Upgrading
In the sims 3 you may upgrade objects with various abilities. Starting at skill level 3 (fact check) you may begin upgrading your interactive objects with upgrades.
Upgrades are things like "Unbreakable" or "Self-Cleaning" are more generic upgrades that can be applied to most anything, while upgrades like "Fireproof" and "cook meat better" apply to specific objects like the Oven.