Author Topic: Sims 3 - The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread  (Read 1301337 times)

Offline Micler

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1335 on: June 27, 2011, 01:17:21 PM »
Coastal Luxury is now up on the swap shop! :)

Offline Joria

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1336 on: June 27, 2011, 01:29:25 PM »
Natsuko, your first house up here and not bad at all!  Here are a few suggestions.  

Move the treadmill back away from the wall a bit.  Think of yourself standing on that and exercising.  Would you feel like you are going to crash into that wall?  So back it up just a bit.  It will fill some of the empty space behind it and make it more comfortable for your Sim.

In the seating area, try placing the chairs facing one another on the long sides of the carpet.  You want them to be able to converse without having to sit with their necks turned sideways.  Or, since you have nice windows and perhaps they want to look out at the view, just angle the chairs where they are so they are slightly turned and can chat with one another and yet still enjoy the view.  Add a small table between them then to tie it all together.  You can leave the table bare or add a lamp or small plant.  I like how the easel is where it will catch the light and have a nice scene to paint from outside the house.

The kitchen feels a bit small to me but I have to live with a small kitchen and it irritates me every time I have to go in it!  I can't change my rl kitchen but perhaps you could move a wall in yours?  Maybe make the work area be an imaginary triangle with appliances at each point of the imaginary triangle?  It makes cooking easier if you can quickly turn from fridge, to stove or sink.   So, if you looked at your kitchen it could be shaped like [ with an appliance at each end and one in the middle to give that triangle work space.  Am I making any sense with that?

In my opinion, it is better to have the kitchen on the main floor and either a bedroom or sitting area upstairs.

For landscaping, I love cherry trees!  I would use only three of them however, maybe placing one in three different spaces on your lot so again, you have an imaginary triangle.  Use uneven numbers when doing your landscaping.  One is too lonely, two feels uncomfortable and three is just right!  So do sets of 3, 5, 7 when placing items in your landscaping.  It could be one cherry tree, with a shrub and a bench, (that is 3 in your visual grouping), or even three cherry trees placed together but not necessarily all in a row. Set them the way you did with the palms in the front yard.

You said you are not a master at terrain paint.  I use a little trick when I want my terrain to be exact and straight.  Like when I make a patio.  I first put down that first "fence" you find in build mode.  Then I color in, inside the lines.  Then I remove the fence and am left with a nice, straight line of paint.   I also use the hardest setting for the "brush" when I want it straight and even.  When I want it to blend in more then I have to use the softer brush so I don't get sharp lines.  In your yard, the greener grass makes very sharp lines against the non-lot areas. So something you can do is simply add a fence!  That way it looks like it is well kept lawn inside the fence area, but not so tidy outside where it doesn't belong to you, and it's fine if the line between the areas is nice and sharp.  After all, we don't landscape our neighboring areas that don't belong to us.

You said you barely know American tastes and fashion so how about sharing something you are very familiar with in your next build?  Expand our horizons!  I personally like to see how things look in other countries or areas.

@ Seabody, add a small touch of white for accent.  That might pull it together for you and can actually make the red and black pop more.

@Salty:  Nice job!  It feels so southwestern just looking at it.  Can you add a touch of sage green or turqouise blue?  Not a lot, just a hint somewhere.  I'd add a tall palm tree where those big rocks are.  Did you use the Egyptian rocks for them?  More sand colored than others.  Can't tell because of night view.  Maybe angle that easel a bit.  Feels kind of stiff with the chairs all lined up and then an easel in the same line.  I love those arches!  Definitely gives a hacienda feel to it.  Oh, is there any navaho blanket type pattern in your catalog?  That could be a good addition to furniture upholstery or a small rug.  I love the whimsical record rug by the music!  Too bad we don't have cacti we can use in our landscaping.  That would be perfect.  A nice saquaro or night blooming cereus would be perfect.  Or a joshua tree!

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VampirePlasma

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1337 on: June 27, 2011, 01:56:36 PM »
Nausko; that's wonderful! Better than any of my houses.
Ausette; Yes! I am going to get it right away!

Now, I made a house yesterday afternoon for my Sims and I think it turned out OK.
I need help with the landscape really bad. And am sorry about the bad screenshots, I am not the best at them.

-Front Yard.


-Living Area.
Ok, so I like big kitchens, space where I can move.  :D And I didn't know what to do there so I put some random floor pattern under the table and that is it. Any suggestions?


-Kitchen/Dining

When you go to the second floor there is kind of a little Sim Fu thing and the parents bedroom.

They have the biggest bath bath

I also made them a little balcony because they have to level the logic skill.


The kids room

I am planning on updating their bath.

The yard went from this
(my first try)

to this

and I am truly happy with it.

Natsuko

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1338 on: June 27, 2011, 02:42:55 PM »
Vampire Plasma, I love your house! Before I give you suggestions on how to improve, thanks for the compliment. I had built that house a year ago and I added some generations content to make it look "better".
The large window on your top floor on the front of the house, is a bit offcentered. I'd suggest centering the window or replacing it with a new one. Also you may want to place windows on the sides of your home. You don't have to place alot of windows, though, because otherwise it looks like you want expose your sims to the world.
For your living area, I'd suggest placing it in the back. Imagine if you walked into a home and BAM there's a huge couch in the way! An entryway makes things look alot neater and less cluttered.
I'm enjoying your kitchen, it feels nice and homey, but the microwave looks out of place. If you change the colour of the microwave in CAS, it'd blend into it's surroundings. I love that sunflower! That is such a clever idea, the sunflower emphasizes on warmth and brightness.
Your first bedroom looks bare. If you added a dresser or a chair next a bookcase, it may look nicer. Consider decorating your walls with paintings.
The kids bedroom looks a little bare also. If you scattered a few Misc. Decor for kids on a night stand or even adding a dresser or shelf, it would look less bare. You may also want to add a teddybear or two for the kids ;)
And your backyard looks lovely! But you may want to place more windows on the back.
I hope you share with us some more of your homes!

VampirePlasma

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1339 on: June 27, 2011, 03:13:53 PM »
Ah, I see what you mean by the windows. It does look ugly. On the left side of the first floor I don't think I can place windows because the TV is there. Hmm, but maybe some rectangle windows where the little potted trees are. I'll definaly consider the windows in the side. Thanks. Yes, I am looking at the microwave and it's like screaming. It pops right out of place. I re-color it with some wood.  ;)
About the bedroom, I am reconsidering getting rid of the balcony because the room is WAY to small, that or moving it foward. Somehow.
The kids room I really didn't care what it looked like at first  ::) But I promise I'll fix it.
Thanks I'll be sure to fix all those problems I honestly didn't notice but it's true it looks bad. Thanks alot Natusko.

Natsuko

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1340 on: June 27, 2011, 03:34:50 PM »
Thanks I'll be sure to fix all those problems I honestly didn't notice but it's true it looks bad. Thanks alot Natusko.
Never say your work looks bad! Your house is good and just like any other house, it has room for improvment.
If you continue to build, soon your houses will look proffesional, they'll look like you just flew in an architect to build a house for you!
So keep building and never give up!
No really.
Don't give up. ;D

Offline Joria

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1341 on: June 27, 2011, 05:55:21 PM »
Hey, Vamp!  I like your house.  I love the tree house in the backyard and the use of Gen stuff. 

Suggestions/observations:  yes on more windows.  No, it does not look BAD, just a wip.

Kids room.  Move either the toy chest or the costumes box and maybe put where it could be angled.  Add a dresser and voila!  Throw a toy on the floor.  Kids don't keep their rooms clean and neat.  A stuffed animal might work or a fire truck or something.

Kitchen.  Love big kitchens!  You could put that microwave in the corner next to the fridge so it's angled and won't scream microwave at you.  Otherwise, it looks great.

Mom's room:  smaller bathroom might give you room to move the wall so you could have a bigger bedroom.  On the other hand, what does a mom/dad do in a bedroom besides sleep and whoo hoo?  Not much.  So all it really needs is a dresser.  A small one.  How about if you put the chess table in the living area?  That way they have a place to sit quietly in the sun.  The record rug just doesn't feel quite right for mom/dad room.  Cute, but looks more teen age.

Can you give us an overhead view?  The close ups make it hard to see just how everything fits together.  Good job on them, however!  I so suck at close ups!

What?  Grannies can't play games?
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Offline danefaith

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1342 on: June 28, 2011, 06:15:06 AM »
@ natsuko: Cute little house, I think you could take the landscaping to the next level very easily.  The way you have your trees now is kind of detached from the house.  They're seperated and kind of doing their own thing.  Landscaping is best when it works hand and hand with the architecture of the building.

There's plenty you could do with your landscaping if you make a few landscaping specific goals.  There are plenty of things landscaping can accomplish, like outline a walking path or accent the front of the home.  Try making a pathway from the door to the street and then add a few flowers along the edge.  Then, try making a few plots right infront of the windows.

@ Saltypaws: The desert terrain paints are a nice idea, but when you get to the edge of the lot there's that harsh border with the rest of the landscape that's very distracting.  I'd suggest just going green as having a lawn in the desert is certainly possible. If you're really set on building in the desert, I'd suggest looking up Los Aniegos in the world exchange.  It has an excellent desert region.

Anyway, while on the subject of the landscape: look closely at your plants and trees, specifically, look closely at patches of the same plant.  Notice how they have the same leaf pattern?  It's import to give little turns each time you place more than one of a plant close together, so that you don't fall prey to that eerie clone feeling.

I like the mission arches in front of the jacuzzi area, but I noticed you're using the same wall coverings as the rest of the house.  I would suggest using a flat wall with a brick texture here to make it distinct from the main structure.

Moving inside, I have to say we've got some pretty good furniture arrangement going on, and some nice colors.  your bathroom is spot on, with a solid color palette, good use of space and utility and fun accents.  I'd suggest coloring the trim of the window the same color as the shelves.

In the kitchen,  I would making the brick wall lighter and just a speck less saturated, so that it contrasts with the tiles better.    Next, try applying the wood texture from your counter's onto that wooden panel on your washer and dryer.  Using create-a-style on all the little bits and pieces is an essential part of making a color palette work.  Finally, simply because the kitchen and the living room appear to have distinctly different color schemes and personalities, I would suggest putting an actual wall in between them, and using multiple mission arches like you did in front of the jacuzzi.

All around some good stuff here, with just a few things to touch up on.  Keep on keepin' on.

@ Aussete: It turned out fantastic!  Of course I always knew it would.

@ Vamp: A very nice house, but there are avenues we can pursue to make it even better.  First off, I'd like to suggest you "unite" your roof sections.  Your roof has a dimple in the very center, where rain and gunk would pool up.  Multiple roof sections need to come together in a way that there are no insets.  Long winded explanation for something very easy to solve.  Simply drag the two "hipped roof" sections the entire way across, and then lower them to their original height.

I'm going to echo what I said to Salty about making small turns when you place the same kind of plant multiple times.  If you don't, they'll appear to have identical leaf patterns and you getting this eerie sort of "clone" sensation.

For your interiors, very good furniture layout, although I'm noticing you're not using very much Create-a-Style.  While its definitely possible to create a workable arrangement using only default styles, using CAS gives you complete control over the color palette.  Now I'll admit CAS'ing everything can be a bit foreboding, but it pays off in the end.  You just gotta grab the bull by the horns.  You'll be glad you did in the end.


Oh, sweet irony, deliver me from coincidence.

Please feel free to utilize any of my builds in any of your stories and so forth.

Offline danefaith

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1343 on: June 28, 2011, 06:28:14 AM »


I couldn't agree more that it's very frustrating that you can't CAS the chimney... So I cheated and replaced it with the chimney sections from the modern fireplace.  ;D



Didn't give myself much space for the backyard, so this is what we got.  Might place with the flooring to give it some emphasis.




Finally: living room, in Craftsman style.


Oh, sweet irony, deliver me from coincidence.

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VampirePlasma

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1344 on: June 28, 2011, 07:22:17 AM »
You noticed I don't use CAS?  :-\ Yeah, it just really takes an hour for fabrics to load and hour for everything else to load. I did use it on like 3 things.

-I decided to get rid of the little balcony (or however you call it) just because it was bothering me.

and I didn't have much space. I like the room alot better now, but I'll have to get the correct orange for that lamp. I put three big windows on each wall, and I placed those blinds in black because I thought it was going to be to much orange.


-Is the kids room better?


-I moved the couch foward and then the space in the back felt empty so I added a rug. (I did use CAS for this  ;) )

Someone said something about wanting to see how everything fits in together, I think it was Joria, I am not sure.
Is this what you wanted?



And this is the front of the house.


Things I forgot was the microwave but the rightside of the house I did add windows, I just took the the shot first  by mistake.
Oh! And anyone has any idea where I could put the mailbox please?

By the way, where are you guys putting your screenshots to get them here, they show so well. Mine take a while to load. Anyone want to message me please?

Can this pictures be seen?

Offline Saltypaws

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1345 on: June 28, 2011, 10:19:28 AM »
Thanks danefaith your suggestions, I really do appreciate it.  It seems I build a house, then sit and look at for a while, not sure of what I want to do and then my brain freezes up, lol.  I like to build, but just have to sit and really think about colors and decorations.  I will take your suggestions and see what I can come up with.  Thanks again.
Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?

Natsuko

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1346 on: June 28, 2011, 11:02:41 AM »
Thanks danefaith for you suggestions. I've been building in the Sims games forever, and when sims 3 came out, I completely lost my talent. I've sort of redone that building, and I'll post pictures later.

Offline Darkeroid

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1347 on: June 28, 2011, 11:52:58 AM »
Asusu every fellow simmers out there!
Here is my First house I am posting to the internet. It's called Modern Estate.

The price is about 230,000. It does use a lot of store content, especially Ultra Lounge (all sets), BaHaus and Colletione Stanke. It does use every single expansion and stuff Pack (including Generations). The house is a modern family home with 4 bedrooms and 1 nursery. It has a gym and a skill room (a.k.a study area). Pam requested a family home with many bedrooms and a nursery. So Pam,this house may be good for you.





I know, the exterior paint may be a little irritating.

First floor



Second floor



The party area and formal dining



The walkway to the kitchen. The arch is the only way to get in the kitchen. May be used as butler's room.



How to do the windows and the split leveling can be learned here (compatible with base game): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dm7FOJG6Pk&feature=player_embedded



The nursery style Pam used in the Dreamweaver Dynasty. A sleeping area and a playing area separated by arches.



Note that no landscaping is done (because I stink at it)

Download link below
http://www.mediafire.com/?bne4zdnk62kuubx

Offline Joria

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1348 on: June 28, 2011, 02:02:44 PM »
Vampire see if this link helps with the how to upload pictures. 
http://www.carls-sims-3-forum.com/index.php/topic,2881.0/topicseen.html

The kid's room looks much better.  Windows are much better.  Mail box can go at the end of the path or move it up a bit closer to the shrubs and just barely on the path.  Yes, that overhead is exactly what I wanted to see.  It makes the house make more sense and I can see you actually have more room than I thought.  What if you moved your dining room furniture one space forward toward the kitchen.  Then move the arch also one space in the same direction.  It will give a small wall to the right of the arch and would feel a wee bit cozier.  You can put a second potted plant in that spot.  In the space you created by moving the dining room forward, you can put another small seating area or the chess set, or both if you use smaller chairs for seating.  In the living room the rug was a great idea but I'd slide it toward the sofa a bit and maybe place a table, for instance, workspace du miche, directly behind the sofa on that rug.  You can then accessorize the table with a lamp, a plant, or whatever strikes your fancy and budget.  The master bedroom looks so much more cozy now!  Warm and comfortable.  There are two things that bother me.  The beds in the kid's room right on those windows feels scary.  If you took out that long, center window, (the other thing that bothers me is that window), you could place the head of the bunk beds there.  Do they only have railings on one side?  That would be unfortunate.  The long window bothers me because when you look at the front of the house it rather looks like a nose in the middle of a grinning house.  If you took it away, or replaced it with the same style and size as the other windows, that would be gone.  Those are just nit picking on a house that is really coming along nicely.  Good job and thanks for putting up with us! (me)

Darkeroid the only thing I was going to say to you was about landscaping!  lol  Ok, some suggestions for that end.  "Fence" in your mansion with that tall, (or short), green shrub fence.  It will hide the harsh line between grass colors and add some landscaping.  See how the Alto, or is it Landgraab, house has theirs?  Use that fence and then copy their line of trees.  Put a shrub or two cluster somewhere by the walk way.  Up close to the house, down at the end, anywhere.  Use three shrubs or two shrubs and a small tree or three palm trees.  It's not much landscaping but it will break up the space.  Nice to see all those store items too!  Some of my favs in there.

Danefaith, I don't think it's cheating to change the chimney, just creative thinking!  Love this house and the tiny backyard is fine.  You did a good job with it.  I think I'd add a path from the stairs to the seating area though.
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VampirePlasma

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Re: The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread
« Reply #1349 on: June 28, 2011, 02:28:53 PM »
Thanks Joria, for helping me  :). Okay so fix windows, move/change didning and move arch. Move the rug, move bunkbeds, and yes they do have railing in both sides, it just goes away when you put it close to the wall. I will get to those when I get free time.

 

anything