When we shared our pool feature rankings over on Instagram, I realized I’d rushed through almost every single one. But four years in, I have a lot of feelings about every decision we made with our backyard pool (some of them strong), and a quick reel didn’t do them justice.
So consider this the director’s cut: every feature, ranked honestly, with the full reasoning behind each number. If you’re somewhere in the thick of planning your own pool, I hope it helps you skip a few of the things I’d skip — and splurge on the ones I’d splurge on every time.
The interior color — 10/10
I did a whole separate reel on choosing a pool color, and my No. 1 piece of advice is to pick something that matches where you live. Ours is a color called “Sharkskin” — this deep bluish-green — and I love it every single time I look at it. No notes.
The mini-pebble plaster finish — 5/10
We have a gunite pool with a hybrid quartz/mini-pebble plaster finish in “Sharkskin” by Quality Pools Group. The texture is designed to be slip-resistant, and it genuinely does that job well. But like many textured aggregate finishes, it can feel a little abrasive if you drag your foot across the bottom just right. To be clear: you’re not going to hurt yourself jumping in or swimming around. But the texture can scrape you up — we’ve had a few people end up needing a Band-Aid. With kids who are constantly climbing in and out, that’s the one thing we’d reconsider.
Here’s what we’ve learned: Texture is a design and lifestyle choice, so it’s worth understanding your options before you sign anything. The biggest name in aggregate finishes is PebbleTec. They’re so well known that builders often say “PebbleTec” the way we say “Kleenex” or “Q-Tip,” even when they’re actually quoting a different product (which is exactly how our own mix-up happened). PebbleTec offers 8 finish styles, from natural and textured to smooth and polished — their PebbleFina and PebbleBreeze finishes sit on the smoother, gentler-underfoot end. And since finishes from different manufacturers can look nearly identical, it’s worth checking PebbleTec.com to confirm you’re getting the exact product you think you are. Something to think about when planning your own pool!
The tanning ledge — 6/10
I think we made ours a little too big. It was perfect back when the kids were little. And it does make sense right where it is, next to the hot tub, so they’re walking across it constantly. But now that they’re older, it cuts into the usable pool more than I’d like. I think a couple of lounge chairs out there might actually bump this score up. TBD.
The LED color-changing lights — 6/10
Ask our kids, and this is a 10 out of 10 — there are something like 14 different colors, and they love cycling through all of them. My one gripe: if I want a specific color, the light has to scroll through every single color on the list before it finally lands on the one I want. It’s minor, truly. But it is 2026… surely we can tap straight to a color by now?
The pool fountains — 6.5/10
I actually love these. We have four of them, two on each side, and they come right up out of the deck. They’re beautiful, and they do a really nice job of drowning out noise. The only reason this isn’t higher: they’ve been temperamental. Sometimes one won’t shoot as high as the others, and lately a couple of them just… haven’t been working. When they’re all on, though, they’re one of my favorite details out here.
The integrated spa — 7/10
I love the convenience of having the hot tub built right in. The best part is that we can open the automatic cover just enough to use the spa without uncovering the whole pool — and the cover still closes over everything seamlessly. The thing keeping it from a higher number is the sharp edge around it, which makes me a little nervous now and then. Practical and beautiful, but I do notice those edges.
The depth — 9/10
Here’s a decision I almost got wrong. We originally planned for six feet, and then, truly in the eleventh hour, while they were already digging the hole, we bumped it to seven. I’m so glad we did. If anything, I wish the shallow end were even shallower, but I love that the deep end doesn’t go any deeper than seven feet. For us, seven turned out to be the sweet spot.
The salt water system — 10/10
This one’s easy. Salt water is so much gentler on your skin, and it’s been genuinely low-maintenance. We do have a pool guy who comes once a week to check the levels, but beyond that, it just runs. If you’re on the fence about it, this is the one I’d tell you to do.
The automatic cover — 10/10
If I could only keep one thing on this entire list, it might be this. Our Coverstar cover closes over the whole pool and the hot tub, and you can actually walk on it. That last part is the whole thing for me: it’s closed any time the pool isn’t in use, and the peace of mind that gives me is worth every penny. A true 10.
The deep-end ledges — 11/10
Yes, eleven. These are the wide ledges built into our deep end, one on each side. The kids play on them, you can sit on them, and — most importantly — they make it so easy to get out of the deep end without a ladder. It’s a safety feature I didn’t even know to ask for, and now I’d put it in every pool I ever build. The sleeper hit of the whole project.
The outdoor shower — 1/10
Okay, this is the one that surprised people. On looks alone, it’s a 10. It’s a beautiful brass shower (similar), and I love walking past it. But would I spend the money on it again? No. We’ve used it maybe two or three times in four years. It even broke once (it got too cold over the winter), and we replaced it… so that we could go back to mostly storing our inner tubes in it. If you’re watching your budget, this is the easiest thing on the whole list to cut. (Though some have said if we had a closure around it, we might use it more.)
If you’re in the middle of planning your own pool, my biggest takeaway after four years is this: the unglamorous decisions — the cover, the salt water, those deep-end ledges — are the ones I’m most grateful for every single day. The pretty extras are lovely, but it’s the practical stuff that quietly earns the highest marks.
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