Sims 3 - The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread

[VampirePlasma]

The TV and chairs by the bed look a little cramped. Imagine if you had to walk and squeeze through a couple of chairs just to go to bed! You could move the TV set and chairs to your living room, and replace that empty area with a bookshelf and a chair.

I totally missed that. Maybe smaller chairs? Or place the dresser there?

[Saltypaws]

I am so glad to see other people building too.  Micler and gogowars, your houses are great.  I really like small cottage like houses better than big houses, but it seems that everytime I try to make a small house, it is so much bigger than what I had wanted.  I really like the colors in your cottage micler.  I love the yellows and pinks and greens.  You would never think those colors go together until you use them like that. Keep up the good work.

[danefaith]

Gogowars: Nice structure, and I like the informal style of garden.  It emphasizes the right places and feels natural.

For the interior, the black trims are a little harsh.  Perhaps try gray?  And make sure that you're using the same wood amongst your furniture: apply the wood color you're using on the bed to the shelves of the TV, and that should help.

Micler: Huge improvement.  The new wood really solidifies the palette.  Thinking maybe you should make the tile wall in the kitchen a little earthier [maybe yellow/green] so it contrasts with the rest of the greens.  That's about all I can think of.  Great job!

Joria: Foreyour questions, let's see..

1. That could definitely work, it's all in how you decorate.

2. I like the idea of studio mostly because I liked the first studio very much, and that multiple units in different styles could be pretty cool.

3. Those are all pretty good options, I'd personally go with bar or seats because it suits the mood of a dance area better than a shuffleboard.

4. Like I said, I like the idea of multiple studios than just a bunch of small bedrooms because the format you had for it was so strong.

Hope that helped!

[Ausette]

Wow, this thread really exploded with posts overnight!

@ danefaith: The landscaping is fantastic. I really like how you took that itty bitty backyard and portioned it up. Also, swapping chimneys: awesome idea.

@ VampirePlasma: Sorry to hear 'bout your loading issues, but I think you've done a great job working around the recolours you have. It's turned out to be a really cute house, and did I mention I love that shade of orange in the bedroom?

@ Darkeroid: Interesting house, and good job working on a large scale like that! I could never build big houses myself. 

@ SaltyPaws: Ah, the pictures in your first post are showing up for me now! Love the red kitchen. And as of your latest update, I love the turquoise accents and terrain paint too! I have to ask though, are those glass windows in the basement? I like the concept, but unless you're running an ant farm down there I think some kind of frosted or stained glass would look nicer.

@ Joria: Wow, I love your use of space on the lowest floor, especially the dining area. The suites are really cute as well. I think I'd put a little sitting area on the wooden floor south of the dance floor, and move the shuffleboard into the green space next to that. I'd also consider some living chairs or a water feature in the foyer, just to fill the space. It looks great!

@ Micler: Eeeee so cute! The landscaping is just so lovely and earthy. As for the interior, I really love the colours, the patterns and the cluttered-but-cozy furniture placement. The way you've coordinated everything together is just amazing. What a beautiful fairytale cottage.

@ Gogowars: Your landscaping's coming along nicely, and overall I'm getting a real Riverview feeling from your house. I've noticed though that the big bay windows at the front are sticking through the roof a little. Perhaps you could adjust the roof or switch the windows?

[Gogowars329]

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions!

@Ausette I changed the windows like you said. Thanks for noticing them because I know I wouldn't have!

@Danefaith and Natsuko I changed the wood of the bedroom and added a bookshelf. I also added a coffee table and moved the chairs.
@VampirePlasma I changed the toilet/bathtub colours.

I completed the child's bedroom/ensuite but not entirely sure about the bathroom. Please give me some suggestions about the new rooms.

[Joria]

Micler, love the new curtains.  In my opinion this little cottage is perfect.

Gogowars, those changes in the blue bedroom are perfection!  It is so inviting now.  You asked for suggestions for the children's bathroom.  My only suggestion is maybe use that shower of power, the tub/shower combo.  Reason?
Littler kids often dislike showers.  Hate the water in their faces.  But they love ducky time with bubbles!  The exterior looks so much nicer now.  It was a bit intimidating before but now it is welcoming.  Great "curb appeal".

I've worked some on the elder care home but the more I do the more I see it being a legacy house.  A few changes here and there but the scale of the house would really make it so easy to do as a legacy/dynasty house.  I've taken out the shuffleboard and dart board, added cozy seating and bookshelves on that main level.  Photos to follow tomorrow when I'm not so sleepy.

[Katluvr]

@Ausette I changed the windows like you said. Thanks for noticing them because I know I wouldn't have!

I love your house so far Gogo!  The overall layout and design are really inviting and the landscaping is looking really good!

I noticed the window issue as well.  I have to say I really liked the bay windows in front better than the new windows - they really seemed to flow with the shape of the front of the house.  I also find the slanted roof over the windows a bit distracting - it feels out of place to me.  Is there a way to use the bay windows and either use a different roof shape over them or perhaps even extend the main roof to cover them?

If that doesn't work I think bigger windows in the front - double width and longer to match the windows on either side - would be a good alternative.

Can't wait to see how everything works out and I hope you'll share it in the Swap Shop when you're done!

[Natsuko]

Gogo, the outside of your home looks so much better!

The kids bedroom looks great, it's just, I'm not sure about that toy chest against those chairs. Maybe you could put it against the wall, and recolour it with some matching colours.

For the bathroom, you could recolour the tiles on the shower. You could also add a rug, and maybe a few decorations? I think that you should add a rug, because kids can slip on the wet floor in real life, sometimes real is better

[Lynley1248]

@Gogowars - Your house is looking lovely.  I really like the changes you made, especially the fencing in the front.  It looks really great.  I liked the bay windows, though, and thought they really added to the exterior.  Maybe you could use double gables so that the bay window edge doesn't go through the roof?   In the kids' bathroom, I'd recolor the shower so that it blends. I really like that orange tile.  I always have a hard time making those types of colors work but it looks really good here.

[Katluvr]

I recently posted a house I made in the Swap Shop - it was a request from another forum member.  I'm really happy with how it turned out for the most part.  The one area that I really feel is still lacking is the landscaping.





A full tour of the interior is available in my gallery.

I'd love your ideas on how to kick the landscaping up a notch or any suggestions you have to improve exterior or interior.  Thank you!

[CharlotteDaBookworm]

This is the exterior of a new WIP I'm working on. Any tips, criticism welcome.

[Micler]

Thank you, everyone! Fairytale Cottage is now up in the swap shop!

@Katluvr- The house looks great! I would suggest maybe adding a few more trees around the property

@Gogowars- The master bedroom looks much better! The kids room looks good, but maybe the bathroom should be blue to match the rugs in the bedroom. Or possibly red. The orange throws off the colour palette to me.

[samoht04]

@ Kat, I'm wondering how it would look like if you just put some nice trees and a few shrubs at the bases of them then touch up the Paints? The thing with Large Lots is it takes a long time for a whole lot of Garden so I think simple is better.

@ Sims3lover, I think the brick contrasts with everything too much. I see why you've chosen similar colours but it just looks overwhelming to me, that Dirt at the Front needs blending at the side bit though, or putting a fence or something there to break that line between the grass and it.

[Natsuko]

@Sims3lover: the colours of the brick and roof, are contrasting a little too much. Maybe change it to a dark colour. The windows just look to plain. Different windows, would deffinently snazz up the exterior. Your fence doesn't go with the house, if you changed the colour of it, the fence would look better. As for landscaping: add some trees in the front. Clusters of 3 trees look good. Put some bushes by the front sides of the house, bushes would help make the home less plain. Your terrain paint in the front of the house could be alot darker. You could also make a stone path leading up to the door and into the backyard.
I can't wait to see the interior!

[Joria]

@Sims3lover:  Basically, what has already been said.  Unusual roof line there.  How did you do that?

@Katluvr:  Just a bit more landscaping and it will be great.

@Micler:  Thanks for putting up this darling cottage.  Downloading it!

Worked on my wip all day.  Here's the pics.  Oh, I need a name for it.  I am so bad at names so someone please rescue me and give me a good name.



I took Dane's advice and the sleeping rooms will all be suites.  This one is much smaller and will be the butler's room if we get one.







The green room.  This is one of my favorites.  It is the largest suite so far.

http://www.carls-sims-3-forum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10018/MF1.jpg

The new, and I hope, improved, main floor entry level.  I added some things to the foyer, moved the shuffleboard and added some cozy seating.  They aren't in this pic but there are 3 computer tables along the wall down the hall. 



This is the recreation area.  Pool, hot tub, dance club, (residents and guests only), gym, even a gnub court.



Roof top skills area.  This is for the artistic.  I do not have an area for making gizmos or a lab for potions.

There is only one floor left to complete, another sleeping floor.  I can put two huge suites there and am planning mostly on a red/black/white/grey theme for them.  I actually could make three rooms but I think two bigger rooms would be nicer.  Room for a baby grand that way!

Suggestions and critiquing welcome. 

Do you guys want me to put it in the swap shop?  It costs over 300k so far.
If I had left all the room markers in, it would only be a cost/value of 42k, but once I took them out, the price was for the entire house, not just the one suite.  Interesting how that worked.  I am going to save it to my library and put my dynasty in it.  I was in the process of remodeling their home when I stopped to redo my pc/games so instead of a new build I'll just use this.

OOOPS!  Ignore the white door in the green room.  I changed it to match the color of the wood on the dresser, bed, etc.