This otherwise standard, boring island's countertop slides out to stretch its surface area while revealing (cold?) storage, a sink and electric burners. Comparing this design to the layout of more than one of my tiny apartments, there's really no contest—this island is simpler, more space efficient and has a lot more eye appeal. I'd far rather work on an island than with my face pressed to cabinets, and there's enough surface area here to match most small kitchens.

Then again, keep in mind that you need to leave the open space for everything to unfold and the island fails to accommodate a simple toaster, blender, or even oven. So maybe existing designs don't have it all wrong even if they aren't quite as chic or idealistic. [Ensci via freshome via dvice]

The Mini Kitchen is designed for the growing numbers of young and single people in China, and features an all-in-one design including tiny facsimiles of a fridge, stovetop, and silverware. The "cook box" is sort of like a compartmentalized bento box that can be used for both cooking and serving, which is actually pretty clever. The tablet PC is a small netbook-type that is mostly intended for chatting (as it features a webcam) and looking up recipes. Unfortunately for all you single-and-staying-that-way types, it is just a concept for now, but it seems fairly marketable if the price could be kept down. [Yanko Design]