Thanks for the nice comments.
I hope I can pull it off. There isn't much room for stairs. O.O

I did have lots of fun with the main bathroom. XD

I decided to build for the Rhodes, but I've got two ideas and I'm not sure which one to go with (or even if either of them grab me enough to finish them). What do people think? Idea #1 is stacked shipping containers, and Idea #2 is a log cabin with a greenhouse/studio attached to the back.

@NatteryakToad - I like the shipping containers the best.

So do I, but I'm not a judge.

It is a family you can have some fun designing for. :D

Considering I'm a Play-Along, you're my only judge, Jo

The shipping containers was my first attempt, and I like it, but I don't love it, so then I built the other one, which I also like, but don't love... so I think I might finish both of them and try and choose then, or maybe even start again again. I've got plenty of time - no work next week (yay for half-term!).

I really like the shipping containers

Be careful when you edit your images as they look a little squished. Take a look at the round items in the house eg the table and spiral stairs.

In the meantime, I went for the grain silo. For some reason, when I added the second story, I couldn't move the fan up there, no matter what I tried (it was stuck on the first floor ... couldn't get it with the hammer, couldn't grab it ... nuthin'.!), so I made a "beam" for the first floor. I did consider accessing a second floor of the silo, but I wasn't sure if that was against the rules, since it's not the main building, the stairs would take up most of the first floor and I was running out of money. So first floor only it is!

Shipping containers are so much fun to work with, Natteryak Toad! I'm impressed and amazed you could cram so much of what the Rhodes need inside them. I gave up after a while because of space issues. Maybe my hippies are too materialistic! And Sweet Mystre, if you could pull off the space, you're going to have one great download!

Room was what got me on most of the configurations. But thanks to CatherineTCJD. I could go back to one of my original ideas of making a building out of a silo ... only in my case, it was the workshop. 'Kay. That will work, too.

Keep this up and the Rhodes will need their own section in the MTS Download section! Potpourri houses, factories, lighthouses, shipping containers, all-natural configurations, traditional houses, and whatever it is I'm working on that now has a silo. Already, it no longer resembles the pictures in my previous post. I go through at least a dozen versions of these lots. After about three or four designs that failed utterly, what you saw was v 2 of the current design, I think. I'm up to v 5.

And yavannatw ... yes. Yes you can.

All I know with initial testing is that the double bed works (my two went to the bedroom to woohoo as soon as they got into the house!), and once I redesigned the bathroom a little (darn those diagonal walls), that works. My Sim can cook meals, so that works. The shed has plenty of room for both Sims to create (and apparently wash themselves. I put in a sink because it probably is a good idea to have one for washing up in an area where you're using paints and other media, and one of my Sims decided to get nekkid and do a sponge bath.) . A Sim can use the half bath and the sewing machine. Visitors move around pretty well, and they went straight for the bubble blower. Everyone can use the kitchen table. Except for the bathroom snag (now fixed), so far, so good.

Time for me to get to bed, though ... it's well into the morning! More testing after I get some sleep!

I am still trying to fit the wannabe Olympian's house into the budget - he does not understand that he is not famous yet. But at least I am making progress on the fourth try Taking a fermented fruit juice break.

I'm surprised people are still having budget problems with this round. I had a hard time spending it all! Now that I've playtested I'll have to go make a few tweaks and probably lose a potted plant or two to keep it under the budget, but that won't be hard.

It's possible this advice won't be any good to some of you who are struggling (we've all got to create the way that works best for us), but this is how I keep myself in budget:

First, buy the essential items and arrange them on the foundation. Which items are essential will vary with the requirements and the concept, but will include beds, appliances and counters, plumbing, and wastebaskets. Not lights yet unless you have specific table and floor lamps you want to be sure to include. When you think you have an acceptable arrangement, build walls around them and see if it works. Some items, like smoke alarms and toilets, can't go up without walls unless you use move_objects, but at this stage it's okay to have that up as long as you pay attention to the footprints of the items. If you expect to need upper stories, place the interior stairs at this time, too, and use a cheap placeholder floor up there to give yourself something to arrange furniture on. This is when you do most of your experimenting. Focus on layout - it's not time to make palette decisions yet, and the things chosen should be as cheap as you can bear, with a promise to yourself to upgrade later if you can. The point here is to get a workable arrangement that includes all the things the house absolutely needs to have. If building for the Elliots plop down as many flowerbeds and shrubs as you think you'll need outside, if for Evans place a pool, etc. Most of the work will be on the interior here, though.

Once you're satisfied with the layout and have all your walls, build the roof. If you've given yourself a more complex build than you can roof, you want to find out now, while you're still just a bunch of bare walls and cheap furniture!

Once the roof is complete, take out any walls that were only there to enable roofing and add the exterior stairs. This is the first decision you'll make that will have anything to do with the decorating style of the building. You will probably find that while you were doing the layout, your backbrain was thinking about style issues and you'll know that you want the Storybook, or the concrete, or the Chic stairs to the front and back porches.

Now it's time to turn move_objects off if you have it on, and place the doors and windows, which is quite possibly the single most important style decision you'll make. Will they all be in the same style? What palette choices are available? Place all the interior doors first (this may involve a few small wall tweaks, but if you did the layout phase right these will be simple), then any back and side doors and those for any outbuildings, then the front door, then the windows. With the walls up and the roof on, go up to the highest level and take a look at the whole house from all sides. Does the arrangement of doors and windows create a harmonious balance? If you use more than one style of window and door, do they complement each other or clash? Try out the different recolors to make sure you get the best palette range for the different styles to work together, especially if building without CC, since Maxis windows of different styles seldom match exactly. Bear in mind that matching may not work as well as contrasting in some situations.

Once you're satisfied with the layout and style of the windows, stairs, and doors, it's time to get down and dirty with the floors, ceilings, and wallpaper. Check the price at this time, so you'll know if you have room to look at the more expensive choices or should give preference to mid-range or cheap options. This is when you focus on your palette and decorating style, and you'll find that these will be governed by decisions you've already made about the windows and doors.

Once you have all that in place, it's time to place the ceiling and wall lights, and then you can finalize your essential furniture options. You'll be checking your budget a lot at this stage, deciding how much you want to upgrade the beds and whether you want the desk chairs to match the dining chairs or whatever. Since you already have your walls and floors in place, determining the palette for each room, deciding which recolor of each item you want to use will be simple. Don't add much at this point - keep it down to the essentials, only adding things that you now realize are essential to the style that's developed.

Now it's time to check your budget again and look at the yard. You may have already placed some things as essentials in the yard, but now is the time to arrange them and to place additional trees, shrubs, fences, gates, and so on. Keep a close eye on the budget during this stage, remembering that you still haven't done any major interior deco.

Once you have an acceptable yard, it's time for the frills and fine-tuning. You'll be dealing with the house as a whole. Where are things sparse? Where are they cluttered? Any blank expanses of wall or monochrome areas that need to be broken up visually? Sure you got enough lights? Do you need more seating? More skilling items? Oops, that was one potted plant too many for the budget, but it really brings the room together so maybe there's a picture you can downgrade to make up for it. What about curtains? How does the sun room relate to the garden? Where do you need to use move_objects to place multiple things on one wall?

Once you're satisfied with the appearance and cost of the house as a whole, it's finally time to hit the terrain paint. If you do it earlier you may find yourself deleting shrubs or moving trees and leaving inappropriate terrain paint behind. You can be as reckless as you like with terrain paint, as it's free on an uninhabited lot, and it can make a huge difference.

Then save it, package it up, and leave it for 24 hours before coming back and looking it over. If it still looks good to you, it's playtest time!

Doing things in this order guarantees that you don't run out of money before your sims have a place to sleep, and also forces you to commit to a layout early in the process, which makes everything from that point much simpler and reduces the time you spend tearing things down and rebuilding. Monitoring the budget at the end of each phase will also let you know when you're being too ambitious; or, for some of us, too cautious. Save at each phase, too - can't be too careful.

I have just furnished one floor yet Honestly, I am simply trying to avoid Ikea in this round, because I feel as if I have looked at too many Ikea stuff right now. If all else fails, though....

Problem is, though, Ikea is cheap and basic. You can mix and match several Ikea pieces together, and those pieces wouldn't be too out of place in a fifty-year-old house or a modern abode. A plain end table is a plain end table!

I think I mainly struggle with budget because of greenhouse walls, those are expensive. Just the construction with windows and painted walls costed over 30k, and it’s easy to spend 40k on furnishing quickly if I don’t restrict myself. I’m sure I could easily make my house cost more than 100k.

I have just finished judging the last round and I am impressed with all of the entries, well done!

Still in Jones & Moltkes' trade mark traditional style, but with some modern features included, the house we are building for the Rodneys is steadily taking shape in my Aedicia building 'hood.


Once it appears complete, a copy will be placed in my Elswyn contest 'hood, and the Rodneys can move in. Jones & Moltkes' designs may never be the most innovative, but the young Directors believe in entrusting the actual building work to experienced traditional craftsmen (and women) to ensure consistent quality of build. They aim to build houses that families will be happy to live in for years. They also aim to give value for money. Whether this is possible at this price point I'm not sure yet. I hope we can get the price up close to §80,000 by adding stuff that really improves the lot. Extravagance for it's own sake goes against the grain for me (and Andrew is a bit of a little puritan too). I'm not going to change furniture to stuff I don't like, just because it's dearer. We are up to §41.5K now.

I was being a bit frivolous in my earlier post about whether I could build an §80K house. The real reason I haven't built one before is simply lack of demand. There are very few rich Sims in my game (as you may have seen from my recent posts in another thread), and the few that there are generally don't want to move.

Anyway here are the party-loving couple themselves:

Jo, do you think you could write up a tutorial & teaching reference about the SDHB? I was trying to find info about it a few weeks ago and found your posts in that thread with Mootilda, but I was hoping for something a bit more comprehensive that covered all scenarios, like what to do if you have an infected game or are unsure and want to upload clean houses, what to do if you are a downloader worried, what tends to cause the problem (there are 2 different SDHBs?) and what each of the fixes does to counter it. Can the bug hop between neighborhoods, and can it get to an AnyGame? Is an uninhabited lot safe even in an infected game? How does one properly clean and check lots? So many details and questions.

Here's my WIP pics for this round! For being such a good girl and staying true to shape this round, I've taken other liberties. The biggest no-no being that I've actually shifted the entire foundation one square to the left so I could accommodate my underground parking. To get walls so close to the edge of the lot, I've had to LotAdjust it down from a 3x3. I did not, however, remove or add any foundation. All short walls you see are actually walls, and though the foundation walls have been removed from the parking, the foundation is actually still there. I found if you take away the foundation, put a wall there, then put the foundation back, it doesn't replace the wall, which you can then remove later to gain access. To hide the slope I put regular walls down there. Doing this way is prolly going to help me eat through my $240k budget at least!

I’m already over the budget and the garden is far from done It’s really annoying because I don’t have much I can sell in order to afford it.

I just made the budget. I think one biggie is the fruit trees. To have what I would consider a sizeable number (per the requirements), I would think you'd need at least one each of the Maxis fruit trees (or three of one type if you're leaning toward an apple orchard, for instance). I now have four ... two apples, one orange and one lemon. I also have about 10 - 12 garden plots. They're just about all I can fit on the property! Hopefully those are more than enough bland cucumbers to keep the Rhodes family happy for months. Unfortunately, since I don't have one of "those" mods in my vanilla game, they will actually HAVE to be bland cucumbers. Sorry, Zenith and Cardamon. (My poor Sim ... that's what happens when I'm thinking of recipe ideas while making the lot. It could have been worse. I could have been thinking of garlic bread; then Cardamon would probably be Garlic.)

A little more testing, then it's a stab at the Rodneys to see if I like the lot better as a party lot. No silo for the Rodneys, though!

And thank you, Karen Lorraine. I think this contest is definitely making me a better builder, and that is what I hoped it would do. So in that way, I did win something already!

Well I think I’m done. It was really hard to keep the lot within the budget, I’d say the hardest so far – which was probably caused by me assuming than I can do a lot with 80k, while with the other houses I knew I had to restrict myself. I had to get rid of some decorations that fit there nicely, such as expensive curtains in the living room, and the garden is bare bones compared to what I planned, but I managed to reach the feel I wanted – a house for sun loving Rhodes who like oriental looking furniture and finding unique things at flea markets. They don’t care much for privacy, all they wanted was a bedroom with curtains.
The flamingos (which was the random item for them) are visible in two pictures – the side of the house and in a picture showing part of the garden. There’s an easel, pottery station, sewing machine and I also decided that making flower bouquets is something they’d like. The garden area is on a hill and can fit 12 plants, there’s also a fruit tree, and the house is mostly built from recycled wood, stone and bamboo, so I guess I didn’t miss anything This time I used a sprinkler instead of a smoke alarm, and it can be seen in the kitchen picture.

Edit: I swapped the fridge and the stove. That column isn’t in the way (and of course Rhodes cut out a bit of it to fit the fridge themselves ), I checked and the fridge is usable. And I want to add that the flowers on the roof are supposed to be plastic, as no-one would put real plants there

Yay~ Almost done.
Tested a few routing areas (turned beds XD - it was a wild hope) and now to make the Sims and take pictures.... after these commercial breaks (RL stuff).

Beautiful build, @Voeille

Voeille, amazing as always! I think you are the Tikki Queen. Your plants and yard are probably what just amazes me the most. Even with no CC, it looks full and jungley (is that a word?). Thanks for your creations. I hope you share them at some point.

Thank you both And yes I will share them, maybe even today already as I don’t think I’ll be changing anything.

Beautiful, @Voeille

I resized Evans's house - it is now about half the original size, and I am almost within budget I still have a lot to do, but at least I am making progress. Somehow I still want to get some landscaping in.

Progress pic.

I'm prepping the Newmans to move into Draft No. 2, and I really think this one's going to fly! While I was waiting for the poodle to stop playing with the water wiggler so I could put it into inventory with Mr. Humble's computer, Pat and Chris started autonomously canoodling and got their first makeout. They also like to cuddle under the palm tree. They're a fun couple.

Wow, I haven't even started yet and you're all just about finished. Your houses never cease to amaze me, Voeille. I wish I had lush no-cc plants to choose from which I assume is from BV.
Hoping I can make a start tomorrow.

In my case, there's a bit of a fire under my butt to finish early, since I'll have five days cut off from the end of my round. Necessity (or is it desperation?) is the mother of invention and all that.

I still want to test for a while and make sure as many routing issues as I can imagine are examined. Great builds and preview pics! I really do think the judges are having it harder and harder each round! I'm not sure if my entry will be quite as wow-ful, but it will at least route well! I hope.

@joandsarah77 ...are the Sophie-David mods that unlock rewards legit for no CC or not? If not, I found a mysterious light trapped in one of my apple trees (I'm presuming it was the byproduct of a move_objects whoops), and once I got rid of it, I have enough to put ... Something ... In that space. If so .... Shopping time! Right now, the hydrophonic garden is there. Not a problem if I have to get rid of it. A cheap chair or table can be my friend. The only rewards mod I know of is the Sophie-David one, unless someone else knows of another one.