today I've just started building a cottage based on the cottage I stayed at when I went on holiday over Easter and I'm planning on uploading it in 2-3 weeks time, I've not finished the build yet but I have made a video Of what I've done so far so please can I have feedback on what I've done so far, Sorry the quality is quite bad but if I have time I'm going to post some pictures of the house tomorrow, I would do it tonight but I've got school work to do.



also does any one know where I can download flower wallpaper, couches and a coffee table similar to the ones in this photo of the living room in the Holiday cottage for free.



photo of the kitchen:

here are some pictures of the cottage downstairs, I've not finished upstairs and the exterior yet, I might do the upstairs later tonight
The actual cottage walls are all white and the floors downstairs is all wood, I want the cottage to look as similar to the real cottage as possible

This might be a suitable coffee table:
http://stuffforsims3.webs.com/hemnescollection.htm
(scroll down to the end of the page)

And here is a whole bunch of nice flower patterns. Maybe you'll find one that'll suit.
http://www.camillecc.com/2011/01/20...dston-patterns/
http://www.simsworld.info/thread-45285-1-1.html

Try to CASt stuff a bit - meshes and custom content alone can't help with creating the atmosphere, sometimes even without CC, CASt can help a lot. I am especially referring to the kitchen counters (too dark), flooring (I can see it is of default pattern). Also the size of house doesn't look cottage to me. Too much empty space causes a sense of loneliness. A cottage in my impression is warm and cozy. Try to make things in varied earth tones (light beige, darker brown, light brown, a little grey) to match things up.

I might make the edits this weekend, at the moment I'm not in the mood to do any building on the sims 3, I've been having a tough week with my friends and Today I found something out about the boy I have a crush on and who told me he had feeling for me about 2 months ago so I'm going through a bit of heart break and I'm In shock. if you want to know what happened I've wrote about it in the vent thread, I'm just going to need a break from the sims for a while, while I recover

@coolsim22 ... Loving your build so far I used to work for a company that let Holiday cottages and villas (in Wales and the South of France) and I can say that you've captured the atmosphere of a holiday rental due to the lack of clutter and decor. In real life, holiday rental owners don't leave that much clutter or decor in case it gets stolen - but for Sims I feel that you could pretty things up a touch with some house plants and art. Play around in CASt and devise some nice coloration for things. This build has nice 'bones' so I'm looking forward to seeing more of it.

slightly OT but damn, I am sad that you have had more sadness about that guy.

thanks @fairycake89
I'm going to make the edits this weekend and I might post updates but then I'm going to spend the week off next week because I have a GCSE science exam on Wednesday, I actually thought it was a mock but last week I found it is proper exam and the results will be going towards the final grade so I need time to revise.

One thing I notice is that in the living room, the skirting boards aren't all the same, they're painted on the white walls and unpainted on the feature wall, but then in your comparison pics the skirting boards are all unpainted. Not knowing how it was in the real house, I'd suggest painting the walls under the staircase white like the other white walls.
P.S.
Good luck with your GCSEs! It only feels like yesterday that I was doing mine.

Thankyou @Fergus' Mind

I'll post updates tomorrow, spent longer than I expected off the sims, I'm going to continue the build tomorrow

I've done the required edits on the house and have Downloaded the suggested coffee table but I can't seem to put any decor on top of the table, only on the bottom shelf but on the picture for the table there is decor on top and on the lower shelf.

might post updates later of tomorrow

Update:
To be honest, I don't feel like doing any building at the moment but when I do I will continue the build, so it may be a while till there are new updates on the house.

Here is the updated version of my Cottage build, I honestly didn't realised that I had abandoned the build for 5 months,
I have now finished the house and I now am looking for more suggestions on improvements and changes if any is needed.

Although I haven't managed to get any feedback yet, I have changed the roof into a thatched roof to make the build look more like a cottage, I've also added a patio to the cottage, or whatever you call it. Feedback will be greatly appreciated

I've also retaken the birds eye view photos of the house so you can see what it look like with the added patio

Front of the house:


Patio:




Birds eye view (First & Second floor)

Hi @coolsim22 You are really rockin' that new avatar!

I have 2 suggestions for you. I like the pond a lot, but it could be more realistic. The shape is a bit square where it meets the corner of the hedge. I think if you rework the edges, and move the hedge a bit, you can get a more realistic rounded shape. The edges of the pond should be painted in a dirt terrain paint, not cobblestone. Also, I can help with your screenshots if you want. The interior pictures are hard to see because of the way the "tab" function distorts the shots. I think that may be why you haven't had much feedback. It is hard to see the inside clearly. Let me know if you want the screenshot pointers.

Aww, thankyou @attuned

I did use the pond terrain paint round most of the edges but I don't think it is clear in the screenshot and I think I missed a side. Yeah, I'd love some screenshot pointers if you don't mind.

Also do you think the swing bench, dining table and chairs in the patio are to dark?

I don't think anyone would put cobblestone right to the edge of a pond, so use dirt terrain paint around the pond edges and up a bit on the flat surface right around the edges of the pond. Don't forget to round out the shape of the pond. The color of the patio furniture is fine, though patio furniture typically gets lightened and weathered in the sun, so that is purely a design choice on your part, if you want the furniture "new" or "weathered".

I am working on a tutorial for taking better screenshots, so you can help me by letting me know if the pointers are clear or not. Writing what to do is so much harder than showing someone what to do. Let me know if you have any questions.

Tips for better screenshots:

*Take exterior shots between 8am and 2pm when lighting is bright. Make sure the objects are not in shadow.

*Take interior shots with lots of light, but make sure it is not so bright that the object's colors are washed out. Use invisible lights from buydebug to add more lighting. Sometimes the invisible wall lights are better than the invisible overhead lights, so experiment a bit. The invisible lights can be adjusted in intensity and can be set to be always on, great if lighting a two story foyer, for example.

*The TAB key will help you get more precise control over the camera, but that sometimes distorts the picture. Try to take your picture without TAB, before using TAB. Adjusting the perspective of the camera (moving it around a bit) or adjusting the slope (with the same buttons used to get overhead view) will sometimes give a better screenshot.

*With or without TAB, keyboard zoom in and out give better control than with the mouse.

*You can make adjustments in the lot for better pictures. Remove a wall for the shot and then put it back. Move a large object that is in the way. I take lots of pictures in buy/build mode, so it is easy to undo a wall removal, for example. If you are in the terrain paint category, grids disappear, allowing a better shot.

*Try to shoot a room from different directions to see which is best. You can check screenshots when your game is open by minimizing it and looking in Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 3>Screenshots.

*TAB is great and at times your best option. Try not to move the mouse very much in TAB mode. Use keyboard controls to zoom in and out. Switch between TAB and regular camera modes to set up the shot.

*Using a slightly distorted picture from TAB mode is fine, or using one TAB mode shot for "artistic choice" is okay. However, lots of strange angled shots just make it hard for downloaders to accurately see your lot.

your tutorial is really good, I just have one question though, how do you adjust the intensity of invisible lights? I've never actually knew the intensity of the invisible lights can be changed, is it done the same way as normal visible lights?

shift+click on the light, and select Set Intensity.

the next morning - edited to add: I am an IDIOT.

It's ctrl+shift. I am soooo sorry.

I can't seem to change the intensity of the invisible lights when press shift+click it just duplicates the light

Edit:
I've worked it out, It's shift+Ctrl+click

I love your use of space - you've created a user friendly home that internally isn't too big and isn't too small. Your corridors are a nice width to prevent route failure without being too big - and I always like to see that I think you might be able to throw in a few more kitchen counters if you moved the fridge to the place I marked in red ... It's just that I feel for a house potentially housing 4 sims, it might be more practical to have a counter or two more.

I like the patio idea, and in theory you could make it bigger by extending it back where I've marked it in green - that way you might be able to fit in an a BBQ to go with your outdoor eating space.

I like it a lot and look forward to seeing more

Thanks TO . the lot I built the cottage on is to big for the cottage so is there away to place just the cottage on a smaller lot?
because there is way to much empty space on the lot which I am not intending on using.

@attuned, I've tested out the invisible lights in the Living room using various intensity settings, do you think the lighting is ok or to bright?

With Invisible lights

@coolsim22 regarding moving your build to a smaller lot, I am not currently aware of any way this can be done, legitimately or via mods You could of course make an amazing garden to go with your cottage - a real cottage garden complete with garden shed to use up the space.

I think the lighting is good. I like bright- as long as it doesn't wash out colors.

I agree with TO, I don't think there is any way to make the lot smaller. A large garden sounds lovely. Check out TO's Fisherman's Lodge and tsyokawe's Garden Cottage for inspiration. You can rebuild the house on a smaller lot. As daunting as that sounds, it goes much faster the second time, since all the choices have been made. I think all builders have to rebuild occasionally. Sometimes when I rebuild, I see the lot from a different perspective which helps me make the build a whole lot better. Keep us updated.

Thankyou TO and attuned, I think I might add a large garden to the cottage If I cant find away to move just the cottage to a smaller lot. I'll try to post updates this weekend