Sims 4 Building/Remodeling Thread

[Heart Foam]

I've got a save where the Landgraab name has been kept alive, and some of the descendants of Nancy inherited their father's pink hair (as you do), and I've been playing that family. This is just me playing The Sims. I don't have any up-to-date interior pictures apart from the kitchen.

It's a really interesting house to play with, and live in, and tweak because it's one that many people will be familiar with. And the main shell of the house is intact. Apart from the asymmetric chimneys.







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Edited to add:

[Heart Foam]

So the Island Living  expansion is very exciting, and obviously I'm thinking of some grand house, some English country estate, with formal gardens that lead into the sea. Totally must try that. 

This is not that.

This is a WIP. An old project that I started on yonks ago -- probably back when Newcrest was added. It's incomplete, no family has ever lived in it. But at the time there wasn't a way to do the roof properly. I've remembered it now and thought it might suit the island. This lot is 50x40 Twin Oracle Point, and there are a few 50x50 lots in Island Living -- more room at the back. I followed a real house plan for the most part. And that's why is more interesting than a decorated box, which is pretty much all I manage. The main lounge is double-volume and sunken. Pretty cool.

I'm not sure how everything will work with the pool meeting the sea, and the fact it's not on foundation. We'll see. But I hope it works. Obviously the trees would have to go, because I think that'll be rather damp where they are.





Look at me. Building something that doesn't look like it crawled off the pages of a Jane Austen novel. I tried the StrangerVille windows on the tower and I think it looks amazing.

[Joria]

@Heart Foam: Nothing wrong with looking like something crawled off Jane Austin novel.  Lol.  So how did this build work on an island?  You obviously have more patience with your builds, making unique floors etc., than I have.  Getting tired of my old American Gothic, (farmhouse/plantation), style builds.  Your builds are more grande, not grandiose, but grande, like English manor houses.  You've inspired me.  So here is my current remodel, Myoshuno Meadows, which is now a wedding/honeymoon venue.  First, the outside gardens:

Not much to see during the day, just added some benches.



But at night you can see the fountain has a lit glow to it.  I used normal pool and ground lights which I hid inside the fountain.  I hate things being dark and gloomy and often do this around plants etc.



More benches.  I also added some CC, ( I did that a lot in this build), where TS3 statues are now compatible with TS4.  I added more lilies and again, added lighting.





Night view.



For the wedding arch, I added more of the overhead lights, moved some chairs around to place some more hidden lights, and added a golden rope to enclose the bride and groom and prevent photo bombings from guests.
That part doesn't always work as the bride and groom sometimes refuse to say their vows that way!  It takes more patience than I sometimes have.  Used Moo a lot for everything and enlarged some indoor plants so I could have more flowers that didn't die with Seasons.  My guests all sat nicely and the wedding was a gold medal success.





What if you want to get married at night?  No problem!



Gave the random willow tree a bench and flowers.



And a lot more flowers around the gazebo.  Need to do more with this as am not totally content with it.



In order to keep it legal for ID I cannot move or add walls, that's vebotten, so it limits what I can do as far as making it more a resort or vacation destination.  Still, for a honey moon it ain't bad!  Pictures of the inside coming up.

[Joria]

I actually started with first the wedding arch, and then remodeled the building by adding items necessary for wedding couple and guests.  I simply can't remember things very well anymore, so anything that isn't CC, which I call CC, is listed as being "normal".  This means it's base game and any other expansion or stuff pack, except Vampires which I never use, whose name I simple don't remember.  Several strokes has really hit my memory hard, so please bear with me.

(TS3 camera), kitchen, bathrooms, porch with chess tables.  It was easy to add showers and a long mirror to the bath rooms and seems appreciated by all who visit.  The kitchen is modernized with a chef's kitchen stove, lighting and useful clutter, (which of course, can't be used, it's just for looks.)



What reception is worth it's salt if there isn't a bar and a dance floor?  Not enough room to do a dj or live music but the stereo under the stairs works just fine.  Buffect table for food and wedding cake and a quiet place to sit and revive from all the excitement.





I switched cameras back and forth from TS3 for overhead, and TS4 for closer views.  Boy, was that confusing!  The upstairs is my pride and joy.  Here's an overview of the dining room and lounge.



Dining room wallpaper is CC.  Got most of my stuff from Mod the Sims4. 
Tried to use "normal" base or EP stuff as much as possible but sometimes it just, isn't possible for the look I want.



The lovely, larger red carpets are both cc from Mod the Sims, just added a few things here and there.  The painting by the easels has an inspired aura to it and is a "normal" painting.  The plant IN the coffee table is just that.  It's on the floor but looks like it's on the table when actually it is IN the table.  The fireplace is the brick fireplace you can get from the "normal" stuff.



An overview of all most all my favorite rooms.  No walls were moved or deleted. Just a lot of 'stuff' rearranged or changed.  Wall paper is CC in dining room, bath room, and bedroom.  Several, large, lovely, CC paintings.  TheJim07 does the most amazing CC, a lot of it from Versailles.  He's brilliant and his stuff, so far, always works.  Find him in MTS4.



The wallpaper is by Christine from MTS.  (I looked those two up).  The lovely painting is from TheJim07.  I Love this room!



The library/reading room/get a drink without going downstairs, room.  Lol.



A better view of the library to show off one of the paintings.



Hope you like it.  There is more I can and will do but for now, it's ok.  Now, where would I put some honeymoon type outdoor activities?  What about more fun items like card tables or such?  A picnick area? A pool?  A sauna or hot tub?  A larger, more formal garden and/or maze?

I  "think" I sent it to the gallery under, My Myoshuno Meadows. Forgot to has tag it. sigh

[Heart Foam]

@Joria I've only just seen this now. Truly. Inexplicable, really. I'd expect an email notification or something.

That house of mine has never been to a beachfront lot, partly because the beachfront mansion thing I've shared here took over, and partly because of pools on ground level not working. It could be adapted. It could work without the pool, and have ladders to the sea. I'll see.

The lights over the path are so good. I've not used lights like that enough. Those carpets are gorgeous. I don't think I've got any CC... but those are sorely tempting.

The thing with adding extras is that they must look like they were part of the plan all along. I could talk for some length about building houses. I don't see gallery or youtube sim creations with fancy floors, and that's a missed opportunity. I think my houses are a lot less cluttered, and ultimately simpler, than some of the Build Mode Specials. I've lately got a new pc, but with my old one I was always conscious about not having a 1,000 items for it to load. So that made me not overstuff everything. I always struggle to know how to put in a hot tub and have it seem like it fits.

[Joria]

One of the things I've enjoyed about your builds is how spacious they are while are not necessarily huge builds.  You just don't add a lot of junk and it shows.  This is one of the reasons they are all "grande" and not grandiose.  I have a tendency to clutter too much and haven't been able to break the habit and simplify, which really needs doing.  This remodel has more clutter than I really want or originally had, but I did like adding the statues.  Myoshuno Meadows is one of my go to places when my poor, broke, Sim needs better/more skilling opportunities.  You pretty much have it all there and they can take care of their needs as well, even without any enhancements.
   I never used to use cc and still don't use mods.  Too scary and my pc is too ancient.  However, the carpets in normal EA are usually not right, (I do love the ones I used a lot), and the pictures are overwhelmed with stuff I wouldn't usually hang on any walls.  But, when you can download a Caravaggio, or Degas, or......let's face it any of the masters, I'm going to give it a shot.  The one in the bedroom is featured in the Apollo room at Versailles as are many of the others I downloaded, (and didn't use, like a portrait of Louis XIV!).  Usually they are too big and need to be shrunk or put on extremely tall walls with enough space to show them properly.  If you are tempted and go see the guy I mentioned, (TheJim), be forewarned.  It could be your downfall!  His things are amazing.

[Heart Foam]

I am already tempted. Pre-tempted, even. I'm closely scanning your pictures to see the CC. Right before I saw your posts yesterday I had been browsing the gallery and the internet generally, and found a CC heavy Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte. In the end I thought the proportions were off, partly because he's trying to accommodate the dimensions of the CC he used -- which is the problem we suffer through anyway.

Another idea I've got (or someone who reads this can give it a go) is a white, flat-roof version of the Vacuous Green house for Sulani on the Admiral's Wreckage lot. Not a super complicated house at all.

Totally agree on carpets and pictures! Most of the normal EA stuff I'm not going to hang on any wall.

[Joria]

I want to build a "resort", a destination/vacation place on Sulani, on the sunken wreck.  Been batting around ideas in my head and so far it's pretty grandiose!  Not sure if I want the "accommodations", to be under the remodeled ship, or if that should be the ball room, dining room, restaurant, play area.  A pool, of course!  What resort wouldn't have one?  An open luau pit for barbecue and kava party complete with fire dancers.  A gazebo, that is actually two, or three stories with, (ok is this really way too chintzy?), a telescope on top for viewing all the islands and the volcano, and on the first level just a nice place to sit for high tea or if it's three stories the middle section for high tea.  (I LOVE high tea!)  A children's play area for toddlers etc.  I think I'll want it to be "normal", no cc or mods.  First I'd have to get the ok from the team because I'd build it without being in my ID and place it later and not sure if this is kosher.  Ideas?  Critiquing?  Suggestions?

@Playalot, @sdhoey, @MarianT, would like to see this thread expand more and I know you guys are great builders.  Let's share the wealth and tag anyone else you know who are great builders.  It's not "same ol', same ol" so let's wake up the talent.

[sdhoey]

I want to build a "resort", a destination/vacation place on Sulani, on the sunken wreck.  Been batting around ideas in my head and so far it's pretty grandiose!  Not sure if I want the "accommodations", to be under the remodeled ship, or if that should be the ball room, dining room, restaurant, play area.  A pool, of course!  What resort wouldn't have one?  An open luau pit for barbecue and kava party complete with fire dancers.  A gazebo, that is actually two, or three stories with, (ok is this really way too chintzy?), a telescope on top for viewing all the islands and the volcano, and on the first level just a nice place to sit for high tea or if it's three stories the middle section for high tea.  (I LOVE high tea!)  A children's play area for toddlers etc.  I think I'll want it to be "normal", no cc or mods.  First I'd have to get the ok from the team because I'd build it without being in my ID and place it later and not sure if this is kosher.  Ideas?  Critiquing?  Suggestions?

@Playalot, @sdhoey, @MarianT, would like to see this thread expand more and I know you guys are great builders.  Let's share the wealth and tag anyone else you know who are great builders.  It's not "same ol', same ol" so let's wake up the talent.

Weil, Sulani isn't a destination/Vacation world, It wouldn't work for the IDC.For a non-hall of fame Dynasty, sounds wonderful. A huge undertaking.

[Playalot]

Sorry @Joria  I only noticed this in my mentions list this morning. That sounds like a huge build! I think working with the sunken ship would be neat. Perhaps finding some google images for inspiration might give you some ideas.

[Joria]

@Playalot :  It IS a huge build.  Been working on it off and on, (mostly off since I feel guilty about not posting more on my ID's), and am having a lot of fun and learning some things about what you can and can't do with new updates.  For instance, you can't put a pool too close to the front or the underneath sections of the wreck.  The ground "warps" and sinks making the pool surrounds pretty impossible.  I'm sure there is a way to work this but am not there yet.

The trickiest part at the moment was keeping the shape of the sunken ship, at least for the first lower level, and yet expanding the size of it.  I'm kind of going for a Disney-esque illiusion thing.  So far have added a "ballroom/dance floor" area with a bar and rest rooms, a foyer where guests come down from the ground level that leads them to the ballroom/bar, dining/kitchen area and four, small, state rooms, en-suite.  I wanted to have a water/light bringer spot the length of the dining room but that was when I ran into the sunken lot effect.  Above ground it would have been fountain like but below ground you would be looking into a reef type thing with bubblers, plants and rocks.   I haven't done any screen shots yet as I keep revamping everything.  I'm particularly not happy with the commercial kitchen.

[Playalot]

Woah @Joria  that's sounding amazing! Love the sound of the water feature. If you can manage to make it work it should be stunning.

[deenahax]

Lately I've been into remodeling lots to change their purpose. Here the Lagoon Look residential lot has been transformed into the Lagoon Look Cafe. This restaurant has an island inspired menu and themed clothing for the staff.
Here's a link the gallery:https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/pc/gallery/E940C836F77711E981C9303966EC7D90?searchtype=ea_origin_id&time=all&category=all&searchquery=DeenaHax&sortby=newest&max=50&maxis=false



Back dock: Pull up to the bar or take a dip while you wait for your food



Don't worry about the restaurant getting too noisy, this fountain and the ocean will help keep the sound at bay (get it? at bay...I'll show myself out)



Birdseye view

[Franki]

Forgot to grab screenshots before I uploaded to the gallery but hopefully this counts..

tag: gf13490 (it's the first thing I've ever uploaded to the gallery)

University dorm, 9 bed 7 bathroom, revamp of a house from Brindleton Bay, could easily be converted to a house for a large legacy family.

If I decide to do anymore revamps of places, I'll remember to grab pics before I upload, it was fun but also a little frustrating creatively to get everything looking like it belonged to the place.