Lot Picspam: 2 Santolina Avenue
Today I'd like to share with you a residential lot I took a bit of time to make. This might genuinely be the first Sims 2 house I've tried to build in a manner that looks good, and I had to fight a lot of my own beginner's problems-- classic stuff like building a box-house or leaving too much room in the middle. In the end, I think it turned out nicely for a first try, and I'm happy to introduce the beginning of a hopefully longer project to add "premades" to Foolscombe!
Disclaimer: I don't know how to share lots or hoods, so I won't be guaranteeing any of that today. It would be cool, though, to ultimately have my own hood that feels as fleshed-out as the Maxis ones.
Now, without further ado, 2 Santolina Avenue.
*Originally called it 2 Bay Avenue. It was not on Bay Avenue! This egregious error has now been resolved.
I built this house for two Sims: Carmilla Karnstein and Laura Sheridan. You may have some idea of what I was thinking about from that alone. Laura and Carmilla are two acquaintances with similar tastes in the arts who are moving in together to better pursue their shared goals, which include creative advancement and strange diets. Carmilla may have picked the house, but Laura's had a major hand in the furnishings, and their mixed color palettes can be seen throughout.
In this picture, you can see how it's situated in my hood (and also the failed builds of prior years...)
A nicer shot of the front of the lot. That's Carmilla's car, of course, but she's fine with Laura sharing it. The two have a little free library out front, because I just downloaded one the other day and nearly burst into tears at how cute it was.
Laura's practice dummy. Yes, alright, she's a bit of a nerd.
Let's step inside here. I thought a tea set would be fun to have in a living room... and a piano, of course, for two patronesses of the arts. That's definitely Laura's stack of books, and also probably her shoes, but Carmilla has contributed a lovely set of... erm... mysterious red jars... to the shelving there.
Little close-up of the shoes. I tried to go for a balance between overwrought, effort-intensive clutter and complete emptiness.
Tea set a safe distance away from the fireplace. Here you can see the extremely open floor plan-- we've got a proper living room, a dining room, a kitchen in the back, and a little bonus area for some hanging out to the right.
Here's that hangout area with better focus. I adore that cow chair (which is definitely Laura's.) The door leads into the main bathroom.
The dining room is fairly simple; just a table and a nice set of chairs. And some culinary hints from Laura.
I am SO proud of this kitchen. It took me forever, and you would not believe the kind of problem-solving I had to do to make sense of it. Themed for Laura's tastes.
Clutter on the kitchen counters.
And now for Laura's room, which is through the brown door by the chair in the entryway. She's a bit geeky, a bit artsy, a bit of everything. Of course, her bedroom is just the essentials-- bed, computer, easel, and... a toaster oven?
Another shot of the desk space and the mini fridge by the door. Oh, yes, and Laura's massive Death and the Maiden painting.
Laura's a poster girl generally. Posters of punkish, geekish... womanish... stuff.
And another close up of that desk because I really did work hard on the clutter. And then today I found out we have more slot edits of all the Maxis furniture!
But now on to that bathroom I mentioned earlier. If it looks nice, that's because I took it from a reference photo. I really struggle with bathrooms, so referencing helped quite a bit. I feel as though it's both usable and well-organized.
More bathroom.
And just across the wall is this bathroom for Carmilla, which I made without a reference, just experimenting. The backless shower in particular provided a ripe foundation for fun paints.
No, really, I struggled so much with this bathroom that, when I went on vacation recently to a rental house, I studied their bathroom to figure out what I was missing. And I did, in fact, figure it out. By the way, that curtain doesn't look like it lets in a lot of light...
And surely it'd be more convenient to have a mirror where the big painting is....?
Well, anyway, here's Carmilla's room.
As you can see, Carmilla has an interest in the, um, biological sciences, as evidenced by the... skeleton. Which is not to say she lacks an appreciation for the living female form. Far from it.
And, of course, a luxurious bed, with big curtains and a screen in case anyone should try to see whether anyone's actually sleeping in it...
...and you noticed the mysterious bookshelf, didn't you?
Nothing behind that. Nothing at all.
But we're back outside, where Carmilla prefers not to be by day, and you can see this lovely little gazebo-looking thing I built. I'm very proud of it; I knew I wanted a higher surface for Laura's telescope without compromising the roofing of the house itself, and I liked the idea of a ladder heading up there. Oh my God I just realized I never put steps up to the gazebo so nobody can get in. I'll have to fix that. This is not some kind of tongue-in-cheek joke; I really forgot to do that. Everyone look at the chess table!!
...the lovely seating area by the sunflowers...
Fun little touch of whimsy.
And a final look at the house from above. I am quite proud of it, like I said, even if it lacks a few lights and the steps to the gazebo. I have quite a bit of time to fix it up, anyway, and I hope you'll stand by for the photoshoot with the inevitable Laura and Carmilla Sims themselves!