Paradise Restored: A Homemade Holiday gift for kgaff (Part Two!)

suepea

(photograph by sue pea photography)

Hi kgaff! You are my Homemade Holiday gifting buddy! I was so excited when I got your name. Those gifting fairies, Addy and Tanu, sure know how to make a match.

You said in your letter that you were excited to have gotten IP so I based my build there. You said you would like a small, cosy cottage type build and that's what I thought of when I started your gift. Honestly, I didn't know if I'd have time to make you more than one gift so I started small. The plan was to create a beachy cottage perfect for IP. But the idea grew from there and you'll see over the next little bit where it took me. (I probably won't be able to post at all tomorrow, so sadly, you will have to wait for Sunday for part 2 of your gift.)

When I build I usually use a tester sim, Juliana Tester created by ZooProfessor 3 from the DNA request team. She's perfect for testing and upgrading all of my builds and she's entertaining to boot. I never know quite what she's going to do next. One time she detonated her own tv and blew away part of a house I was working on for our dear Rosemow! Luckily I managed to pick up the pieces and all was not lost.

This version of JT has received a bit of a makeover but she's still her own mischevious self. No explosions on this build so I guess she's learning to control herself a little better ;-)

Enough chatter, on with the gift:

Our story begins when our heroine, Ms. Juliana Tester, decides that it is time to settle down and buy her dream home in her favorite vacation destination, Isla Paradiso. She's been a city girl for way too long, is coming off of a long term relationship that ended badly, and felt the need to start her life over in a place by the beach. Juliana's always been a hard worker and she's saved quite a bit. She searches and searches Isla Paradiso for the perfect spot but to no avail. And then one day her friend and Real Estate Agent mentions a place that she thinks Juliana would just adore. It's a small cottage on an island off the IP shores and there is a catch: the house needs a little work:





The moment their boat pulls up on the beach of the little island, Juliana knows she has found her perfect home. The deal is sealed as she stands on the porch and gazes at the view:



She rolls up her sleeves and begins to work on her new home:



After many weeks of sweat and hard work, Paradise Restored is born:



DL Paradise Restored here!

Slideshow here

suepea

Now, let's take a little tour of the cottage:

Here's the bird's eye view:


The first floor layout:


The second floor:


The front of the property:


And the back yard:


Juliana's favorite spot for tea on the wraparound porch:


Her swingset in the back yard:

suepea

Let's head inside:

The kitchen is cosy but big enough for Juliana to cook for herself or make a meal for guests. She has lovely dinner parties in her small dining room:






Here's her living room with it's large fireplace (upgraded to fireproof.)




Juliana loves the beachy decor!

suepea

Time to go upstairs!

You will have to excuse Juliana! She never makes her bed.



Juliana spends a lot of time writing at the desk in her master suite:


And even though all her fixtures and appliances are upgraded to unbreakable, Juliana loves to tinker:


At the end of a long day you can either find Juliana soaking in her tub:


Or in the hot tub looking at the stars:


Well, that's it for Gift #1!

I hope you enjoy it and that your Sims enjoy the fruits of Juliana's labors.

As soon as I can I will upload gift #2.

Huge Holiday Hugs to you, gifting buddy!

Kgaff

It's beautiful, every part of it. I won't change a thing. I love the story about Juliana and I love her for all the work she did on the house. I really don't know what to say. I love it
Hugs right back to you!

Kgaff

I also love that picture of the wine glass! Great bokeh!!!

rosemow

Paradise Restored is a very nice home! Very nice background details that you have written for the home. It is great seeing the pictures of the home when it needed some work done on it! The texture of the interior and exterior wallls, outside furniture, columns and porch reflects the story details well! It is a nice picture of Juilana working hard to restore her home. The cobweb is a great touch in the room! The sea views from the porch are very nice!
Paradise Restored is a very nice home! The exterior design of it is very nice! Very nice wraparond porch! Sims will enjoy sitting at the table there enjoyng the views and having a nice drink of tea, or enjoy resting in the hanging chair or on the lounger. Nice outdoors area. The dive well fountain is great! It is very nice how you have created the swing set! Sims will enjoy relaxing in the hot tub. The flowers look very pretty how you have placed then along the edges of the home. Very nice furnishing of the interior of the home! The blue colour scheme of the home is very nice! Very nice design of the kitchen. It looks nice how you have placed the cabinets in the corner on the wall. The breadstick is a nice homely touch on the kitchen counter. It looks great how you have used the columns there. Nice window dining nook area for sims to enjoy eating a meal with the sunshine coming in onto them. Very nice patterning on the curtains through the home! The life ring is a nice nautical touch on the dining wall. Very nice living room! Nice fireplace rocking chairs sitting area! Sims will enjoy sitting resting in the chairs there warming up in front of the fire and having a read of a book. The beach/seaside theme of the bookcases, the whale, the boat on the coffee table, the life ring and the other oceanic items in the room look very nice and capture the theme and location of the home very well. The boat pattern on the side of the sofa looks nice. Very nice master bedroom! Very nice pattern that you have used for the bedroom walls. The pictures on the wall behind the bed suit the home well. The floral floor rug there is very nice. Nice study desk nook area for sims to enjoy sitting there at the table using the computer with sunshine coming in through the window. The shell pattern on the bathroom walls looks nice.
It is a very nice home and gift!

ciane

What a pretty build. Love that soft blue and the pretty landscaping. Very nice layout too. The wrap-around porch is the deal sealer for me. ; ) I never would have thought of adding rose trellises and a canopy to the swing sets! And I loved the before and after shoots. Awesome job.

suepea

Hi Kgaff! It's time for part two of your holiday gift! Can you hang on a minute while I grab a cup of coffee? No, really, I'll be right back ;-)

All right, ready now!


When we last visited Juliana Tester, life was going swimmingly. She had found her Island Paradise and restored her lovely cottage to it's former glory. But she was running out of projects to do and things to fix. The house and the garden looked just the way she wanted and now she was getting a little bit, well, bored. And maybe just a tad bit lonely. Now, I know you don't have the Pets EP, but this version of JT (for my purposes, anyway) never travels alone. She has her cat, Helix, who comes along with her as she does her job testing builds. And while Helix is a treasured pet and friend to Juliana, it wasn't enough. You'd think that Juliana might want to date or find a partner to fill the hole she was feeling in her heart but honestly she'd been there, done that and wasn't ready to go in that direction again just yet. But when our soft hearted Tester Sim heard about a little girl in need of a family, Juliana knew that the right thing to do was to take her in.



Juliana Tester welcomed little Evangeline into her heart and home.


While she was waiting for the paperwork to go through, JT spent her time remodeling the house. Part two of your gift is the results of her hard work, Paradise Revisited:


Juliana added a nursery and a second bath to the upstairs.


She added a pool and a playset to the back yard:


She made a few changes to the downstairs like moving her workspace into the living room;


And made sure there was a place for Juliana in the Dining Room:

suepea

Here's the bird's eye view of the property now:


A view of the main floor, which hasn't changed much:


And the new second floor with it's nursery and master bedroom:


The Master Bedroom is a bit smaller but there is still comfortable:




Juliana is still tweeking and working on the Master Bath:


And here's Juliana's nursery, also small but big enough:

suepea

I am going to leave you now with some links so you can DL Paradise Revisted and also check out some more images.
But first, here are a few of Juliana and Evangeline as they begin their new lives together:

Toddler snuggles.


Play time:


A precious toddler moment:


I hope you enjoy the upgraded version of Juliana's home. You can view more images here and DL Paradise Revisited here.

Don't forget, Part Three of your holiday gift is yet to come!

ciane

You did a great job on the remodel. It's nice having a two-bedroom option.

suepea

ciane wrote: »

You did a great job on the remodel. It's nice having a two-bedroom option.

Thanks so much, Ciane!

Kgaff

Oh my goodness...another wonderful home. I love the changes you made. I will be making both of these permanent lots on all my games.

I spent some time yesterday exploring the first house and found some really amazing surprises like bubbles coming from the fountain, some really awesome pink sparkly butterflies in the back and the ones in the front. You have to tell me the trick to the bubbles, please!

I have to go now and download Paradise Revisited and the resort, omg, the resort. I have a lot to look at don't I.

Thank you soooooo much. You really did overwhelm me with all this.

rosemow

Your remodelled home is very nice! It is very nice that Juliana is now caring for a little girl. It is great that you have added a pool to the home, and a nice playground area. Evangeline will enjoy playing on the play equipment there. Very nice nursery! The butterfly pattern looks nice on the curtains and cot there. The bear themed cot is cute! The birds and the giraffes picture on the walls are happy for little sims to enjoy seeing when in their cot. Nice study desk nook area in the living room for sims to enjoy sitting at the desk table using a computer. Very nice pictures that you have posted of the sims in their home! They look like they care much about each other and have fun together.
The expanded home is very nice

suepea

Kgaff wrote: »

Oh my goodness...another wonderful home. I love the changes you made. I will be making both of these permanent lots on all my games.

I spent some time yesterday exploring the first house and found some really amazing surprises like bubbles coming from the fountain, some really awesome pink sparkly butterflies in the back and the ones in the front. You have to tell me the trick to the bubbles, please!

I have to go now and download Paradise Revisited and the resort, omg, the resort. I have a lot to look at don't I.

Thank you soooooo much. You really did overwhelm me with all this.

I am so glad you like your gifts! The bubbles and the butterflies are done with fog emitter codes. The bubbles are simply "bubbles" and the butterflies are "butterflyglowyfree." Fog emitters are fun for nice effects! There should be fireflies at night as well - I'm pretty sure I put those in.

suepea

Thank you, Rose, for taking the time to leave such sweet comments about my gifts for kgaff!

2uise

I love the storyline and the house.

suepea

2uise wrote: »

I love the storyline and the house.

Thanks, 2uise, for stopping in a leaving a comment! Much appreciated.