I've been working on a project for a while now, making a little town of houses, flats, shops and so on. I've decided to start posting them and have chosen one of my apartment buildings as my first offering. I think that it's done but I'm not sure. My main concern is the landscaping. It's very simple and I'm concerned that it may be too simple to pass muster for the rules on this site. What do you guys think? Is there anything you think is wrong with the building itself? I've tested it with a family and it played fine, so that's something.

I really like the feel that this set of apartments has. It has the potential to be very good. I don't like the way you've used the windows. I like how you've used the big windows in the centre panel of the building but not on the outer panels. Why not use the smaller windows on the two outer panels instead of the big ones? The same on the back view. Leave the big windows on the outer panels but use the smaller ones on the central panel.

Inside the building some of your rooms are over sized. The bathrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors don't need to be that big, maybe there would be space to add in an office? With the 3rd floor I would swap the dining area with the lounge area. It might be easier to place the TV then because at the moment it looks awkward. There is also an amount of wasted space between the lounge area and the kitchen, could you add in an office area there too?

Decor: Not sure what style you're going for here, because in some areas it is modern but others traditional, I'd pick a style and keep it throughout an apartment. Half panelled walls are rather old-fashioned. You could do with adding in some pot plants into the apartments and some decor stuff in the hallways, which are large and empty.

I like the ground floor, it would be a good idea to add in some toilet and shower facilities. Some planters here would look really nice too.

Your landscaping is rather minimal, I think it does need some more work. Perhaps a couple of small flower beds in those empty grassed areas?

I am looking forward to seeing your progress with this lot, it's a really good start. Thank you for sharing

I really like the terraces in the back. Every apartment should have a terrace, in my opinion. And I like privacy of the pool area for residents.

I agree with karen about the windows in the front. The center looks good with the large windows, but I'd use smaller windows on the two outer panels. It will give the front a balanced feeling, and won't attract attention away from the center panel. I would also change the columns supporting the two sides at the back. If this were a real building, wooden columns would not provide much support for a three-story building. You might try making a few pillars with the walls so that the building looks sturdier. Or even make it usable space from inside by extending the first floor out (on the left side anyway). Or walling them in and making them kind of patios with arches for access... Just some ideas.

Thank you so much, both of you. This is exactly the kind of feedback I needed. I've been working on addressing the problems you raised. I've fixed the windows and you were entirely right, it looks much better.

Karen - I've changed around the flats a bit, adding an full office to the third floor flats. The decor of the flats themselves is still very basic but I wanted to see what you thought about the rest of the changes I made. I've added toilets to the first floor but there wasn't really room for showers unless I get rid of the hottub or something, which I'd really rather not do.

Kerri - I replaced the pillars with columns and you were right. Not only does it look SO much better, it also looks far more realistic. Howe does it work for you now?

The pictures themselves aren't entirely up to standard but these are just to show work in progress.

I like the outside of the building with the two bricks, although I'm not keen on the very slim columns. To me they look far to weak to hold up the building. Or have those changed? Sorry I think an earlier photo came up. If you changed to walls, that looks good. It might look better if you paved everywhere there aren't plants.

I like that the dining table has moved closer to the kitchen.

I would do something about the colour scheme inside, perhaps different shade of carpet in the bedrooms.

Can you use a screenshot program? Right now your photos are a bit small and blurry.

That looks so much better, well done The rearranged rooms look better as well. Now you need to turn your attention to the decor and some improved images would help us to help you. Sometimes I pick a colour scheme for each flat and colour code them, but that's entirely up to you.

Aside: I just noticed that we live in the same town.

IRL very few places have different shades of carpet in different rooms (and it looks tacky IMHO). I like the arches on the bottom floor common area.

Now would be a good time to start playing with the screenshot program. I'm having a hard time getting a grasp of the scale. Some of those rooms look huge to me. The fact that you haven't put any bedrooms against the walls of other apartments is good - it really bugs me when there's nowhere to put the baby except in a room where you know they're going to be woken up. Since you have two-bedroom units suitable for families with children, I would want a children's play area in the common area. I don't see room for a full playground, but maybe an activity table or a single play tower or merry-go-round could encourage the apartment's kids to come out and play together and amuse visiting children. You do not have room for swings and anyway adults would constantly be coming downstairs to push each other on them, which can be a pain in the butt.

Put a copy in a test neighborhood and playtest it. Do you have people going all the way down to the common area to serve food? Are there any traffic jams or detours that sims seem to find obligatory? (This can be a major pain in a multi-story building!) Are the rents generated by the game reasonable? Can sims access all four sides of that hot tub?

You've improved the building a good deal. I really like the floor plans of the apartments. They sort of remind of the apartments we lived in when I was a little girl (only much larger). You could try a more cohesive decoration style. Many apartment buildings look much the same in floors and wallpapers or paints throughout (especially with floors - I have seen wall colors vary, but floors are almost always the exact same - as far as the different units go, I mean - not the individual rooms within the units). And when the apartments are staged, the individual furnishings may be different, but they should still fit the style of the building as a whole. I hope that information helps.

This may be a matter of individual taste, but I think the bottom floor could use some more thought as far as layout. It's too separated somehow. I like that the gym is set apart. Turn both bathrooms 90 degrees so that the entrances face the pool, and ditch the hallway. It seems like it's just hogging space.

I really like the front and back of the building, but I'd like to see a street shot of the front to get a better idea of the curb appeal of the very bottom level of the building itself. Also a close-in view of the pool and patio area. Everything is very zoomed out.

I must admit I can't see it well enough to offer better suggestions. I need larger clearer pictures. I didn't even realize there were flats done up with children in mind. I agree to some play ground equipment, but not swings as adults can be really annoying of those. I use the tower on my one of my flats as only the kids ever play on them. You could also do a fruit tree strip.

Everyone to their own with decorating Peni. I don't mean a kaleidoscope of coloured carpet but I often give the kids rooms different carpet or use tile of a different colour in the bathroom and kitchen just so it isn't an overload of the same colour through out the whole thing.