The kitchen will continue to be the social centre of homes in the future, one expert has predicted.In addition, the room will be a model of the traditional mixed with technology that is going to be a major theme in properties in the years to come, according to author Marian Salzman.She told the Financial Times that a combination of simple values and new ideas will see kitchens change across the UK.On the one hand, it will be an area where the back-to-basics theme continues, as people reject products that come with incremental frills or involve unnecessary transport in favour of more earth- and budget-conscious items, Ms Salzman said.The writer, who has published 15 books including Next Now, went on to say that the kitchen tap will be used increasingly for drinking water as people begin bragging about their clean, local, natural water.Items Ms Salzman has forecast to become the norm in the kitchen include refrigerator computers, barcode-reading mobile phones and at-home printers.