Sims 3 - The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread

[Sims3Clacla123]

Eddy your homes are amazing! I love the third one, it's so awesome. Keep it up

[EddyPieHands]

Thank you so much! OK, so I tried getting some interior shots of the first house. Found out it's pretty hard. I really should have taken one of the layout but this is what you get: 


^ Kitchen


^ View from the kitchen into the living room and first floor balcony/deck area.


^ Master bedroom. Bathroom is across the hall.


^ Nursery/children's room (if you swap the bed). Next to the master bedroom.


^ Side view


^ Upstairs hallway. And living area. Toilet and a balcony to the left.


^ Upstairs boys room.


^ Upstairs girls room

[ladybug53]

Wow , you do beautiful work !  Your houses are remarkable !  Thanks for sharing . 

[Keoni]

I desire to join in the fun!

I'm not *completely* happy with this house, but since it's only the second one I built (and the first one I where I built the entire structure at once rather than adding on as I went), I'm still fairly proud of it. Perhaps I should pick up some of the expansion packs to make it more impressive with.

So let us discontinue this ado! This log cabin was designed for a young couple who wanted to get away from civilisation and enjoy nature. Let us see:



So the driveway and front walk don't really line up well with the sidewalk. Partly my fault for leaving those until the end, but I still mostly blame the lot for lining up weirdly on its own. Anyway...

Here's an overview of the main floor:



The living space:



Despite the house having an windows everywhere, the main floor was still exceedingly dark. So if the number of lamps seems excessive, it was the only way this family could see what they were doing. Those plaques on the wall are for gardening and fishing.

The kitchen:



A little cramped, but the family prefers to eat outdoors anyway.

On the other side of the living space:



I don't really know what to do with this space yet. I supposed I could move the living area over and expand the kitchen a bit, but I'm actually pretty pleased with how those two spots turned out and don't really want to mess with them. For now I've been using it as a play area for the twins, but they'll be teenagers soon...

The bedroom:



I don't think this bed has ever been made. No, wait! That one time during the twins' birthday parties, when they invited their friends over. Not that anyone else has any business being in here...

And now for the upper loft:



The corner of the loft acts as the twins' bedroom:



The family honestly wasn't planning for more than one child when they built the house, so the girls will just have to suffer each other in the same bedroom. But they get along wonderfully anyway, so it's all good. Also, guess their favourite colours.

So that's the house. Now let's head back outside. Here's the back yard:



Trying to get a good shot was a bit tricky since the camera kept trying to scale the mountains behind.

And finally, the garden:



...Which is a bit neglected at the moment since Christine was busy taking care of her daughters (and also because I don't really care for gardening to begin with). But it should expand a bit once Jessie grows up and starts helping out over here. If you're wondering about the big empty space, it's because I haven't had time to go hunt down some flame and life fruit seeds. Those'll go there. And perhaps some other unusual plants if those opportunities ever arise.

And there you have it folks. Still needs some work, but I'm mostly pleased with what I've accomplished.

[ladybug53]

What a beautiful spot to build a house . If this is only your second house , well I think it's remarkable . It looks very cozy and welcoming . Love what you choose for the exterior of your house as well .  For the lighting , in Buydebug there are ceiling and wall lights that you can use and they disappear in live mode . I use them quite often . Great job ! 

[Silviak]

I think you did a great job, especially for your second house, Keoni!

I was thinking, for that little play area with the blocks... if that's the kid's corner, why not 'clutter' it up a bit? Like putting in a kid shelf or a low table and adding some of the decoration books/stuffed animals to it? Just to give it more of a play area look? Some artwork or curtains for the window will help brighten up the corner, too.

Just an idea, if you're interested in fiddling. ^^

[Keoni]

Thank you folks. I guess that would have made sense for the kids' corner, but the girls are now teenagers, so I just cleared that space out for now.

[Silviak]

Thank you folks. I guess that would have made sense for the kids' corner, but the girls are now teenagers, so I just cleared that space out for now.

That's always the way when I decorate. Just get it right and BAM - family changes.

[Silviak]

Hokay, so. I've never been a homebuilder on Sims. I would make utilitarian houses for my sims simply because it's cheaper, with no regard to looks or style.

Until now. I've finally built my first real house, a Victorian home for my witch couple and their familiar cats. I haven't finished decorating the inside yet, because I'm very particular, but I should have it done in the next day or so. Until then, I wanted to share the outside shots, as building something with a nice outside has been challenge enough.



I took inspiration from the Victorian houses around my grandmother's home on Mackinac Island. Lots of flower beds,




The rear, with a patio and a glimpse of their gardens. Mostly alchemy plants, with some food for the family is going to be grown here.




My main goal was to give curb appeal without overdoing the flowers, and I think I did a pretty good job. I wanted to put lilacs in, but there are only yellow lilacs, and it made the front look too busy.



If anyone has suggestions on how to add more flowered bushes or ideas to make the lawn look better, go for it. I'm going to experiment with some different lawn paints, probably, but it has to look well tended, even if it doesn't match the grass surrounding the lot. 

[Chuckles_82]

Wow, I really like your house - it is interesting and unique. I've never noticed that pattern wall that you used on the roof section before - the one that looks like a windmill - is it a pattern, or a wall? What category is it in?

As for the lawn, if you put a low fence around it, it won't be so obvious that it is different grass to the surrounding grass. Or you could put a narrow garden all the way around the edge. Also, there is a mowed lawn texture that you could use that makes it look well tended, otherwise the colour that you have used looks fine.

[Silviak]

Wow, I really like your house - it is interesting and unique. I've never noticed that pattern wall that you used on the roof section before - the one that looks like a windmill - is it a pattern, or a wall? What category is it in?

As for the lawn, if you put a low fence around it, it won't be so obvious that it is different grass to the surrounding grass. Or you could put a narrow garden all the way around the edge. Also, there is a mowed lawn texture that you could use that makes it look well tended, otherwise the colour that you have used looks fine.

It's a wall pattern, Chuckles. I can't remember which heading it's under, as I'm not at my Sims computer, but I can PM you later with the name of it if you like. I think it's from the original sims as well. I recolored it so the cross looking bits would stand out.

I really like the idea of a low fence, but I haven't found the right one yet. I think I might go back and start playing with fences again though.

[Keoni]

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING.

(As though I'd ever let that stop me.)

I honestly didn't think this house could be tamed. The sim I was building it for was a fighter pilot-in-training -- because chicks dig fighter pilots -- and he wanted an exercise room with a great view. I interpreted this to mean "gimme a house with a glass wall facing the beach so I can see when all the lovely ladies in swimsuits to whom I can show off my pecs are around."

But while I was building, I kept coming up with neat ideas that I wanted to keep for the final design, except that the size or shape that resulted would constantly interfere with the basic requirement to have a big exercise room on the second floor with a glass wall facing the beach. And I just couldn't bring myself to scrap all these ideas to start over with a new design. I was ready to just save the house to the bin to be continued later for a different sim, when, after sleeping on it, I resolved to give it one last go.

And I managed to pull it off. The exercise room isn't as big as I'd like, and the house actually inspired a slight change to the sim's story (he got a teenage daughter for some reason) (by slight I meant significant). But I'm happy with the result.

Anyway, you didn't come to this thread to read a story, you came for purty pictures. Let's rock!





I'm still not keen on the roof shape,  but it was the best I could come up with. The glass wall wasn't looking right, and got reduced to a few windows instead. I should probably put some shrubs or something on the right side. Landscaping wasn't a priority with this house since it took up so much of the lot anyway, and besides, there's a gigantic beach in front, and a gigantic grassy hill out back. Who needs yard?

The catwalk in back connecting the two bedrooms amuses me for no apparent reason.



Main floor, complete with the Randall family: single father and military-man Mike and his rebellious daughter Chelsea. That feels stereotypical now that I think back on it. Oh well.

I find open plans a bit trickier to decorate than enclosed rooms, but I think I pulled this off OK. Although the kitchen looks a little bare looking at it from this angle. I'll have to find something to put on the wall.



I'm pretty happy with the upper floor. For some reason Chelsea always uses the deck table to do her homework on, despite having a desk in her room. I did manage to achieve a decent view from the treadmill:



Not quite what I was going for, but it'll do.



I made up for the loss of workout space by giving Mike plenty of floor space in his bedroom for a morning workout, complete with floor-to-ceiling mirror for him to inspect his muscles. Apparently he's a bit vain.



Chelsea's room. I have nothing to add.

That's all for today. I'd like to leave you with a shot of Mike driving his invisible truck to work:



I recently picked up Pets and World Adventures, and ever since installing them my game has become pathetically slow at loading graphics. I've turned the detail down, but it still takes forever to load models, and three forevers for textures. I am disappoint.

Also three horses showed up on my driveway one afternoon and hung out all night. What's up with that?

[Silviak]

Keoni - great house, I love it! Looks good for a guy who wants to mack on zee ladies.

(I bet WA is your culprit, I think it's a horrible juice hog. Have you emptied your caches and all that since installing?)

[cathyknits]

@Keoni - with Pets installed there will be a herd of wild horses in town. Mostly they stick by the fishing spots, but sometimes they'll roam around a bit.

[Dextra2]

@Keoni - with Pets installed there will be a herd of wild horses in town. Mostly they stick by the fishing spots, but sometimes they'll roam around a bit.

And then they eat you plants, and this is why most simmers use fences. Zombies and horses eating plants make it hard to garden.