Recently making the blog rounds (and even touted by some as the "New" Space Saving Circle Kitchen), Compact Concepts' Circle Kitchen is at least three years old, having won a Red Dot Design Award back in '06.

While the concept is cool, here's what I see as the fundamental problem with not only this, but with much of the "space-saving" furniture on the market: It runs $6,500 to $15,000 for one of these units, not counting installation and whatever the transportation fees would work out to. Aren't people who would drop $15,000 on a kitchen wealthy enough to afford a bigger space in the first place? Aren't the people who really need these living below the poverty line, in tiny, cramped apartments with six other relatives?

While we all love the novelty of seeing shiny furniture and rooms that fold away into boxes or rotate out of view like this kitchen, a category we'd really like to see is: Inexpensive Space-Saving Furniture for Poor Bastards Crammed into Small Spaces with Lots of Other People.