How To Keep Up With The Joneses And Knock Their Socks Off In The Process

Fewer families are buying new homes these days. Instead, they’re opting for renovations and making the best with what they’ve got.

With the rise of technology and all of the amazing things that can be done today, buying a new house isn’t half as fun as upgrading the one you have.

Recently, CNBC talked to a bunch of contractors and designers about how they were improving the homes of their clients. Here’s what they had to say.

Water Features That Come With Fire

What do you get when you put fire and water together in a home feature? A water fountain with a giant flame on top of it, of course.

Water features with fire shooting out of the top is something that immediately reminds people of a Hawaiian vacation. (No doubt the originals were inspired by the islands’ many volcanoes).

If you’re looking for a way to keep up with the Joneses and knock their socks off in the process, one of these might be just what you’re looking for.

A Glass Room On The Patio

Outdoor living has taken the world by storm recently. People have been investing in outdoor living spaces that are enormous, with some nearing over 10,000 square feet. They’ve got it all: the outdoor kitchen, the seating and the veranda.

Except there’s just one problem: the bugs. Well, the solution is to move the outside inside again, but this time with a twist. Instead of blocking out all that glorious sunlight with masonry, designers are being asked to build glass rooms, right out on the patio. These glass rooms enable lovers of the outdoors to avoid the invasion of the locusts and eat their ice cream in peace.

Pop Up Ventilation For The Kitchen

Companies like, The Renovation Company, focus a lot on kitchen design. After all, the kitchen is the most important room of the house, according to many homeowners.

But there’s a problem. While the cupboards, the sinks and the appliances might look beautiful, the hood never does.

The good news, however, is that there is now a solution. Instead of having a hood right over the oven area, some contractors are being asked to install so-called pop-up hood vents that come right out of the counter behind the oven. Whether they work very well in that position is questionable. But considering that they are so much better looking than the alternative, they might be worth it.

Cooling Drawer

One of the most interesting recent kitchen additions is the cooling draw, a kind of pop-out refrigerator that looks just like a regular kitchen drawer. Cooling drawers come with many different temperature settings and can be used to store snacks for the kids, wine, bread, fruit, soda and just about anything else you’d like to have immediately on hand.

In fact, with cooling drawers, you don’t even have to bother with a fridge. You can have a bunch of drawers scattered around your kitchen in a manner of your choosing. They can even be incorporated into kitchen islands.