Maria & Juan, high school sweethearts, were married in a small chapel in Spain. Once they married, they moved to the lovely town of Sunset Valley to start their family. They moved to a starter home first, where they raised teenage son Joshua & child daughter Beatrice. But fast forward 16 years, Maria became pregnant again, this time with twin girls. So, Juan & Maria quickly started searching for another, larger home to raise their soon-to-be 4 children. When they saw the Condor Museum Lofts, they were initially discouraged. The home was the only house big enough for their family within their budget. So, they took the plunge & bought the 'awful' house after searching for better suited homes for their tastes. They had no such luck, I'm inclined to admit. So, with $75,000 & a couple of children helping, they remodeled the home. Half way through the remodel, Maria gave birth to twins Alessia & Alexandria. After another hard, stressful year, the remodel was complete & the twins were now toddlers. Here is how the Martinez' remodeled the home.
The Floor Plan:
The first floor is pretty much empty, because of how non-functional it is for the family. It is the entry way primarily.
The second floor consists of several balconies, the main bathroom, the eat-in kitchen, & the living room.
The third floor consists of the kid's gaming loft, Joshua's bedroom, & Beatrice, Alessia, & Alexandria's bedroom, as well as some mini bathrooms in the bedrooms.
The Backyard & garage converted to band/storage space:
The backyard has a walk-around deck(connects to the parent's bedroom), several options of seating, an outdoor cook-out area(s), & the kid's play area with the tiny tyke cars & the bouncy toys.
This area was the garage, but since they already had 2 & it wasn't functional to drive all that way to the back of the house, it became the area for Joshua's band practice & where the family stores their outdoor equipment. Eventually, the garages will have doors added so they can be reached from inside the house, but for now, they are only accessible from the outside.
The Living, Kitchen, & Loft area:
The living area has a color scheme of warm colors, with pops of blue added via the vases.
The eat-in kitchen has the same color scheme, except there are more warm colors.
The loft is for the kids to do their homework, play video games, paint, ect. This is the children's space entirely, as seen by the mess of art supplies & school items thrown about the room. The kids don't really clean up after themselves that much.
The Hallway & Main floor Bathroom:
The hallway has the same scheme as the living & kitchen area's, the same decorations, ect.
The bathroom is pretty spacious, & has the warm color scheme like the rest of the main floor(2nd floor).
The Master Bedroom:
The couple enjoys a large bedroom, with a reading area hidden behind the petition for some privacy. The area is like a master suite.When money allows, the couple may add a bathroom suite to the room.
Joshua's bedroom:
Joshua enjoys music & privacy. He opted for a cool bedroom to match his rebellious personality. His parents weren't fond of his end tables, or his decoration ideas, but they let him decorate his own bedroom. Joshua is in the zone with his "cool" room. It also helps that he doesn't have to share a room with his sisters. He had a small bathroom added as well, so he didn't have to use the main floor bathroom all the time.
Beatrice's bedroom & the future bedroom for the twins:
Since the girls will all share a room eventually, Maria & Juan opted for a cute theme. Beatrice is still young enough to enjoy dolls, pink, & cute things, so they let her choose how to decorate 'cutely', as Beatrice would describe the style. The girls have their own individual beds, as they all have/will have different comforters on their beds. They have a messy room, the dresser is cluttered with crayons & dolls. A small bathroom was also added in a corner of the room, as there was only 1 bath in the house for 6 sims.
The nursery:
Maria & Juan chose a gender-neutral theme for the nursery initially. After the twins were born, they added some pink to make the room more girly. After the twins age into children, the nursery will be converted into an office/sanctuary for Juan & Maria to enjoy without being bothered by children.
The house was not easy at all. I had to learn about Spanish themed houses to decorate, but I think I figured it out in the end. My game was giving me trouble, so it took a little longer to decorate than usual too. I had to redo half the house after my game crashed on me & I hadn't saved what I had completed. Anyway, I used more CC than usual, due to how lacking the game is in Spanish decor. It was hard to get every room adequetely as there were so many things I wanted to show. I used lots of clutter in the rooms & I couldn't show all of it! But, never mind that, I enjoyed the house. This is the only EA house that I think I could live in! It has plenty of lighting, a nice layout & isn't too terrible after a remodel. The only issue was money, honestly. I ran out at the end before I could add curtains to the rest of the rooms, unfortunately. The house still turned out nice though, I think. I hope I got the style right this time.
CC List:
I used fences to divide the bedrooms with a bathroom in them. The fences were taller than a half wall & they gave more privacy, as I assume anyone would want if a bathroom was in their bedroom with no door dividing it. I forgot who gave me that idea, but thank you! It really gave the house some functionality. The fountains in the front idea also came from several other posts in this forum & it makes the house seem more fancy. This round has a lot of good ideas.
I extended the 2nd floor porch to go around to the other balconies, I assumed this was within the rules as there was nothing about it mentioned & it isn't a structural change.
On another note, the Martinez family is pretty popular this round. A lot of people are using them. It makes sense, the house is perfect for them as it is big enough to house all 6 family members. I couldn't think of fitting them in any of the other houses in previous rounds-too small for their large family.
22nd Jul 2014 at 4:29 AM
Martinez Family
