More Awesome Than You!

Besides the obvious underground bunker. I've gone through stages of "must haves" built into my sims houses. Now I'm starting to build again and I was thinking of what things I should include v/s what I used to include. Made me wonder what others have... Like I used to have a Yoga/meditation room in every house. Then I had zen gardens for that, but with lightning I'm thinking I might want to bring the old room back (anyone know where I can find incense?) I also used to have the art studio/photography room, a "closet" near the kitchen for the cooking carreer reward, the formal sitting room with the fireplace and piano coupled with the rec room that was always in the basement (next to the teenager's bedroom) with room for band instruments and the plasma tv/game center (no bubble bong. University students only.) The nursery was always near the parent's bedroom and the workroom with crafting benches, enegizer or other dusty looking objects near the garage or over it.
Really my only sim specialized ones (that I wouldn't see in a normal house) were the yoga room and closet for the cooking thing. I used to make a space for every career reward, in suitable rooms (like podium in the library) but now there are so many I think each house might specialize in just one or two.

eh.... I think you take building to another level compared to me. My houses consist of the basic 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, kitchen with the MATY securitysystem (freshly installed since seasons to prevent autonomous cooking) and a living room where i keep skilling (the bookcase) and the tv plus the odd couches. Add one greenhouse to each lot, and thats it. Nothing fancy.

Mostly nothing fancy because every time i try to build something, i realize its not an awesome design, and that the rooms are merely creating bottlenecks.

Even though I try very hard to make each house unique, they all wind up looking the same - garage on the left, pool behind it, and then the house with a deck on the back.

Of course, with the advent of Seasons, the deck on the back with the hot tub has become the grim reaper's stomping grounds...

So I am seriously considering adding a 'spa room' to most houses...and putting the hot tub in there.  I used to do that, but got away from it after a while.

One thing that I frequently did before the no buskers hack was written was to make a music room and put all instruments in it and only add a door when I wanted a Sim to play.  The lockable doors with OFB and no buskers has removed that need, and yet I still frequently include music rooms just to have a place to put the instruments since they don't usually go with the living room decor.

The other thing I try to build in is one bathroom per bedroom.  So when there's a large family I can have a 5 bedroom/5 bathroom home...thank god Sim moms don't have to vacuum... The worst thing about selling my little 1200 sq. ft. home and buying a 2400 sq. ft. home is that now I have twice the square footage to vacuum.  What was I thinking!

Every house that has, or might have someday, toddlers, gets a lockable closet with a bathtub next to the nursery. I can't stand autonomous bath-taking!

I usually have roof access in most of my houses. I don't like the way the flat hottub looks outdoors unless there's a swimmng pool and paved area, and many of my lots aren't large enough for that, so I stick it on the roof. I also often have rooftop flower and rock gardens.

I try to make my houses somewhat different from each other, but since I'm not a good builder at all they end up as variations on the "big box with small windows" theme.

The easy solution your problem is to reduce vacuuming activity to 50% of the previous level. I always vacuum once a year whether the floors need it or not.

It depends on the sims' aspiration - my knowledge sims all have a lab and an observatory in their houses, which are rather small to make room for a garden with lots of trees (to attract wolves) and a graveyard. My romance sims have a huge hobby room (aka bedroom) plus - since Seasons - a hot tub room. The rest is more or less always the same - one bathroom per bedroom, combined kitchen/dining area, living room. I rarely build garages, because they take up too much space (I prefer the smallest lots) - I use the "sidewalk parking" instead.

I'm finding a separate "pet room" is good - keeps traffic down around dishes and/or cat boxes.  Also, the tv must be in a separate room from the pet beds - I got sick of one simdog howling at it all the time.   ::)

Also, I'm finding a separate homework area is good - I kept having problems with adult sims getting stuck by a bunch of simkids sitting around on the floor LOL.

And a greenhouse!  I love the gardening part of Seasons and have even started connecting them to the houses, then using the greenhouse roof over the sim kitchen, too.  Ahh.  Now if only Eaxis of Eavil had included herbs in their pie menu of things to plant.

With the BUY I've been able to cut down on the ratio of bathrooms to bedrooms.  Helps a lot.  I can now easily do 2 bedrooms/1 bath or 3 bedrooms/2 baths (which is a lot more realistic to me...but then I'm not into realism, just space-saving).

Ha! I forgot the "secret underground laboratory" I used to love. Actually that's what started the teen bedroom and rec room in the basement, in case my sims needed to explain what the stairs were for.
With my bathrooms I always do one downstairs 1/2 bath, one master bath, and one the kids share (I never have more than three kids, if one is in the shower the others use the downstairs bath).
I also try to base my house plans off of "real" ones I have online. Admittedly, the reason I'm curious is also due to an idea that modified real house plans with the way people actually played the sims. I was going to call it "real houses for real sims". I never download houses because it's hard to find floorplans that take things like career rewards into account, usually they are just showcases for building cheats.

I very very rarely use a downloaded home and haven't used the Maxis homes since the vanilla game, so house design is my forte. Just getting "decent" at yards.

Staples:
1. Yoga/workout room. On a larger lot, I'll usually place this in a separate structure with wall-to-wall windows. Since Seasons, I commonly add crops to the room, or a nice fruit tree smack in the middle. Add a chaise and a small shower closet for those post-workout stinks, and you're done.

2. Aspiration reward room. When I bother with them at all, that is. The bookcase goes in the livingroom, but everything else I typically arrange in either the basement or an attic.

3. Bathrooms. 1 every 2 sims on the lot, excepting pets. My kitties don't use the toilet so neither do my sims' kitties. That ratio usually allows for any morning hygeine needs without making anyone late or pissy.

Things I don't do:
1. Garages. If I have a car, I make a carport. I got an aversion to the garage doors before I knew a hack was available to keep sims from trying to enter through the garage, and haven't gotten over it. Plus, I rarely have cars on my lots despite the plethora of custom ones I could have.

2. Pets room. One exception was a challenge I did at TSR that required someone to have 10 pet friends. Other than her wolf buddy, she had two cats who went to town, ending in 9 cats in the house. Believe me, they needed their own room for the three litter boxes, two pet beds, 2 cat towers, and four food bowls. Plus, I was trying to keep them out from underfoot. Normally, I put the food bowl in the kitchen and the toy/scratch tower in the living room, beds in the kids' bedrooms. Otherwise, when you have two or more pets, they tend to keep to the same room and don't interact with the sims as much.

3. Huge spalike bathrooms. Why? Pee, wipe your butt, take a shower, and get on with your life. You are a sim. You don't even have to think for yourself because the Oversoul does it for you (and you bork it up when you do), so what kind of stress do you need to get away from?

I'm afraid my houses are ugly and boring; bathrooms n-2 sims, dining area in the kitchen, cribs and baby/toddler stuff are usually in the bedrooms corridor on first floor till the toddler became a child, and career/hobby/workout stuff on the lawn. Not too much trees, 'cause they're annoying during play, no TVs at all (I hate it).

My houses are inspired by innovative RL architecture, so they often have closets for aspiration items simply to keep the flow of the original. Garages, decks, pools, etc. are all dependent upon the design I'm recreating.

Other things I try to make sure every house has:

- a bathroom near the door for visitors (and locked doors for 'family' bathrooms..can't have visitors nosing in the medicine cabinets, after all!)

- multiple 'creativity' items...as a music room or an art studio

- the Lady Who Hates Critters (visitor controller); I like animals, just not in my game

- Romance and popularity Sims get indoor hot tubs..usually a plant-filled conservatory of some sort

- Sims that wind up in a science-related career get a laboratory

- if possible, one bathroom should be large enough for a sunken bath/hot tub...for a spa sort of feel

- a handful of controllers, which I keep in closets


Other than that, every house is different....and depend upon the overall design scheme, the personalities of the homeowners, and their interests.

Hmm, I actually don't have a whole lot in the way of "must have" spaces; it depends on what kind of family I'm planning to put in a given house.  Though if I'm building from scratch, I do try to take into account the Awesome Building Specs.

But I do like to have lots of counter space in the kitchen and room for a hot tub in the master bathroom, and usually a backyard deck of some kind.  And room enough for everybody to get around without bottlenecking--if I'm copying an actual house I tend to give it an extra square or two to allow for wider hallways and high-traffic areas, particularly if it's going to house more than one or two Sims.  (These days I try to steer clear of large lots and houses as much as possible, though.  Too much load time and lag with the big ones.)  I'm fond of fences and rails, and since learning that modular stairs allow for more traffic than the one-piece type, I use them most of the time.  If I do use the other kind, I'll usually place two side by side.  Whether or not I put in a garage depends mostly on the size of the lot.  I like basement apartments and underground garages--probably a spark of lingering glee from my Sims 1 days when you couldn't do those.  XD  Most of the time I put in at least one or two closets and stuff a buy-at-home clothing rack in each one.

I'm more of a stickler about decorating than building, though--I go for lots of solid, not-too-bright colors and wood.  Wood paneling, wood doors and windows, wood furniture (preferably stained, not painted) with traditional/colonial/Victorian themes.  Also a moderate amount of stone and brick.  When I must go modern I lean toward glass and metal.  Plastic is something of a rarity in my Sim houses.

I don't follow the Awesome Rules of Building strictly, so I often have open floor plans divided by half-walls or open archways.

Eitherway, one thing I try and put in every house is a first floor nursery. I hate toddlers complaining about not being able to get to people, so I keep their stuff on the first floor. There's also always a full bathroom on the first floor, with a tub. The tub serves as a bathing area for both the toddlers and the dogs. I usually keep the dining area separate from the kitchen, and they are both always separate from the living room. I usually keep a basement for career and aspiration rewards.

I try very hard to make my houses different from one another. I get annoyed when I find that they're all looking the same way. If I'm not careful, I start using the same tile and wallpaper for every single house.

As a side note, I've fallen in love with this site: http://www.architecturalhouseplans.com/ The floor plans are awesome inspirations to try and convert into something useable in the sims. I recently put together a 'cabin' that I'm pretty proud of.

I always build a greenhouse now, and a fishing pond.  I love the pets, and I use Bathroom Uses You, so I always end up with a bathtub either on the deck or somewhere against the house in the back yard so that the pets don't get tossed out of the bathroom.  I went for a long time building closets, because I have that thing that someone made that looks like a pole for clothes, and it makes the homes look more realistic. 

Bloody hell - my what a lot of stuff you lot do.  As I tell stories, the sims get the house appropriate to their stories.  The only thing everybody gets is the Lot Debugger - oh and ceilings for the pictures.  Romance sims are lucky if they get a double bed to start with never mind a bathroom to each bedroom.

I'm a remodelling whore.  All my houses start out as econoboxes, then get expanded as needed. It depends on what direction gameplay has taken my family in, as to what gets added on.

I tend to go for open plan kitchen-diners with six chairs around the table. If it's a big family type house then I'll use an 8-seater table. In fact I tend to go for a quasi-open plan layout throughout the main living area. Double arches seem to be the best way to enable sims to move around freely. The study has to be close to the main entrance for dropping off homework and I make sure there's plenty space in it for lots of studious offspring. A downstairs toilet is a must as is a nursery and bathroom with bath for bathing toddlers. I never put baths on other floors and tend to favour 2x2 shower/toilet rooms as they're easy to fit in and fulfil the sims basic hygiene requirments. I've started using basement garages on smaller lots; once you get the hang of building them it only takes a couple of minutes. Aspiration rewards usually get put in a 'training room', attics/basements are handy for that. I always use modular stairs so that more than one sim can use them a time.

I build on 2x2 lots or smaller. There is not a lot of room for anything, so it's your typical house with 2-3 beds and 2 baths. I don't care about any of that reward crap so there isn't a need for it in a house. For that type of thing, I usually build a comm lot and have the career rewards in various places like a gym, library, restaurant, and doctor's office. I do like to have a medium sized yard with at least a small garden and since real me loves to cook, the kitchen is usually the focal point of the houses I create.

2x2 or SMALLER?

Apparently all my sims got huge inheritances when "Uncle Bob" passed away...

I prefer the long lot - 3 deep x 5 wide...nice for double car garages.

I'm really fond of the tiny lots, myself. My custom houses are mostly experiments in how well I can tend a sim's needs with as little stuff as possible. Monique's hacked computer is a necessity on every lot for me, because of that. Work, play, study, and shop using the same item!

The one thing I can't stand is basements. I dunno if it's just me or what, but when I try to play a lot with a basement, generally the walls don't cut away like they're supposed to and I wind up having to look at everything from the top down just to see anything. No fun. I've gotten good at editing them out of downloaded lots though.  ;D

Yep, I have a small assortment of 1x1 lots on my website. Even my super rich sims hardly get anything bigger than a 3x3 lot...if they're really lucky. :P

I can't stand basements in this game. Talk about a waste of building time. They are hardly playable and look like garbage.

Bathroom Uses You does not stop you from washing pets.

sometimes if the pet is slow arriving, the sim will be booted for being idle and I'll have to re-que the interaction. But then, doing anything  in a BUY bathroom other than using the terlet and shower can cause this behavior, even cleaning up dishes that somehow got there (which is why I got the no dishes in the bathroom hack)

@Sara - no incense, but Tarox's (http://www.tarox4sims2.de/) Harem set has hookahs and floor cushions, and some other decor that might suit. The Oriental set is similar.

The sim isn't being booted for being idle because the action is taking too long. The sim is being booted for being idle after the action has already dropped from queue, and you would have had to requeue it anyway. User-directed actions(other than maybe socials) are not stomped by BUY.

No, I clearly remember a "Wash Dog" interaction being clobbered by BUY.

The dog was on his way in, too.

I've wash-dogged just fine with BUY, so you must have done something like use an overly small bathroom. The bare 2x3 showertub/terlet/sink rig does not have enough turning space to wash dogs in. You need something with more space, or else it will routefail and drop from queue.

Okay, so maybe it was a 2x2 room with just a tub.

IT WAS A STARTER HOUSE FROM MTS2!  Happy?  The Toilet was in a separate, also 2x2 room.

And how is HarderUni coming?

My houses tend to be fairly basic (most start out as 2BR, 1 bath), but I make sure there's plenty of space in them.  If not for the ease of plunking down a Maxis/EA-made house, I'd never use them since they tend to be twisty mazes of narrow hallways and too small rooms.  I try to make my houses so that I can build an extra story up or down on them if I need to, which also means space for staircases.

hmmmm maybe I should try it again then.  It seems to me it happened a couple of times so I got sick of it and started putting a bathtub outside.  I'll try again. Good to know.

The mandatory features of my housing are clearly documented under Awesomespec v5. You should build all your houses like that!

If there is one thing I dislike, it is extra rooms. I wouldn't be able to stand large mansions (unless the family is huge, but rarely do play such families), because there would be a ton of empty rooms that will never get used. There's another thing I dislike: decorating rooms to find out that I never have the need to use them.

I follow a few basic rules for all my houses:

-There must be a front fence to repel unwanted wildlife, especially wolves.
-I prefer large kitchens, with extra counter space. If the kitchen is too small and I can't find a way to expand it, I don't use the house.
-There is always one large training room, with all skill-building items and whatever career reward objects I may desire to use.
-The living room has the TV, and perhaps the computer. I only use the TV for watching the Cooking Channel, anyway.
-2-3 bathrooms, with enough space for maneuvering.

And depending on the Sim family's circumstances, I add these:

-Sims that will have jobs will get either a garage (if there is enough space), a driveway, or street parking (if possible). Any cars that are not placed in garages get alarms, even though I NEVER have gotten a burglar ever since I started playing.
-A nursery and a few empty rooms, for any family that I wish to breed. These rooms are large, as they will contain the important items for each life stage of that Sim until they move out or go to Uni. Babies get cribs, changing tables, and small fridges for milk. Toddlers get cribs, changing tables, tables with smart milk, toddler toilets, and all of the skill-building toys. Children get single beds, child stoves, desks and chairs for homework, whatever else I want (they usually don't get toys, as I find them useless). Teens are the same, minus child stoves. (Kinda iffy, as it has been a while since I raised some spawn.)
-For the farming family, I set aside a large area of land for the greenhouse (which will contain all fruit trees and plots) and other trees that shed leaves in the fall (good source of compost).
-The families with animals get a small pet room, where all the beds, toys, litterboxes, and pet-only bathtubs are placed. Food usually is in the kitchen, where I can keep an eye on it better.

Despite all that, I tend to be rather flexible. With premade houses, though, I am extremely picky.

Empty rooms are good. Worse is building a house and finding out you DON'T have any extra rooms next expansion with more crap you need in your house!

my houses start out pretty average, then get added onto as need arises, most lately to accomodate things like lightning, rain  and hail.  the curious brother had a nice open roof-top boudoir for woohooing and slow-dancing all night long, and after i installed seasons, i had to enclose it so they didn't freeze to death dancing.  i've also been adding more garages to my houses (in the south, almost nobody uses a garage), attached all-glass bubbles to the sides of houses for stargazing (are your sims as lazy as mine?  they won't go up a third flight of stairs unless they're ready to die), and since i don't like in-house swimming pools, i have been attaching a sun/pool room to the rest of the house with an enclosed walkway.


 ::)

Anything bigger than a 2x3 is a waste of space to me. You're going to want a second floor, anyways, if you have a big enough family to warrant the space. My current family started on a 1x2 lot which was absolutely perfect for two cats, two adults, and 2 kids. They even had a sizable flower garden and a small pool. Now, stupid progeny/heir&spouse want 6 grandkids and 6 kids respectively. I move the family each time the youngest generation becomes adults, so I'll have to do a 2x2 and I'm not pleased.

Chinafansims has something like this.

Ohhhh thanks.... I'm going to be busy for quite some time now  ;D

Personally I like medium sized houses with enough room to fit things nicely without being too cluttered.  Big huge mansions are fun to look at but rather boring, tiny small homes are a nightmare to make look well equiped. Gotta have some nice decorations/plants sitting around the house making it look more attractive.  Reasonably big lots with a nice sized house are the best, plenty of room for outdoor stuff (decks, pools, ponds... etc and plenty of lighting)

I try to put everything sims need in their home, so they don't have to leave the house ever.  In the old days I did it because loading community lots took forever, but with my new computer I just do it because I don't like the time paradox on community lots.  My sims only leave the house for dates, and then only to get some public woohoo; once that is done they can bloody well date at home.

Also, I don't like to rotate the camera while playing.  I'm a bit ODC on that, I want to look at things from a perfectly straight angle; so my houses tend to be extremely broad, and only a room or two deep.  I also use Targa's Ascension Stairs, because I don't like the way normal stairs block my view.
So, my houses all look something like this:
(http://pics.livejournal.com/gwillewyn/pic/0005wrh0)
The gym is rarely used, but I like having it.
There are snapdragons in the study, and a few in the sofa corner of the lounge next to the seasons book case.  The kitchen and dining room are rarely used, but fully equipped just in case.  The dining room contains an caffination corner; with 5 different kinds of coffee makers.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/gwillewyn/pic/0005yd4y)
The Rewards Rooms were a lot more important before Seasons came along with the Bookcase of Awesomeness!  Now I's mostly a store room for career rewards.
I've got some snapdragons next to the beds, so sims always wake fully refreshed.  That's as close as I get to cheating.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/gwillewyn/pic/0005xe2k)
Here I keep mounted fish and date boquets.  It's mostly just a place to show the headmaster.  It's also where my zombie sleeps.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/gwillewyn/pic/0005tqwk)
Just a small unaccessable room where I keep evil Snapdragons and the Cowplant.  There's no cowplant there yet.


Trophy and reward rooms are a bit empty, because I just re-started this neigbourhood.  This is the first generation to live in the house; I usually reach 15-ish before I go bored.

I like an open floor plan and lots of glass on medium to large lots.  Open floor plans can easily be modified as family needs/income change. 

There's always a bathroom near the front and back doors.  Master bedroom has fireplace and adjacent bath.  My Sims don't pay much attention to the fireplace, but I like watching the reflection of the flames in the dark room.   I savor the visual details of the game such as the effect of the wind on the pool water as the season changes from autumn to winter, and the reflection of the stars and moon in the water.   

There is always a room next to the master bedroom which can be used for any purpose, including a nursery.  Most houses have a den/reading room.  Television, games, piano, etc. are arranged in open space.

Patio off the kitchen - that's where the grill and patio furniture go.  Kitchens are large with lots of counter space.  Adjacent dining room.  I don't like two-story homes or houses on a foundation since climbing stairs takes time and houses on a foundation are a pain to remodel, although I do use both as private Uni dorms (but those houses have very different requirements).

Bulky aspiration/career rewards (i.e.the energizer, surgical training center, biotech station, etc) are kept in the connecting garage.  Ditto for the clean bot and any litter box (used only till the cats are toilet trained).  If there's a dog on the lot, it has its own bathtub in the garage.  Pets eat in the kitchen and depending on the number of pets, may or may not have their own room.  Sometimes the dog sleeps in the kid's room.   I've yet to have a cat that will sleep in the cat condo and while I'm a dog person in real life, my Sims tend to own cats because they are less maintenance.

Each lot has a fishing pond and a greenhouse; sometimes the greenhouse is attached to the house, sometimes not.  Used to keep exercise equipment outdoors but since Seasons, my Sims are more into yoga and swimming.  Also since Seasons and all that fresh food, my elders seem to be living longer; the last one that died was 82.  Maybe they should have chips and cookies instead of veggies and fish as my hood is getting grey.

I forgot, I generally have a skilling room of some sort.  When I'm building houses strictly for fun, I tend to go crazy with the landscaping :D

What size lot is that, Gwill?

Thanks for the link!  Houses that I build are usually boring, mildly sucky boxes, so I spent most of last night building one of their bigger houses.  (My housemate laughed at me, I had the floorplan open on my laptop next to me while I built on the desktop.)   I had to get the hang of the constrainfloorelevation cheat to get it right, but I did and it's the best-looking house in my neighbourhood.  :D  I'm still decorating so I haven't played it yet, but it can hardly be less functional than a Maxis house and it has an awful lot more room.

Some of you all are quite structured there. I tend to throw houses together willy nilly, adding things as I go, all while trying not to make it too much of an eyesore monstrosity.

I just require lots of bathrooms, and several large bedrooms that can fit double beds.

Everything else I just make work/happen because I like playing a variety of extraordinarily different houses. I just think it's neat to have 70 jillion different types of dollhouses to pick from at any time.

I like the idea of yoga in the greenhouse though. I might do that.

I need to remember to make basements more often too to throw all the damn rewards in.

Sandy at aroundthesims2.com also has incense. It can be found HERE (http://www.aroundthesims2.com/objects/single_accessories/misc/accessories_misc_001.html).

Can't remember right at the moment.  It's not the biggest lot available, but it's pretty huge.

Thanks.  I like the layout but the largest I play with is 3x3 because of my crappy video card.  I might try something similar, though, just on a smaller scale. 

My only fault with Gwill's design is that there's no bathroom on the first floor. So much time would be lost if they have to keep running upstairs to use the potty. :}

So far, all my sims have been extremely active, so running for the bathroom hasn't been a problem (and with Targa's Ascension Stairs, going from one floor to another is instant).  However, I just created a zombie who lives on the lot, and wathing him lurch towards the bathroom is a pain; so I might have to add some more bathrooms around the place so he won't have to lurch quite as far.

Yeah, I've had an odd mix of active/lazy sims, so I've just gotten to the point that I throw in as many bathrooms as I can and still be reasonable. I think my current legacy house has five. There's a tiny bathroom with a shower stall in the basement where the body career rewards are. There are two full bathrooms on the first floor, with both showers and tubs, or a shower tub combo. Since I have the nursery and dog stuff on the first floor, it makes getting dogs and toddlers clean easier. And then on the second floor, there's a full general bathroom and a master bedroom bathroom. It's probably a bit overkill, but at least I rarely see them fighting over the bathroom. ;)

I'm that way with bedrooms in my legacy.. I realized I have 6 beds in 5 bedrooms, all of which are double beds, but I make couples sleep together, so it sleeps 12.... ah well, less shoo-ing of pets needed I guess. I have the "Master Bedroom" for the current eldest heir and spouse, the "Heir Bedroom" for the next in line and spouse, then a room with 2 beds from when I had twins, and two bedrooms downstairs for childrens. I've got only 3 bathrooms though.

Yeah, that site is great. Really helped to design an unusual home for the big freaking family I'm apparently having next (grr LTW roll madness). Tip: Take a couple random screenshots in-game (one for each floor). I just took photos of the pre-construction lot for ease of locating. Then Alt-Tab to the desktop and open your image editor of choice. Copy the floorplan pics from the website and paste them on top of the screenshots you just took. Merge your layers and resave. Alt-Tab back into the game and viola! Pics of the floor plan are now available in-game, saving you endless Alt-Tab'ing and/or paper.
(http://www.geocities.com/kariminger/home.jpg)
Adapted from this houseplan: http://www.architecturalhouseplans.com/home_plans/231 (http://www.architecturalhouseplans.com/home_plans/231)

Since it seems as if I do more building of families and lots than actual playing I can say that my sim families live on almost every kind of lot imaginable, from trailers to castles.  If there is one thing that seems necessary, though, when I do happen to be playing, it is a basement.  Building a good, functional basement is effective to stash the incredible horde of junk that seems to be required to play the game with success.  I suppose attics could also be used, or rooms over the garage, but I just prefer basements for this.  There is something about reward objects that just seem to demand placement in a basement.

In general I would say that there is very little that I would want for every lot.  What would be the fun in having every family equipped with exactly the same facilities?  Sims in trailers have their junk strewn all over the lawn, that is normal;  Sims in castles have extra rooms for anything they want.

Also note, vampires must have a coffin chamber placed as close to the car or carpool point as possible.  That way they can get up and go to work with little fear of frying and no extra effort on my part.  Putting them back in after work is also much easier and far less dangerous, especially for the lazy ones.

Oooh. I was looking at that plan too. I've been printing the floor plans out, so I've got a paper reference, but your idea is neat too.

I like the look of your house. Where'd you get the curved windows on the 2nd floor?

To me, the windows look like windkeeper's  La Fenetre Quarter Tall windows.  (http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/Windkeeper/downloads/sims2/SetID_209894/)Which you can find on TSR or at PMBD under TSR/Windkeeper and in the lafenetreloftwindows.rar file. I've been using all her expanded la Fenetre sets ever since she started to make them.

No, I do use the La Fenetre windows quite a bit, but these are the Waterfront windows I'm much fonder of. They come in a lot more color and size variances.

First set including tiny options: http://sims2.thesimsresource.com/downloads/sims2/268771/ (http://sims2.thesimsresource.com/downloads/sims2/268771/)
Second & 3rd sets including arches & doors: http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/sims2/358391,423385/ (http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/sims2/358391,423385/)

I believe all are included in the booty here (way down at the bottom): http://paysites.mustbedestroyed.org/booty/tsr/windkeeper/ (http://paysites.mustbedestroyed.org/booty/tsr/windkeeper/)

I rarely ever build to house plans since I hadn't really invested time into finding some good ones (thanks for the link above :)). Most of my houses come from my imagination - that's why they look sort of jumbled :P

As to what's included, depends who's living there. But -

- All houses are built on 2x2 or 3x1 lots, with very few exceptions. Anything bigger is pointless as there always seems to be enough room for a garden and nice house in that space. I am also into townhouses with minimal front gardens, so this is ideal.
- Almost all my houses have La Fenetre (funky accent insert) windows to them. The Maxis ones are OK but I prefer Windkeeper's.
- All "main rooms" consist of a television, a sofa, a coffee table and a decoration/floorlamp either side of the sofa. Then I customize the rest of the room to the family.

I don't really plan for sim-functionality, but more for what looks good and what suits the family. A lot of non-functional crap lies around in bedrooms, bathrooms etc. That is, when I can be bothered to build. Most of my lots are Wolfsim's and edited by me (again with the jumbled look).

Thanks for the incense and ideas.... the closet dresser, the one that looks like clothes on a pole. Anyone know where to find it?
Great tip on the album Zazazu. I wish you could enter the album in build mode with no family though.. :(
Man, so many people do a lot of the things I do or have done in the past...


OMG thank you for the link to ChinafanSims (http://sims.enorth.com.cn/), the essential oil kit (http://sims.enorth.com.cn/TS2/obj/59_e.htm) looks awesome! Oh, I hope it works right....

Ooh. Those do look nice. I'm guessing, since there's two of you raving about her windows, that there's no light problems with these? I've been a little leery of custom windows since a bunch I downloaded pretty much didn't let any light into the house. They were gorgeous and all kinds of funky, but they didn't let any light in.

I don't know for the version you can download on the chinafansims site, but it is also available on MTS2 and the version up there is compatible with pets and works like a charm.
I personnally twicked it to be much more expensive though (and to be compatible with OFB shelves so I can sell it in my businesses).
I really enjoy this thing.

No problems at all with lighting. Also, her sets include the needed meshes for putting them on the diagonal. 

Zazazu: I hadn't checked back recently to see the addition to the waterfront series- I only had the original set and the doors. (Nooooo- need the Long Island door set too. Must resist...) My downloads folder is not going to thank you.  :D

Yes, I recently trashed my window & door custom content from anything but her items. La Fenetre, Waterfront, Belangie, and Helios are my staple windows and doors. I use the Long Island doors a bit, but not as much. Her plastic flowers and bushes are great as well, until you take the plunge and get the TwoJeff's "perfectplants" hack. It's a shame she's so loyal to TSR.

I use the LaFenetre- especially the Sweet subseries and Waterfront a lot, as well as the Rosewood and the additions/fix to the Open Me windows. I don't like my Sims to have no garden work, so I keep around the plastic hedges and half flowerbeds for those corners Sims insist they can't get to.  ::) And I just went through her sets, to see what I was missing, and woohoo, she'd updated her gates since I'd last looked for it, so I can go back to pretty fences and gates, but now they lock too!

It really is a shame she's so loyal to TSR. If it weren't for her and cashcraft, the site would probably go under- at least the fee part of it.

You're welcome!

I have put it in houses but not had Sims interact with it yet. However, with that caveat, it has worked fine.

Carrigon at dinnerbell has a scented peppermint candle as well.

Where are these specs? I can't find them.
Is this just lies and propaganda?   ::)

How the hell would you know it's peppermint scented?!? Scratch'n'sniff sims?

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7263.0.html

Search is your friend.

Katenigma there is a fix for the original Open Me Window on MtS2 http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=227813 (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=227813) By MaryLou. No need for another Mesh it works with the original Window. Have it in my Game works fine.

I use the MTS2 fix, but Windkeeper's set is rather more extensive than just fixing the window: more colours, door and window variations, etc.  Since I detest tract housing, I insist that every single family live in a unique house.  That means a lot of building for me, and eventually I'll need to go back to Windkeeper for that set too, no doubt.

She claims it is. My assumption is that Sims do a "yummy" action, and that it is red and white striped.

Have it, haven't played with it.

Just another suspension of belief, I suppose. The Sims have nothing at all like that, of course. Aliens kidnap people looking through telescopes all the time. My local chapter of MUFON sez so, so I believe it is true.

Peppermint - might be green and white striped. Or am I thinking of spearmint?

Windkeeper's Open ME Window fix is linked to the Maxis EA Open Me Window Textures and his Recolors.
Thats what i most like, she makes additional Windows without the need for separate Recolors.
They use the ingame textures and recolors made for the original objects

Sorry :( don't know where I got the clothes on a pole...I think it was in a house I downloaded somewhere.

There's http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=112110 (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=112110) and http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=112249 (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=112249) -- but I tried those a long, long time ago, and I think they're borked.  (Don't remember the details, but I had some kind of trouble with them and ended up deleting them.)

It's something I would very much like to have a working version of.

Depends on the item, but, yeah, little round candies that are white with red stripes tend to be peppermint, while little round candies that are white with green stripes tend to be spearmint.   :P

Peppermint indeed tends to be red and white.

If I get a chance to play my game and remember to pull the candle out of Buy to test it, I'll report back. Or, go to dinnerbell and Carrigon's section and DL it. It's a smallish file.

Scratch'n'sniff Sims! THAT's what is going into Sims 3! You predicted it!  ;D

That's gonna make for some interesting hardware specs!  ;)

But not until the fourth or fifth expansion pack...so it'll be okay. :)

Yes, but it will be the feature they market most before game debut, and be featured in all teaser videos. Then, immediately after release, they will state that sadly they weren't able to implement the feature because the smells were pervasive over the entire neighborhood.

I really wouldn't want to smell my Sims when they fart after eating, or when they get sprayed by the skunk, thank you.

Or when they have green clouds of stink trailing them...

I have these and they work fine:

http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/sims2/SetID_203859/

Yay! Clothes poles!

::grumble:: 

I've sucessfully avoided TSR for 2 1/2 years.  But I want closet rods!

::mutter::

I guess I'll have to do it.

Darn, and PMBD doesn't have them up.

You know, I have them, and can't say that I've ever used them once.  Which is very strange since I've put armoires into little nooks. Sometimes, I don't know what I'm thinking. LOL

Yeah, I've got the closet nooks already built into a number of houses--with dressers in them.

He's a select artist now, not featured or whatever, so they should be downloadable. However, you do have to start a free account. I know, it makes you feel dirty....but I still have a paid sub with them for the next 23 days, so I'm up to my eyelashes in filthyness.

I've got closet rods.  Who wants them?  PM me :)

Edited because I just realized they're the MTS2 rods.  Damn.  Sorry.

ETA:  shit, they ARE the TSR files.... I'm attaching.

Don't fuss with me about double posting - the attachment restriction made me do it :P

Here's the second .rar file.

Oh don't worry, you're not the only one.  ::) I hate to admit it, but there you are. Mainly because it's just easier to find things there. To use PMBD, I end up with one tab open to TSR and another to PMBD.

Thanks for the closet rods! (Or should I say BAAAH?) I was really not wanting to deal with TSR. I've managed to avoid it so far!

Hmmph.  I should have known someone would if I just waited.

(Went and registered at TSR to get them, grumble, grumble.)

Sowwy.   :-*

So if you have just one sim, you have -1 bathrooms? This is not logical.

I personally like to start on a large lot and lately have been building "impossible" houses.  I'm experimenting with floating houses that stand on one pillar, with a pool under the house.  Since I don't have Seasons installed, there's no problem with leaving exercise machines, hot tubs, etc. outside on a large deck (usually bridging a scenic gorge of some sort).

Houses themselves tend to be built around a central bathroom and kitchen structure with dining, living/entertainment, bedrooms etc. radiating out from there.  I try to make things so the Simmies can wander around the house easily without spending the entire time walking.

If I get seasons, I'll have to add exercise rooms and enclose the hot tub, I guess.

I build and decorate sim houses based on general feng shui principles (not the specific ones that IRL require knowing a person's birth month and year, as that would be impossible given that sim 'years' are so much shorter than human ones). These include not building a bathroom above a kitchen, having a bed face the doorway, but not be aligned with it (same with desks), not placing mirrors or other reflective surfaces in bedrooms, not placing furniture in such a way that a sim's back is against a window, etc. I know that the sims couldn't care less about these things, but it makes me feel better to have them that way.

Hmm I am apparently stupid b/c besides the obvious I have never really thought of building specific rooms for things outside of the traditional kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, living room(s)...and then gee..I wonder why I can never organize the house properly.  I guess IRL most people don't have their treadmills and weight machines plopped in the middle of their living rooms or outside either *L*

Actually, growing up, we always had our treadmill in the livingroom.  :o

As my spin on my current near-endless challenge has me building a new home, community lot, and college lot (dorm, townhouse, or fake class building) every generation, I've had tons and tons of building experience lately. I absolutely love it, and it's been forcing me out of the rut of having every house be basically the same set up. My current home (a behemoth and quite pricey due to the need to spend the family's accumulating cash) has a library downstairs complete with the One Desk (I normally make them go deskless), a grand piano, and a fireside nook for reading. The kitchen is actually upstairs and is accessible by stairs outside the home and an internal set in the hall. There's also a wrap-around upper deck that goes around approximately half the house, and the necessary hidden garbage can that can still be used but no knocked down.

Actually, sims DO care about that. If the bed is facing the doorway, but not aligned with it, since sims approach the bed from the side, it'll be a straight-shot course to the docking bay. If you had aligned the bed with the door, then the sim would have to turn around the bed to reach the docking bay.

As for what *I* build into my houses, see Awesomespec v5.

My stationary bike is in my living room now.  :D

My OneDesk is never more than 2 tiles away from the front door. Sometimes that places it in the living room, sometimes an entryway, but I don't give them any options.  I don't know WHY Maxis couldn't have coded the homework like they did for Uni.

Why not move it into your computer room and hook it up to the computer? Then it could be useful.

I like the feng shui concept. I haven't consciously designed that way, but, upon reflection, must have absorbed some of the lessons, as I follow most of them. The one I fail most often is with desks, as my studies tend to be smaller, so I place them against walls, and occasionally have doors that would open on a Sims' back.

Let's see...I tend to prefer large houses, not necessarily so I can cram them full of stuff, but so the floor plans look spacious.

I typically have families of two or four. Either a couple, two friends, or an unrelated group. I have two sets of 8 students, but haven't played Uni in a while.

I haven't tried experimenting with basements / split levels / stages yet.

I like foyers, where I typically put a table or console so Sims will put their mail there (if I don't use the mailbox covers with shelves).

I prefer larger kitchens, both for efficiency and because I have some decorative countertop items I like to use. Typically I enclose this with doors and walls, but two or three of my houses have archways leading to dining room and "den" / TV area.

I almost always have balconies and a patio, but rarely have front porches. I sock hack type objects and stuff into attics.

I always have full bathrooms, and they are usually larger. They all have a sink, terlet, and shower stall (I like the corner one) or shower/tub combo. I have at least one large loo per floor.

I prefer enclosed garages (usually make them on the longer side, so I can put a few workout items in there as well), and most newer buildings after Seasons have a wishing well and greenhouse and a fishin' hole.

I typically assign one personal room per Sim, unless it is a married or committed couple, as they share a room. I rarely use single beds, even for kids Sims. It's easier to design around a larger bed for when they become teens and adults...though I haven't let any of my three kids or the default game kids (except Daisy Greenman) age up yet. I occasionally make a spare bedroom.

I usually have an office / study with bookshelves, desk(s), a reading chair, a chess table, an easel, maybe a small sofa. I use a lot of bookshelves, perhaps because I am personally accustomed to being surrounded by books all the time. Some larger bathrooms even have little "magazine racks".

A few houses have a small room near the kitchen for pet crap like beds, boxes, bowls, scratch posts. Other houses incorporate pet crap into dens or family rooms.

One house has a basement (actually, a first floor) rec room, and the only TV in the house is down there with a poker table and jukebox and other toys and games (like Myshuno). One house has an indoor lap pool and an artist's studio. I typically do not have more than one TV per house. I may, on the other hand, have a stereo in each bedroom. I wouldn't do this is I weren't a micromanager. I prefer hottubs to pools, but have some houses with both, and some with neither.

I prefer boxy modern houses, because I get tired of curtains and blinds not working on 45-angle walls, and because I tend to like mod furniture with clean lines and stainless steel appliances in kitchens. I like solid-colour walls and floors as well. The result is that paintings, Sims, bedding patterns, and knick-knacks/counter clutter items tend to draw more attention that way. I also like big windows.

On occasion I develop gardens, but usually I am satisfied with a few accent trees and flowers. I have a lot of great downloads, and I keep meaning to use them to build Japanese koi ponds with bridges and manicured garden areas, but I get caught up in playing the families before finishing the gardens most of the times. I do usually put a gazebo or swing set or patio furniture out.

My dining tables tend to seat a minimum of six Sims, whatever the size of the family.

Since I use modern furnishings most often, some of my fave houses have "raw" walls, like brick, inside. A few have three-tile wall-to-ceiling mirror in smaller rooms to visually expand them (and to help with getting photos of Sims in tight spots).

I also typically have at least one musical instrument in a house. Two have in-home studios, only one of which is actually used or relevant, and two have a piano in the dining room.

I like enclosing lots with fencing, which is supposed to cut down on random strays flooding the lot (it is only partially effective, thanks to telekinetic dogs and cats who can open doors and gates purely through the power of their minds (or something) and let themselves in.

I usually follow the 1 bathroom per 2 sims rule, as well as having closets and/or sheds for wardrobes and reward objects.

I rarely have any kind of gym or workout equipment, as I really prefer the pool- your sim gains fun, doesn't lose hygiene, and of course gains body skill.  Plus with the Marco Polo game from Seasons, they get social.

Then I usually build a meditation area for elders, pregnant sims, and sims due for promotion or age transition.  I used to put these on the roof so the ghosts couldn't get at them (no stairs, must teleport) and if they were accidentally knocked out of meditation they wouldn't wander off, but with Seasons I've found that I have to build actual rooms.  Meh.

I generally don't like building from scratch, but I enjoy playing challenges that often require the sim(s) to start off on an empty lot, so I've gotten decent at it.  I prefer to remodel Maxis homes or downloaded homes.

I used to do a lot of split levels and basements before we got the inside stage (Pets?). I don't like how high the stage tool makes the raised area as everything looks scrunched, and doing it the old fashioned way with liberal use of the constrain cheat generally looks better, but lighting can be a problem. Basements....eh. When I first got the game almost every lot had a basement because I'm from the midwest and the thought of a house without a basement is just...weird. However, camera angles can be difficult with basements unless you design it so that the basement can be a walk-out and then basically sit the camera in one direction. Personal taste, I guess, but I use the foundation for hiding cheat objects like the debugger, sim modder baby, and pet baby-maker (pre Lonny Lon, the neighborhood mime who lives in a telephone booth and seems oddly linked to the growing grilled cheese zombie epidemic).

Again, maybe it's a midwestern thing, but people hanging out on their front porch looks trashy to me. Front porches are used only for design, and generally are only about 2 squares deep and hold no objects.

Generally I do a revised carport as they take less room and look more modern. They are mostly covered and form a C around the driveway. But then usually my simmies don't get a car. If I can't have one, neither can they.

Same here. I'm tending towards single-level adobes
(http://thesims2.ea.com/sims2_exchange/story/06/160106/thumbnail_d34a447a_334a447b.jpg)
and multi-level Californian type homes.
(http://www.geocities.com/kariminger/snapshot_9355eac2_33561933.jpg)
 Mostly flat roofs, sometimes multi-level decorative flat roofing, or at the most I'll do a 25 degree roof. My college (University Land) is kind of a weird traditional-modern hybrid (I'm not sure of the actual style name) like this:
(http://thesims2.ea.com/sims2_exchange/story/06/160106/thumbnail_d34a447a_3353ac34.jpg)
Sheesh, I adore that dorm.

My houses usually vary from project to project... but some of the things I usually do are -

Not have too many bathrooms, though I know it makes for easier play, it just seems unrealistic to have too many. And I'm a real stickler for having my bathroom placements be sensible... meaning, in real homes, because the piping is run thru the walls in certain spots you'll usually see bathrooms built back to back, or in the same location on the different levels of the house (on top of each other is a way to phrase it I suppose). Sort of silly maybe, but I can't help myself.

Use a lot of curtains, because it fills up a room nicely, without cluttering up the usable space.

Have double staircases, and often a single staircase and then a double one in a different location of the house if it's a large floorplan.

2 single doors on Master bedrooms so parents can lock the children out.

Decorations made from the OFB stuffs, i.e. flowers, kites, water wigglers. I especially love the snapdragons for their motive boosting (or busting) potential...

In my yards I like lots of custom low greens that don't need upkeep and that allow intersection... they look so much more realistic than little perfectly round bushes, and then I can put the occasional bush that needs upkeep sprinkled thru the greens...

I like sideways or backwards garages, just because I hate the look of driveways right out front...

That's all I can think of at the moment.  :)

Screw the One Desk.  If I ever use a desk, I put a computer and a vase of flowers on it or something. It's easier to find the homework, particularly in a multi-offspring house, if they just drop it on the floor. 

With large families (three or more children) I put a basement in and put toilet stalls and showers down there. (It'll look like a basement, too; cement walls and floor and everything) The parents will have the master bath with two lockable doors so the kids can't clog it up when they need to get ready for work.

For something different, I sometimes put a house sideways on the lot--the 'front' of the house doesn't face the street. In this case, a nice big porch with stairs on the mailbox end provides access to the street.  If you do it right, they don't have to walk any farther than usual to take out trash or get mail. I usually put the kitchen on the driveway/garage end of the house, with the 'back door' in the kitchen.

I don't put toys, skill stuff or anything in bedrooms. I don't have Seasons (yet), so the easel, chess board and toy box often go out on the deck instead. Everything else gets stuffed into living areas until my sims get rich enough to afford extra rooms for study and skilling. They usually don't even get a separate dining room until they're half-way through their career tracks.

I use attic space a lot. Just a floor up there, with no stairs. The God of the Big Blue Arrow stashes Aspiration rewards up there when they're not being used, so I don't have to page through all that stuff in the inventory.

I hardly ever put in a hot tub or pool. The pool doesn't get used enough to justify the expense and the hot tub gets used too damned much.

I try to put at least one decor item in every room, even for poor sims, to help environment score a little bit. Outdoors, poor sims get tree and shrubs as they can afford them. When they can reasonably afford a gardener, they get flowerbeds. Sometimes really elaborate gardens.

I build a lot of salt-box-farmhouse-type houses these days, with white clapboard siding and red tin roof. Also Victoian corner towers. I like the towers. Anybody know where I can get siding with gingerbread trim?

If you have a One Desk they drop their homework on the desk or on the floor next to it.  If there's no One Desk, they drop their homework anywhere.  No thanks! LOL

For Victorian sidings, I use  c_literati's various sets  (http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/c_literati/downloads/sims2/walls/search_Victorian/page2in151items/) and  shtinky00's Tulip Grove and Pickett Lane sets  (http://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/shtinky00/downloads/sims2/walls/) Neither of them are an FA, so they are free, but if you see something you'd like but don't want to register, PM me with your requests, and I'll shoot them over to you.

Hm. Mine almost always drop homework in the front room or on the porch. I keep having issues with a kid standing by a desk and gesticulating wildly that they can't get to their homework, even though they managed to put it on the desk just fine. Wtf?

Thank you, these are just the thing. I'm registered but thanks for the offer, too.

I use the Homework Sometimes hack, which reduces the amount of homework (more realistic, or at least it appeals to the part of me that feels that homework is bad for kids anyway).  They seem to drop the homework in the room with the desk in any case, either on the desk or on the floor beside.  I had one house where the teens would consistently get distracted when getting off the bus and drop their homework on the front walk.  This led to 9:00pm sessions of homework outside.  Eventually, I installed outdoor lighting for them so they could do it more conveniently.

At about noon everyday i cancel out the school icon. When they get home they drop their homework next to the mailbox and go about their business. I put a couple outdoor lights right in front, and they can do their homework there.

I take it you don't have Seasons?  In my game I had young Zander Roth sitting hip-deep in snow by the letterbox, doing his homework.

Considering that my father had to walk uphill through the snow both ways to school every day (true, my family is from West Virginia originally on both sides), my simmies can do their homework in the snow.

I do the same cancel-out, but typically once they drop it I go into buy mode, move it into the living room, go back into play mode and que up some actions to get their motives homework-ready, then let them do it in the living room. The C generation had to do it in the front yard in all seasons because they had too many kids for the house and I don't do rebuilds. Plus it was funny.

West-by-god-Virginia. Always nice to meet a fellow hillbilly mountaineer.

I do this too, because in the Legacy household it means that kids who dawdle over doing their homework are at risk of being scared by their dead ancestors. Mwah ha ha ha!

I use various homework-related hacks, including one that causes the sim kids/teens to put homework in their bedroom(s). If there is a desk in the bedroom, they put it there. Otherwise it goes on the floor. I believe the hack was made by our own dizzy2, and can be found at MTS2. I also use Monique's 'auto do homework' mod (also at MTS2), which causes kids/teens to automatically do their homework at 7pm (the reasoning behind it is that, by then, they'll have had time to raise their motives). If a kid needs to ask for homework help, I just cancel the 'do homework' action, and have the kid ask for help.

These two mods have made my life much easier. I'm not sure if they are compatible with Seasons, however.