Simulated Spaces

Once upon a time in High School, I got addicted to The Sims. 15 years later, I picked up The Sims 3. These are the stories of my Sims.

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Tiias House - Decorated

Previously, I posted the Tiias House. It is time to move in some Sims and get decorating.

This layout has two roommate style bedrooms (the house is perfectly symmetrical, which is wild.) I moved in Gwen Glover and Holden Wozny from the Sim Bin.

But first! We need to make over these sad sacks.

Gwen starts out straight outta the 90s. No one at EA has any kind of taste whatsoever and she's, essentially, decked out in primary colors.

Clearly she and Holden are rich to live in this monstrosity, so I restyled her with a classy white blouse, black slacks, turquoise beaded sandals and boho pendant necklaces.

(My game settings do not do this CC justice.)

Holden's a strange one because EA tried to make him a total schlub, but in my main St. Claire game the dude is a major player, maxed out celebrity points and has a LOT of children out of wedlock. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, here he looks (slightly) less like he delivers pizza for a living:

When I posted the empty Tiias House originally I asked for decor ideas, and the winner was "Moroccan with oranges and golds" so that's what I did.

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Tiias House

An architecture discussion group posted yet another strange floorplan for mockery.

You know the drill by now.

Before I get into the Sim-ified version, however, I want to talk about this one a little bit. Unlike the Linfield Mess or the Unhinged Apartment, I actually couldn't find any evidence that this was ever a real building.

I suspect this is either student work, or an amateur.

Items of note:

Every single bathroom appears to have a urinal in it. The drawing doesn't look like a bidet to me. Now, while I think bidets are a wonderful bathroom fixture that we stanky Americans should adopt, urinals in a private domicile are revolting. Ever smelled a public unisex or men's washroom? Yeah.

The architect wanted bigger French doors in the back so they just made the door template... bigger?

Not one single bathtub.

Google image search could only find this attached to Fiverr.com "artist" portfolios offering a rendering service.

Okay, on to the Sims version!

I took liberties with the sizing of everything - I imagine this is much larger than a real home built to the floorplan would be. And I creatively interpreted that skylight. Honestly, the room needs it... this home is INSANELY dark.

Lastly, that floorplan also has furniture, so now I gotta decorate it up! #postcomingsoon

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Utterly Unhinged Apartment Layout

An architectural facebook group posted a screenshot of an absolutely atrocious condo floorplan.

So, you know what I had to do.

I'd like to draw your attention to the complete and utter lack of windows in nearly every room. If nothing else, this convinced me that real estate developers have no souls at all and are actually lizard people.

Long hallway is looooong.

What's better than a giant room with lots of weird angled walls that you can't easily position furniture in? How about a giant room with lots of weird angled walls and a FIREPLACE in the BACK CORNER so you can never decorate with it as a focal point!

Seriously??? (Granted, it's not as egregious in the RL floorplan.)

...

I will say I am proud of my ability to use a 12+ year game to simulate the utter banality of greige/monochrome contemporary condo fixtures.

The sunroom has more windows facing inward than, you know, towards the actual sun.

So, sidebar: I used to live in Vancouver, BC, where any condo that happened to have a "sun room" was immediately turned into an extra bedroom and rented out. These are not good bedrooms. They are insanely hot in summer and bright af around 5 am every day, and cold and damp (!!) in winter because they often leak or collect lots of condensation.

I can very easily believe this unhinged condo could be built in Vancouver.

I can very easily believe it selling for a million dollars.

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Aurora Skies: The Beakers

While The Great St. Claire World Renovation is continuing along after all these years, I am also playing an EA store world: Aurora Skies. The world features a blue lagoon inspired geothermal pool, a large fjord, sims that wear gloves 24/7, and hot air balloon transportation for some reason.

Overall, the world is pretty fun due to its cozy size - nice to have the game load up in less than 10 minutes. However, whoever at EA built these houses has absolutely no faith whatsoever in the ability of Sims to walk ANYWHERE without running into furniture, each other, pets, the walls... Every home is about 3 times larger than it has to be, with double and triple wide staircases and bathrooms of endless tile.

Of course, I've been renovating all the lots. :)

Here's an architectural redesign I'm particularly proud of. The Beaker House:

The original home is positively poxed with little windows, and it probably takes the poor scientist family 2 hours to walk from the family room to the bedroom.

The redesign treats windows as part of an overall architectural vision, instead of something to stick every 5 meters.

I was inspired by Scandinavian modern farmhouse style.

I dealt with the absurdly large rooms by turning the living room into a large, airy two-level room dominated by a fireplace with an arcade on the second story leading to the three bedrooms.

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The Linfields

I did it. I built that house in Sims 3.

You know.

This one:

Meet the Linfields:

Nixon Linfield: Despite the fact they named him Nixon, he maintained a good relationship with his parents. Enough that Nixon's folks left him a large home with an awful floorplan in their will. Newly moved in with his beautiful blonde wife, Nixon's dreams seem to have come true. He just needs to make enough money at his job selling fruit judging software to support his wife's essential oil habit and upkeep for the excessive home...

Karen Linfield: Karen is a Double Vermillion Diamond Level essential oil independent sales representative. Karen prides herself on her home décor and crafty business, assuming a taste in art that she does not in fact possess. She likes to think she puts the "babe" into "#bossbabe" and works out daily. Will her desire to raise a large family in a large, unwieldy home outweigh her #oily ambitions?

THE HOME

Karen’s essential oil scam pyramid scheme money waster multi-level marketing pursuit has earned enough #oilpoints for a new shiny hot pink #luxury car #blessed.

Three notes:

1. The floorplan that became a meme is actually missing a hall archway that makes the layout not awful

2. I didn’t realize until I landscaped this how truly bleak the original house’s landscaping is.

3. Those three empty rooms will become children’s bedrooms. Likely sooner rather than later, because Karen and Nixon will not. stop. woohoo’ing.

I’ve aimed for a modern farmhouse freshly-staged look when decorating.

Long kitchen is looong.

I love this chicken dish.

I did add some fitness stuff to “bonus room”, but utilized much of the space for Karen’s #bossbabe #business and yoga because of course she fucking does yoga.

I haven’t yet had the Linfield’s adopt a yappy dog (Karen’s choice) or a pitbull cross (Nixon’s choice). Adopt, don’t shop. Not that The Sims gives you a choice.

All the color in the home was sucked outdoors into the pool/outdoor bar area.

Whelp, I still hate this house even after virtualizing it and putting awful sims in it (Karen Hates Art and Nixon Hates The Outdoors, apparently they like each other enough to breed at least.) As always, I owe a huge debt to Around The Sims 3 and The Sims Resource for the custom content.

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Work in progress: St. Claire reno of “Cloud 9″ fusion lounge

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Yuletide Marketplatz

Join us this Snowflake Day for festivities, eats, drinks, and handicrafts at this Old World style market!

As part of my St. Claire rehabilitation, I’ve set up a cute German style Christmas market for my festival lot. This is the same lot as Arcade Minuit. (I live in fear of corrupting the lot and having to start over, or resetting everything to a common season.)

The lot has two mulled wine stations, (deco) booths for carved things and seasonal ornaments, (deco) many baked goods displayed, an indoor beer hall, space heaters, roasted chestnuts, an ice rink, and a sauna.

As always, I owe a debt of gratitude to Around The Sims and The Sims Resource for custom content. The last image features my hipster take on Guybrush Threepwood from Monkey Island. Apparently I like old video games. ;)

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Arcade de Minuit

Come Spooky Day, join the darkest fair Fun and fear await, enter if you dare!

Follow the boardwalk once you cross the gate Fortune, games, tricks and treats will await

Lit by torches and by fire, Night comes alive and inspires

Play a game! Have some fun! It’s only midnight, the night’s just begun

Enjoy a secret potion or two, We recommend the witches’ brew

Don’t forget to trick or treat, The carnival has lots to eat

Take a peek over the wall, find your fate in the crystal ball

Before you leave, challenge a friend Win a contest, have fun ‘til the end!

So, my festival lot in St. Claire (which is a very small one on the other side of the bridge) was corrupted and I simply couldn’t fix it. Even a fresh copy of the world file has the same issues. I decided to rebuild from scratch. Festival lots are LOT of work. This is the first of the finished festivals: Arcade de Minuit for Spooky Day.

I wanted a theme and settled on a creepy arcade boardwalk. This is probably the most time I’ve spent on a lot in The Sims 3, and I still have to do 3 more seasons!

Overview photos below are not retouched.

Much of the custom content used here is from The Sims Resource and Around The Sims 3.

Happy Spooky Day!

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Tiny Homes of St. Claire – Lief’s Modern Loft

I’ve been loving tiny homes for my Sims lately. Without cheating, they can have a beautiful, affordable space. I divided up some of the northern shore of St. Claire into tiny lots and built some cottages for my single sims.

Lief Devielle lives in a modern concrete loft boasting stunning views. By building up - not out - he’s maximized space on the tiniest lot possible near the river.

Lief loves plants and gardening, and has a modern, eco-friendly sensibility I’ve captured using contemporary finishes and sustainable woods.

Within the tiny loft bedroom footprint, I still found room for a small dresser and desk.

A small garden frames the walkway so that Lief can grow his own food. He uses an electric scooter as a vehicle, parked in front. Lief’s loft home has an upstairs balcony with room to sit and enjoy the view.

Design inspired by this home (sadly, the images don’t load, but I found a pin of it here).

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The St. Claire Project: The Muscle Factory

This is a renovation of St. Claire’s Muscle Factory gym. I wanted a place to use the sports stuff from Severinka and Simcredible designs – and a space for my sims to devote their time to a serious workout.

The building’s existing industrial conversion featured the glass wall pool and loft setup. White paint and brushed metal trim brightens the space. Open space on the first floor allows for yoga and floor exercises.

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The St. Claire Project: Park Avenue Bath House and Spa

This is a redevelopment of St. Claire’s Park Avenue Health Club at 11 Park Avenue. I wanted to tell a story of faded elegance, and of a heritage spa featuring original Victorian Turkish-inspired baths. Grimy mosaics, exposed plumbing, fountains and rust... once you look past the antiquated finishings, the baths offer restorative comfort and relaxation to tired Sims.

Once the glory of downtown St. Claire, the Bath House's therapeutic waters still flow... but few Sims today enjoy these antiquated pools and steam rooms. Will the city's influx of wealthy celebrities and famous film folk revitalize this dated spa?

A tinkling Turkish fountain greets guests in the foyer. Wide archways connect what was formerly gender-segregated changing areas and restrooms, and now lead to massage and steam rooms.

The spa boasts two small warm pools and one large swimming pool.

The spa also includes a small fitness room with views of the central pools through Deco-era French doors.

The majority of furnishings from Around the Sims (Hammam sets) and Cyclone Sue (TSR).

Please leave a note if you see something in particular you’d like credits for and I’d be happy to answer!

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The St. Claire Project

St. Claire is a Sims 3 world by Awesims that I immediately needed the second I saw it. Urban, with realistic suburban villages, the city feels authentic – but with a manageable area for your sims and townies. Get St. Claire here.

My St. Claire project is (eventually) a redecoration of all (!!) the community lots. Unfortunately, I don’t own all the expansion packs, so many community lots have been replaced by default objects. (I’m looking at you, planter full o’ posies. I’m sick of looking at your cheerful pink flowers.)

I also enjoy decoration and interior design far more than building, so St. Claire is a perfect starter city for me.

Because of my lack of the expansions, the city does freeze up on me fairly often. Using the NRAAS plugins has helped greatly... instead of crashing to desktop, I now get a temporary freeze, error message, and a reset sim or two.

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The Wolff House Renovation - Part I (Pool)

The Wolff House - renovation by Alaska Smith

Surely you remember the stunning Wolff house in Sunset Valley? Prime Real Estate on a gorgeous bluff with its own private beach, multiple decks, and gigantic pool...

Naturally, the first thing I did was renovate!

An expansive back deck features modern woodforms and lounge area framing the sunken infinity pool.

Poolside decor credits: Bathroom No. 1 Lounger by Shino&KCR SYL Zen Paradise Drum Table , Stool & Table Cambria Dining Room candles by AnoeskaB Standing lights & wooden sculpture from Town Life Stuff Kiera hallway seat by Angela ($) Tropical Water Lily light from Sunlit Tides Infinity Pool edge by Porphyria