Gooseberry Ranch

[Ashaminnie]

I've decided to build a horse ranch. So far, I'm happy with it, but I know it still needs some work to be ready for upload.

But, the basics of the lot are:
-I have all EPs and SPs (haven't kept track of what items I used).
-It has 3 bedrooms.
-It has 2 bathrooms.
-It has a barn with 6 stables.
-It's on a 40x50 lot.
-I have minimal decorations so far, but they will go in.

Front of house
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1250598-Screenshot-28.jpg

Barn
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1250599-Screenshot-29.jpg

Training Area
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1250600-Screenshot-30.jpg

Floor Plan
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1250601-Screenshot-31.jpg

Overhead of barn (I have no idea what else to put in here!)
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1250602-Screenshot-33.jpg

[RylandHomes]

I like the idea!
To me, though, it seams like the house is lacking character.
Suggestions:
-Play with different types of roofs.

Though roofing is usually one of the more difficult parts of building, your roof should look right for the lot, and pleasing to the eye. Sometimes you may have to redesign part of a lot, or choose a different type of roof to make a roof that looks right.


Don't just use the autoroof tool - actually work on designing your own roofs using the different roof tools. This usually gives you a much better result.
Remember to use the roof angle tool to adjust your roofs to an appropriate angle for your building. Lower angle roofs often look better than higher angle ones, especially on smaller structures.

- Paint the outside of the house with more than just one wall paint.
- Add a nice fence around the back yard.
- To me, the floor-plan is quite awkward, the bathroom especially. I'd try making the floor plan more square... The diagonal walls just don't fit in the house really well.

- The barn seams to be really small for 6 stalls. Its seams like there would be some routing issues because of the small walkway in between the stalls...

[JadedSidhe]

This house reminds me of a neighbor's house in rural Texas. I like the shape of the house and its a great start.

Roof:
Try gabled roofs on the wings of the house.

Livingroom:

The chunky, outdoor shrubs look out of place.

The baby toys should go either near a wall or in one of the bedrooms. They just seem.... out of place in front of the door. One possible solution is to move the couch and tv closer to the front of the room and the turtle toward the back of the room and add a carpeted area big enough for it and the baby toys (a little further away from that door). If you do that, the carpeted area is visually isolated as a play area.

Maybe try a rug under the desk as well.

Bathrooms:

Maybe add some plants and/or a rug, some candles... knick-knacky stuff in the large bathroom.

I more or less agree with RH on the diagonal walls and the bathrooms not fitting. The white and black in the bathrooms are jarring considering the color scheme you've used for the rest of the house, if you soften the bathroom colors, it might make the diagonal walls not look so out of place. There's nothing wrong with big bathrooms, I love them (I usually get dinged for wasting space), but I think the larger bathroom should be a master bath with a doorway into the Master Bedroom and not into the main house.

I have no idea what is going on in the lower of the two small bathrooms. You may have used items from Pets that I've not seen before. Is it a full or half bath?

Bedrooms:

The bedrooms seem a little empty. You have enough room to add a desk and rugs (yeah, I'm big on rugs ;) )

The bed is partially covering a window in the MBR.

In one of the bedrooms you have a bunk bed that's typically associated with kids, but there's a work bench in there. Maybe a toybox instead?

You also have shrubs sticking through the walls of your rooms.

[willmurray]

It's quite nice, although I'm not really getting the ranch feeling at the moment. I think that the front of the building seems to be a little bit plain, don't be afraid to use a few different wallpapers on the outside of the house. The floor plan seems to be jam packed, it's too full (Maybe make the floor plan a little bit more open plan). The plants in the front of the house seem to be just sort of placed there a bit randomly, I think you should thin down the vegetation at the front a bit. I think that you should make the garden path and the garden blend together more. There seems to be quite alot of wasted space inside the house, it also seems to be a little bit plain. I think it looks ok at the moment, but I think it needs quite a bit of work doing to it.

[Telishathompson]

What's bothering me is the garage doors. It just looks awkward without have the wall go over one more on each side. I'm trying to explain this properly, but I can't. Mind fart. I do agree with the above that the house is a bit plain.

I would move the laundry room into the garage as you have allot of space in there. I would mess around with the master bathroom. It feels too big for what you have in there.

I would try adding walls into the main part of the house to really separate certain areas.

[Volvenom]

I agree about the garage doors. Try using only one.

Why do so many on here have the livingroom in the middle of the house. It's not just you. As this it's just a hallway people pass through. You already have the splitlevel in the garage. I would use that on the other side of the entrance too, and have the livingroom on the ground so to speak. Then you can have the tall ground level wall with high windows in it on the ground and with a view to the street. I would just use the splitlevel to create a more airy feel and interesting layout.

[Ashaminnie]

Sorry for taking so long to update! Real life got busy :)

But I've taken your suggestions and did some remodeling. I forgot to change the garage door to see how that looks though so maybe next update for that one. I don't have any plants in front of the house yet either, they will be in the next update.
Also, my sims who live here recently adopted a dog, so there are dog necessities in the house now as well.

And here are the pics.

Front:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1252454-Screenshot-34.jpg

New Floor Plan:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1252455-Screenshot-35.jpg

Made barn larger:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1252456-Screenshot-36.jpg

"Training" area for horses:
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1252459-Screenshot-38.jpg


But I've run into a problem. Since I now have a sunken living room, the windows are at different heights. I've heard of a way to fix that but can't think of what it is?
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/4/5/6/3/5/8/6/MTS_Ashaminnie-1252458-Screenshot-37.jpg

[Volvenom]

Lights travel in the direction of the floor level you're on. I would suggest having windows down by the ground, because then you have lights below. The 1/4 wall you have above isn't that important. I would drag the below wall around the corner. Less mess that way, then you just lower it again to meet the entrance, or a tile before that.

The level difference can be hidden with different wall texture's like using bricks. If you have bricks on the basement, where you have a basement, and then just continue with bricks on the cfe wall ... or perhaps not bricks. Then you can create the illution of an extention there. I have made a video here, show you a bit about separating the extention and using lights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5GWjrOmiBU