This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) proved to be a fascinating convergence of technology and design, highlighting how the latest smart home tech is not only transforming living spaces but merging with them outright. From AI-powered appliances to transparent OLED TVs, CES 2025 offered a glimpse into the future of home environments—providing designers with endless possibilities for creating tech-savvy spaces that are functional and uniquely tailored to client needs.
Here’s a look at a few of the standout innovations from the show and how they can inspire your interior designs for the new year and beyond.
1. The Rise of Robotics
The next generation of robot vacuums on parade at CES 2025 signifies a quantum leap in functionality. Equipped with mechanical arms that can pick up socks or adaptive legs that can traverse uneven surfaces with ease, this new era of smart home vacuums is more versatile than ever. Advancements like these are game-changers for clients who prioritize ease of maintenance, offering next-gen solutions for pristine interiors that ensure your designs shine.
Design Insight:
Integrating dedicated docking stations or concealed niches for these cleaning cohorts can blend covetable technology like this effortlessly into the home, enhancing both functionality and aesthetics.
2. Kitchens Get Smarter
Kitchens are getting a high-tech makeover too, with AI-powered appliances redefining convenience, health, and creativity. From refrigerators that sync grocery lists with apps to gadgets that enhance flavors without added ingredients, these innovations make meal prep smarter and more efficient. Concepts like advanced microwaves with built-in cameras promise precise cooking while doubling as tools for content creation. These cutting-edge developments are transforming kitchens into connected, versatile hubs that cater to both functionality and modern lifestyles.
Design Insight:
Designers can incorporate these smart appliances that embrace modern sociality and convenience by emphasizing clean lines in design layouts, creating streamlined, minimalist cooking spaces that conceal advanced tech. For a balanced yet modern look, consider pairing these innovations with natural materials like stone or wood.
3. Transparent Tech
LG’s SIGNATURE OLED T transparent TV was a showstopper, blending cutting-edge technology with sophisticated design. This true wireless, 4K display can transition between transparent and opaque, offering unmatched flexibility for interiors where aesthetics are paramount.
Design Insight:
Products like the OLED T open doors for integrating tech into multi-functional spaces. Picture a living room where the TV doubles as a subtle partition or a home office with a display that vanishes when not in use. The possibilities for play here are endless!
4. Biotech Meets Wellness Design
CES highlighted how technology is revolutionizing personal wellness with smart textiles featuring embedded sensors that can now monitor essential health metrics, enabling users to stay informed about their well-being in real time. Meanwhile, AI-powered beauty tools can provide personalized skincare recommendations tailored to individual needs.
Design Insight:
Health-focused tech aligns perfectly with the trends we’re seeing in wellness-centered design. Designers can incorporate ergonomic furniture and create dedicated wellness zones or home spas equipped with technologies like these to foster relaxation and mindfulness.
5. Tech Meets Biophilia
For plant enthusiasts, the latest innovations bring nature and technology together, offering tech solutions that point to the biophilia trend. Smart indoor gardens with advanced irrigation systems and LED lamps equipped with self-watering features make it easier than ever to cultivate greenery indoors. These tools combine sustainability and convenience, offering effortless ways to incorporate lush, thriving plants into any space.
Design Insight:
Take your biophilic designs up a notch with the latest innovations. Designers can create lush, self-sustaining green walls or incorporate smart gardens into kitchen islands and living spaces with ease, promoting connection to nature even in urban and corporate environments.
6. Home Theater Tech Gets Amped Up
Creating a home entertainment experience that rivals the cinema is now more achievable—and more stylish—than ever. From ultra-high-definition projectors with expansive screens to wireless surround sound systems that simplify setup, there’s no shortage of tech today that delivers breathtaking visuals and immersive audio.
Design Insight:
This year’s home theater tech lineup offers exciting opportunities to elevate entertainment spaces with both functionality and aesthetic appeal. The sleek, stylish designs can be integrated into modern interiors while wireless solutions eliminate cable clutter, allowing for cleaner layouts and more flexible furniture arrangements.
Bonus Tip: To make frame TV art look more realistic, subtle tweaks can elevate its impact in your design. Start by skipping the digital mat option—it often diminishes authenticity. Opt for full-bleed art with mid-to-dark tones, as these display better on the screen, minimizing the “TV effect.” Enhance the illusion further by adjusting the brightness and warmth using Art Mode; lower brightness and increased warmth create a softer, more art-like appearance. Pair these tips with your favorite custom or upgraded bezel frame to blend the TV into your client’s space and double as a sophisticated design element.
The Future is Now: Tech-Integrated Design is Here to Stay
CES 2025 underscored an undeniable truth: technology and design are no longer separate entities but intertwined forces shaping the future of our living spaces and beyond. The innovations showcased at CES demonstrate just how seamlessly technology can merge with our everyday, signaling a shift in how spaces are conceived—not just as static environments but as dynamic ecosystems tailored to individual lifestyles. This is an exciting time to explore how these advancements can elevate the human experience and reshape the way we live, work and interact with the world around us. How will you harness these advancements to craft spaces that truly resonate with the needs of tomorrow?
SOURCES: CES, Variety, Apartment Therapy, Business of Home
