Good house? Bad house? (criticism needed)

[Zsynrael]

Exept for the classic starters, which are quite plain, have the standard-equipment for max. 13,000 §, I really suck at building houses. You know these clumsy bunkers with quite long floors and rooms, where you can play football/soccer, which are so empty, that they show the decadence of the owner. And then they have standard-boarding+wall paper in colours and styles that don't match. And the furniture doesn't match at all.

But this is a house I planned well and built up from some blueprints, took hours to choose the sets, I wanted to use, colouring each and every shitty wall paper and place it, not to leave too much or too less place left.

I like it, really. I play with that house much, after my sims got enough money and let them move to it. I already planned to build bigger houses.

But it is not perfect. So I need you to criticise it, because it's my very first house I like.

Link to the exchange: http://de.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4926868#

If you won't download it, i have a plenty of pictures (the file has some screenshots and a list of the custom content (german names).

I really appreciate any criticism about the composition, if the furniture is matching, how you would do it better and so on...If you change it by yourself and upload it, it would be even greater, but I don't expect too much work from you.

Edit:Some pics (I hope, I got this right):
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3346/streetviewe.jpg
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7968/backside1y.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/backside1y.jpg/)
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2240/lowerfloor.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9702/upperfloor.jpg

The Idea is from this house:
http://www.design-house.com/DD/dd96-308r.jpg

[VerDeTerre]

Could you throw up some pictures here in this thread? I would love to see some interior shots and what the yard looks like.

[Zsynrael]

Yea, I just put them in the rar-file

[VerDeTerre]

Oh, I meant...could you post them in the thread so that they don't need to be downloaded?

[Zsynrael]

Okay, okay. That could take some minutes...I edit them in this post.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/189/backside1y.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/864/backside2.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/46/bathroomsink.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/828/entrancegb.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/kidsroom1.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/kidsroom2.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/43/kidsroombedview.jpg/
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6601/kitcheni.jpg
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/882/livingroom1d.jpg
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/6812/livingroom2y.jpg
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2240/lowerfloor.jpg
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/8084/sleepingroom1.jpg
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3346/streetviewe.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9702/upperfloor.jpg
http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/7287/workroom1m.jpg
http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/3150/workroom2.jpg

[VerDeTerre]

I'm so sorry - you've gone to so much work! I am just very uncomfortable having to open all these things and it's very time consuming to do as well. I was hoping you would put pictures within the post that did not require any opening up. I thought it could be done with the options available under the "go advanced" button, which I see you've already accessed since you uploaded tons of links. Ugg! I opened the first one and was hit with an ad stating that "I was chosen to...." I really don't want to deal with this. So sorry.

[haricots]

Good job, so far. You need to play with the ceiling! It will make the house better!
I'd say you have little to no problem with the interior design, but you need to work more for the exterior. More trees, some bushes and flowers, play with the terrain paints, and you will have an amazing house.. :D

ETA : I thought that a mod will lock this thread, so if you want a feedback, you can come here (http://modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=612).

[VerDeTerre]

Hariots, you are a brave little starfish. I'm glad you could give her some feedback.

[noxnoxnox]

Next time, you can use the Insert Image button in Advance mode to get a viewer-friendly display like this:
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3346/streetviewe.jpg
The wallpaper/floor inside looks a little off for me, if what you want is criticism. I think it's the main factor in creating a consistent theme/atmosphere for the house. You could have more fun with the patterns, the kid room could be brighter, the bedroom could use more decoration like paintings/rug...
The lack of clutter also make it less lively than it could be.
I think building a house takes a lot of courage as my sims never live in my selfdesigned boxy house for too long before moving into some fancy architecture I found here on MTS <3

[Purity4]

I like how the upper level bumps out a bit above the living room. It adds dimension to the outside front of the house. I also really like the earth tones throughout, the oranges, browns and greens.The color scheme of your home is muted so it doesn't blind anyone, but detailed enough to be interesting. The living room is very cozy looking. I also liked the plants in the foyer, especially the one at the end of the wall as a divider. There could be a small end-table in the foyer, perhaps against the wall at the end of the entry, adjacent to the laundry room. I like how the child room downstairs has a bump in the wall for the dresser. It could almost be believed that it is a built in dresser.

The upstairs family room is very nice, and I love the plants in the stair landing. I would have added a second chair and set up the chess table so two people could play at the same time, scooting it back more behind the desk, and if that causes routing problems, I would do some rearranging. The bathroom is spacious and has the look of a place that an occupant would have space to add personal touches as they acquired more wealth. The whole house really has that appeal. The blue of the upstairs bedroom is a little bit bright in comparison the muted colors of the rest of the house, but I suppose that falls more under personal taste than anything else.

The second photo of the rear of the house is very bland. Perhaps a window or a trellis of flowers along the outside would make it less blah there. The lawn is a bit too consistently green. Perhaps some terrain paint would make it look more realistic, creating paths or flowers, without adding to the cost of the home.

Overall, I think it's a lovely house.

[crocobaura]

I find it strange that you put the kitchen and dining room upstairs, especially when there was enough room for them downstairs. If you throw a party with food, all sims will try to get onto the stairs to get to the table and it might get crowded. Also the garage seems too big, you may want to make it smaller and include a small bathroom for the guests downstairs too.

[Zsynrael]

"Good job, so far. You need to play with the ceiling! It will make the house better!"
"I'd say you have little to no problem with the interior design, but you need to work more for the exterior."
"I would have added a second chair and set up the chess table so two people could play at the same time, scooting it back more behind the desk, and if that causes routing problems, I would do some rearranging."
"The second photo of the rear of the house is very bland. Perhaps a window or a trellis of flowers along the outside would make it less blah there."
-I'll work on that.

"The lack of clutter also make it less lively than it could be."
"the bedroom could use more decoration like paintings/rug..."
-And I thought I took too much decoration. :D

"The bathroom is spacious and has the look of a place that an occupant would have space to add personal touches as they acquired more wealth."
-Well I named the lot "a kind of nuveau-rich, because I hope I'd need a budget of only 50,000§. After that didn't went well it seemed to be very decadent to me. ;)
-And actually I don't know how to make the bath smaller without destroying the houses contures.

"I find it strange that you put the kitchen and dining room upstairs, especially when there was enough room for them downstairs."
-I got the main idea from the photo of the house and some blueprints. But I didn't know what to do with the space downstairs so it is a kind of longue now. And the problem with the garage: From the picture it's half of the house, so i thought about a garage for two cars (originally a car and a firefightercar, but that was too much^^).
http://www.design-house.com/DD/dd96-308r.jpg

"ETA : I thought that a mod will lock this thread, so if you want a feedback, you can come here."
-I'll keep that in mind next time.^^

[Purity4]

Also the garage seems too big, you may want to make it smaller and include a small bathroom for the guests downstairs too.

There is a bathroom downstairs. It's behind the laundry room, at the left of the house, straight back from the foyer.

[minimogut]

The exterior is very attractive, but more plants should be present. Maybe a little decorative flower garden? And maybe change the color of the trashcan to a color that matches the house.

Onto my favorite part of all houses, the interior decor! :rofl:
The bathroom is very nice, the "clutter" makes it look realistic, and the color scheme works, too. The entrance is very nice, but (this is my personal opinion) that picture looks a little weird with everything else. The kids room: more color; the color is very pretty, but that's something I would put in an adult bedroom, or a dining room. It's your decision, though. Very nice kitchenette... the adult bedroom I wouldn't change, other than the bed-spread pattern, and the frame of the crib. But the blue theme is very nice. The workroom is nice, as well.

All in all, I would live in a house like that, whether or not the dining room and kitchen are on the top floor or bottom. I prefer the dining areas and kitchen upstairs anyways, seeing as that's mostly how my house is laid out.

[aurica]

I love the exterior as well, it looks great.

[kewpie]

The reason the kitchen and dining room is on top is that the house is a split level and that's the tradition. You can tell by the pic of the original house plan that the first floor is actually a sub basement and the second floor is only 1 1/2 floors up. On split levels, only the entryway and maybe a living room is on the main floor. Split levels are kind of rare house plans these days. They were big in the 1960s and 70s, and I'm surprised you found one! Actually looking at it closer I see that the house is a tri-level. Not a big deal but I wanted to correct my mistake.


I like your interpretation of the split level plan better than the actual plan may have originally been. I am not a huge fan of split levels myself in real life. I also think if you had a real split level for sims, they'd have all kinds of route failures and traffic jams getting in and out of the house. I think you did a good job at translating a floor plan into a sim house. It looks great.

[Zsynrael]

"I like your interpretation of the split level plan better than the actual plan may have originally been."
What do you mean with "interpretation"? :D

I'm just not that good with shifted basements and even the stairs where on different levels, what is quite difficult do build for me. I read some tutorials how to build them and even saw great castles with a kind of spiral staircases (even multilevel).

http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=431489 <==amaizing stairs; congratulations. Oo

[crocobaura]

There is a bathroom downstairs. It's behind the laundry room, at the left of the house, straight back from the foyer.


That was if she/her decided to relocate the kitchen and dining room downstairs.


-I got the main idea from the photo of the house and some blueprints. But I didn't know what to do with the space downstairs so it is a kind of longue now. And the problem with the garage: From the picture it's half of the house, so i thought about a garage for two cars (originally a car and a firefightercar, but that was too much^^).


Real life houses need to be adapted in order to fit the sims' world and needs. Since you didn't make it split-level, I thought it would be better to assign the rooms so as to fit better with sims. However, your house, your choice.

[Volvenom]

The staircase by Candlelight isn't really that hard when it's in a room by itself, and not touching anything else. A friend of mine posted this staircase tutorial. Even shorter and easier then mine :( :giggler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAMhsdkvrGw

Perhaps not entirely what you need, but we all have to start somewhere. If you put walls on the side of those square boxes in the tutorial, you can just continue to the next floor. The house you have chosen is not easy to build. You need some reseach to make it happen.

Edit:

Okay, okay. That could take some minutes...I edit them in this post.

Since you use imageshack. Go to my images, right click on the image you want, select share, and copy the link. Post the link in your post.
What I just did now when I copied your comment. Select reply on the post you want to quote, copy the text in the message window, go back to the thread and copy the selected text into your own post. Then you can answer to the quote.

[armiel]

I gotta agree to the above, please use [img] tags from now on. Linking to pictures as links makes it really hard to give you feedback, and also to moderate this thread.
You have your post with all the links, and so far I see no updates from you (or are lost in text), so please wrap at least a few of those images in this (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3728945#post3728945) post in IMG tags, so people can see straight on what you are working on.

[Zsynrael]

Okay, I updated my post. I just have a lot to learn...Allright, I'll practice to build with different sub-levels and try to rebuild this house from it's original idea. And since most of you like it anyways, I'll collect som confidence and upload it.

Thanks for your help.