5 dumbest renovation fads

A remodeling trend may look good on paper, but it may not make your home more livable - or more valuable. These five alternatives from Money Magazine will.

Porches in the wrong place
It's a pretty porch, but it's also dark as night, which can make the rooms inside feel like caves.
Porches in the wrong place
It's nice to have a porch. It's even nicer when that porch is screened in so you can enjoy the outdoors without the mosquitoes and bees that are often part of the deal. So no one's debating the merits of a screened-in porch, but what can be a problem is where you put such a structure.

There Goes the Sun Where do most people put their porches? Right outside the living room. The problem is what then happens to the living room. Whatever breezes and light the room used to get have now vanished.

Inside Out Views from said living or family room are now ruined. Shade rules the roost, and looking out the windows means peering through a darkened space full of outdoor furniture you don't get to use (in most climes) several months out of the year.

Just Passing Through When you put a porch outside the living room, you turn what should be a destination into a passageway. Wall space is given over to the entryways to the porch, doors need proper clearance (eating into usable floor space), and the living room loses its definition.

Great Room Craze Great rooms - the right way Kitchens on steroids Kitchens - the right way Gaudy garages Garages: The right way Porches in the wrong place Porches: The right way Built-in lighting Lighting: The right way
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.