Yes. I think it does. I would call it a studio/loft apartment. But, I have trouble wrapping my brain around it being 2 bedroom - it seems as though the single bed downstairs is a glorified couch... and not in a "bedroom". I could be persuaded... what does anyone else think? I love the layout of the thing! Why aren't you using the trash chutes? They would save you a tile's worth of floor space.

ETA: Karen - I don't think you can have 3 occupied squares in a 4-square bathroom, and have it function without CC (either walk through blocks or a modified shower unit thingy) A 5 square, like Phantomknight pictured above, will work fine though.

Well, @CatherineTCJD, that's part of why I asked the question--in my original plan I had a dividing wall to separate the spaces as well as a wall to enclose the stairs. I think the wall was right after the counters, since that's where the floors are upstairs, and the trash cans downstairs, but that's not making sense as I look back at the pictures. I think the pictures are after I shrunk the apartment to save money. If I keep this exact floor plan, I'll probably move the desk and couch one tile back and put the wall between them and the kitchens.

But yeah, I had walls to define the spaces but then I deleted them to try and save money; that brought it down to about 1,017 but I hadn't done walls and floors yet. I was able to get it just under 1000 by deleting a row on both levels, but that was making things more cramped than I would like, putting doors too close to stairs, having to use the quarter tile cheat to make a double bed usable, etc. It was certainly functional, but idk, I wanted a bit more breathing room, especially if my sims might need to stay for a while to save up money.

As for the trash can thing, hmm, maybe because of the price? Otherwise I cannot explain it other than "it made perfect sense at the time." Overall, though, I'm going for that crowded, everything-always-has-to-be-tidy-and-phones-and-stereos-have-to-be-off-before-sleeping, city-living feel.

But - money - if you have the wall, then it truly is 2 bedrooms, and you're alotted more money. Right?

Love it!!!


ETA: Just to let @gummilutt and everybody know - I'm done judging, except that I want to 'sleep on it' and review what I wrote one last time before submitting things. So, I should get my scorecard in tomorrow - which should be right on time.

Yes, I believe you have, @Karen Lorraine because it was a mind-blower for me and I usually build small, so space is always at a premium. I am attaching a couple pictures of how it CAN work.

@Yvelotic2001 I attached some images from a bathroom I rearranged to test it again and it can work. I do not know about adding any dividing walls to make a "shower stall" though. Good luck.

I've been such a quiet person, but I am here, reading and watching. :lovestruc

The wall didn't completely enclose the bedroom area though, CatherineTCJD; I had wanted to leave it open in that unit and let my other units have proper bedrooms. Hence the question. (I hope to have 3-4 different layouts for this round.)

But @Goldenbtrfly, thanks for those pictures! I had no idea it could be done; will remember that layout for sure.

It's quite natural to walk through a bedroom top get to a bathroom. I don't have a problem with that - especially when space is at a premium.

Good to know Goldenbtrfly - I always forget about that simple showerhead!

Ok, now that I know a 2x2 bathroom actually is possible, it's time to install the UC. I don't have University as a disc (actually I have, but I somehow lost Disc 1. You know, the one that actually contains the installer.) and I need that shower. The Ultimate Collection has been sitting on my Origin library for months now waiting for me to actually go ahead and backup everything, uninstall, install, reload everything, yadda yadda yadda. Guess this is as good a time as ever will be.

I'm also done judging, but will have to read it, look all the pics again and do triple check (x10) , before sending it to gummilutt, as a newbie judge I am afraid I somehow managed to do it all wrong :D

On the subject of making apartments cheap - if I understand correctly, the rent is figured partly based on the total lot value divided by the number of units, adjusted by things like apartment size and so on. So if you can't get your rent down without making your apartments unacceptably small, try adding another floor of identical units!

Haha, and I am NOT done, am hilariously behind, but will have it done. I am also new and horrified of screwing up. Judging is a beast I underestimated.

Since scores will be coming out soon, I wanted to say something to you all. I haven't gotten any scores yet so this is just generic comments, after last contest where I was judge I think there's something that's good to think about as a contestant as you get your score so I wanted to say it.

A score penalty is not always a bad thing and less than a perfect score does not mean your lot is bad.

This is especially true when it comes to playability. Not having a full score in playability does not mean your lot is unplayable and horrid, it just means there are some things that could possibly cause delays or problems. That's okay though. Not every lot has to be a masterpiece on playability. Sometimes we choose to accept a problem to get the look we want, or to solve some other more annoying problem. Nothing wrong with that, I'm certainly not above having a stomping-prone area to save on space. But accepting it doesn't mean it's not there and "deserve" a point penalty. Learning to compromise and finding a good balance is part of being a good builder if you ask me

I feel like a lot of people think/feel that less than max score means your lot was bad, but that's really not what it means. The judges job is to judge, to compare your lot to an ideal lot and get individual scores so we can deem who got the closest and eventually crown a winner. Not every lot has to be ideal, in fact game would be kinda boring if everything was perfect all the time, but since it is a competition and the goal is to crown a winner, each judge has to make comparisons and compare your lot to what they would consider ideal.

Okey-dokey - I just sent in my scores for R1

And, to add to what Gummi said above - or, an insight as to how i judge contests...
Remember, judging is subjective - what one person likes is different from what another person likes - that's why there are three judges.
Over the course of the competition, one contestant will wade through it all and come out with a higher score to become the "winner"!

I think 3 of you got perfect scores from me this round. And I think there were a few more that I could've easily given a perfect score to, except that there was something about their lots that I just didn't like as much. I can't really point to any one thing, just my mood for the day I guess. All of you built really great apartments in R1. If you are not satisfied with your scores - don't give up! Keep improving. Ask questions. Grow! Part of doing a building contest here on MTS (for me anyway) is to learn to build better.

You all deserve kudos for finishing a round. Congrats

Did I use orange? Pretty sure I am woefully behind for round 2, since I've tried 4 different builds and hate them all. Of course, I also just transferred to another building this week, which is actually a bit stressful! Same job, just different people.

I finally got all my units under budget, but it required shaving bits off here and there which made the lot look different to my original idea. I've yet to go back and see what I can improve. How much time have we got left?

Edit: 7 days. I should be able to get it up before the end.

@Magnolia could you please post a closer zoomed in floor plan picture of unit 2's (from the left) basement and level 2

Wow - you guys did amazing jobs on your lots! Please no blanket parties over scores - a friendly ask is welcome, haha.
(If you guys can help it - phones, phones and phones are nice on every level and bathrooms off kitchens are kind of icky.)
If you're brave - change my mind on the color pink, haha.

Thank you all for the hard work so far, decorating apartments is like decorating 2 to 4 different homes in entirety, and that can be exhausting! Have a beverage.

All of the judges scores are in, but will need a day to go over them. Hopefully post them tonight

Bathrooms off of kitchens are practical, not icky. It's less work for the builders (and therefore cheaper) to have all the plumbing concentrated in one area of the building.

My Round 2 has been ready for days. I just haven't had the spoons to take pictures. I meant to do it today, but my head hurts where the bathroom cabinet fell on it last night. That contest curse sucks.

Since Sims aren't real life, I figured it couldn't hurt to mention it. *shrug* I don't mark it down, but it is something I cringe at. I have never lived in a home like that, so it's odd for me. Personal preference I guess. Feel free to ignore it by all means!

I grew up in a house where the far end of the kitchen adjoined a bathroom. It wasn't unsanitary or anything, everyone washed their hands.

ACK, I was away from my computer for the day! Just saw this. Wasn't sure which level 2 you meant so I've posted three photos of unit 2's floorplan, one of the basement, one of the next level up(funtionally level 2) and then the level above that(typically called the 2nd level). Sorry for the delay! Let me know if this is what you need!

@Goldenbtrfly, that's interesting because, as Peni pointed out, builders tend to put all the plumbing together. And watch any home renovation show and one of the first things you learn is that putting plumbing away from all the other pipes gets really expensive.

In my own home, I have a half bath just off of the kitchen, in a hallway that separates our side door and basement from the dining room and kitchen (think of a u--kitchen is in the bottom, dining room on the right, half bath and stairs to the side door and basement on the left.) On smaller floor plans, near the kitchen, and sometimes an entrance too, tend to be the best place to stick the bathroom so that guests aren't walking all over your house.

I'd certainly rather have someone who's been doing yardwork wash up in the bathroom between the kitchen and the back door than in the kitchen sink. But that's what makes horse races. And it is true that you can't always have a proper wet wall when building for sims, and the practical considerations aren't the same so the building constraints don't have to be the same.

The way I figure it, judges get to judge however they want, and builders get to decide for themselves how willing they are to take individual judge preferences into account. I'm willing to take out large swathes of orange to accommodate one judge's color bias; but what if we have one judge who hates orange, one who hates pink, and one who hates yellow? To heck with that. I'll lose the points. If someone else can make an attractive building without using any of those colors? They deserve to get more points than me. If you're not willing to accommodate someone else's standards at all you've got no business being in a contest, but if you don't have an individual vision or style I don't see the point of contesting, either.

It's a balancing act. In my case, though I like getting a high score as much as the next person, I don't expect to win, so it's easy for me to decide to eat points on some feature that I think does or does not particularly belong in a certain build. My tenement will get 0 landscaping points because it has 0 landscaping because it's a tenement. You can play basketball and grow weed on the roof; otherwise you go to the park. That's the nature of the beast and it brings the rent down. But other things maybe I did unthinkingly, or out of habit, or because I didn't know how to do it better, and those are the interesting points, the ones that will make me a better builder when I internalize why I lost them and learn how to get them another time.

If you actually have a shot at winning, the balancing act gets trickier. Because we all have some line we shouldn't cross, and if we are too concerned about how something looks to the judges we'll lose the elements that make our work distinctive and worthy of the prize; but if we don't consider them at all we'll throw away a distinction that was in our grasp. One reason experienced contestants are more likely to win is not only that they've honed their building skills, but that they have the kind of experience necessary to make that call and find that balance in every single round.

Oh radishes you guys... it was just something I wanted to mention, please don't take it too seriously. I wouldn't ever discriminate over bathroom placement... or pink. I build with pink quite frequently myself, and it usually turns out nice! As I tend to say when I'm feeling saucy "You do you." It will all work out. Judging is a learning curve for me, and one I am happy to experience with such a clever and fun group of builders.

Orange... *shudders* - Wait 'til you see this next Makeover I'm about to upload LOL!