Dystopia, all the way down.

Even Ikea couldn't make living in a pallet-sized studio for half your salary look anything less than nightmarish.

The Swedish furniture giant—which has been predicting that millions more people will be living in micro apartments by 2020—has made smaller and smarter living the theme of its annual catalog. But even Ikea couldn't make living in a pallet-sized studio for half your salary look anything less than comically nightmarish, like outtakes left on the cutting-room floor from Woody Allen's Sleeper.