Does it make financial sense to spend more than $150,000 on a lavish, 1,100-square-foot outdoor kitchen and living room?

For Keith and Liz McLaughlin it did when a “perfect storm” of factors converged: The couple and their three sons needed more space for entertaining; they decided they would be living in the house at least until their youngest, now 11, graduates from high school; and the rising value of their Thousand Oaks home generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity.