Help building modern style houses «123...Next Go

Piperbird

So many people build really neat modern style houses, I keep trying it. But I am never happy with the result. It always just seems like strange angles and lots of windows. I spent about four hours on this house, but I just can't seem to like it. I think I changed it about a dozen times. Since I'm not really sure what to do with them, I googled 'modern floor plans' and found one. I did my best to copy it:

It just seems like so many windows:




The ground floor has a garage, office, and half bathroom:



Main floor is an open plan kitchen and living area with a deck:



The top floor is a lofted bedroom and full bathroom with a smaller deck:


There wasn't a real good place to add stairs to a basement (I like to add them for more space), so I made a gardening shed with stairs down:



Any suggestions? It just doesn't seem as good as other modern homes I've seen, but I can't seem to figure out what to do differently.

mscosmo

I think you did a good job on the house. Don't be so hard on yourself, it's a different style from what your used to doing. I've seen and have downloaded many of your builds and I think your do an amazing job.

NZsimm3r

Maybe play around with some more contrast with the colors choices outside? You could add a contrasting color in the recess where the upstairs deck is for example. Try a 'whiter' base color and change the window color too? Maybe change the roof totally by adding a wall-less/roof-less room to the roof which would allow you to add a thick edge and make the roof a contrasting color, still allowing it to be a flat roof though.

Either way I think you have made a fab start as this isn't your favorite style to build in.

Piperbird

NZsimm3r wrote: »

Maybe play around with some more contrast with the colors choices outside? You could add a contrasting color in the recess where the upstairs deck is for example. Try a 'whiter' base color and change the window color too? Maybe change the roof totally by adding a wall-less/roof-less room to the roof which would allow you to add a thick edge and make the roof a contrasting color, still allowing it to be a flat roof though.

Either way I think you have made a fab start as this isn't your favorite style to build in.

I wanted a really bright white siding, but there just isn't one available. I tried changing the window color, too, but the choices were just awful. Nothing looked right. I miss CASt so much. I also wanted some sort of stone flooring inside, but it all just looks weird in large spaces.

Piperbird

Here's the plan I found on line:

Renamed2002180839

It really looks quite good! I'd probably try angling the roof a bit or adding a trim around it or both. It looks good as is but that would add a little more interest. I wouldn't worry about it having too many windows- most modern is window heavy imo. I might try lushing up the landscaping some by using MOO to overlap it and tile around the pool at least a single ring of tiles or concrete. And do you have any furniture you can use on the back patio by the bar-be-que aside from the picnic table. It's not terribly modern looking- maybe use the glass table and if you have GTW use the crystalline bottom holster chair. If you don't have GTW then maybe the commissioner chair, I'd use the same one on the balcony above the back yard as well. Just simple modern changes like that but the structure follows the picture you posted great.

NZsimm3r

It looks very like the plan. I usually use an indoor white wall option on the outside. I can't remember which one as I'm not at my PC at the moment but, yes... it's in situations like this that I really miss CASt so much too!

Renamed2002180839

I also miss CASt terribly- more than anything else from 3. NZ may be thinking of "Pure Expressions White" paint for the walls. I use it a lot as it seems to be the whitest option. Have you thought about turning the garden shed into a guest bedroom/house and placing a furnished patio there as well, with preferably a side walled in bar- the modern style (bright color for contrast) with matching bar stools for outdoor use by the pool. I'd connect the new patio with the existing one with a landscaped sidewalk.

HIFreeBirdIH

When making modern homes, it usually helps to add trim or "extra bits," like walls or balconies. Roofs can also help if you use the roof trims since it can add a bit of structural detail. You don't have to worry about having too many windows, you can always change it if bothers you. You don't have to keep it exactly to the floor plan as sometimes that can be impossible, but if you can find a blend between the original plan and you're own imagination, you can create some awesome houses.

Piperbird

I really wanted to build this one, but we can't make different wall heights on the same level. I thought about using one of the half walls, but you can't put a roof over it. I was looking forward to trying to do something with that fireplace in the yard, but I think you would have to use MOO, since you can't build top half walls.

mommataurus2

Modern houses do have alot of windows. Here is an easy floor plan idea that works well to maximize your windows.



You can use the outside bathroom walls for artwork, fireplaces, kitchen counters...anything that you feel needs to go against the wall.

Renamed2002180839

One last thing and then I have to turn in for the night- lol but do you have any lighting on the exterior. Try playing around with fixtures to add a little modern pop. I like to line up the lights along the door as show in this picture below. The house isn't finished here as I was building it with my Legacy family as they earned more money (they started with a tent!) but you can see how the light are strung together and how adding a line of tiles around the pool helps give it a little more definition.

mommataurus2

@piperbird that house you wanted to build, you use your highest wall height, then the angled roof piece to make that higher wall. Back side will be a pitched roof and the side facing the front will be high enough to put windows.

Renamed2002180839

I like the second house you posted a lot! You could replicate the look to some extent by using an angled roof line sloping from front to back on the elevated central portion of the house and inset windows into the shortened roof wall facing the front. You would have to use MOO though (maybe) but it'd look pretty close.

Renamed2002180839

mommataurus2 wrote: »

@piperbird that house you wanted to build, you use your highest wall height, then the angled roof piece to make that higher wall. Back side will be a pitched roof and the side facing the front will be high enough to put windows.

@mommataurus2 Ha! We were thinking the same thing at the same time- LOL!

HIFreeBirdIH

Piperbird wrote: »

I really wanted to build this one, but we can't make different wall heights on the same level. I thought about using one of the half walls, but you can't put a roof over it. I was looking forward to trying to do something with that fireplace in the yard, but I think you would have to use MOO, since you can't build top half walls.

You could make the bottom half a medium wall height and the top floor a short wall height. It wouldn't turn out perfect but unfortunately that's the best we can do. I really want them to make different wall heights on the same floor, but I'm wondering how upper floors would turn out since I don't want to have to deal with messes of CFE that take 10 hours to figure out. And for the fireplace, you can create a 2 by 1 "fireplace" using regular walls, then place another wall on top of that, then place a chimney on top of that. Trim can help and you can also put a hole in the top and place a chimney in so that the walls can create a "chimney."

Piperbird

I will try that roof trick! I really wanted to try that house!

I wanted to make a ceiling over the pool, with those cut outs, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I made smaller rooms over where I wanted the cut outs and removed the floor to make the spaces, but when I deleted the walls, the spaces filled in again. I finally deleted the ceiling completely. I don't know if it is a feature that was added later, I only have the base game.

NZsimm3r

Piperbird wrote: »

I really wanted to build this one, but we can't make different wall heights on the same level. I thought about using one of the half walls, but you can't put a roof over it. I was looking forward to trying to do something with that fireplace in the yard, but I think you would have to use MOO, since you can't build top half walls.

Oh! I've built this house, I changed it slightly and gave the roof a slight curve.

Piperbird

HIFreeBirdIH wrote: »

Piperbird wrote: »

I really wanted to build this one, but we can't make different wall heights on the same level. I thought about using one of the half walls, but you can't put a roof over it. I was looking forward to trying to do something with that fireplace in the yard, but I think you would have to use MOO, since you can't build top half walls.

You could make the bottom half a medium wall height and the top floor a short wall height. It wouldn't turn out perfect but unfortunately that's the best we can do. I really want them to make different wall heights on the same floor, but I'm wondering how upper floors would turn out since I don't want to have to deal with messes of CFE that take 10 hours to figure out. And for the fireplace, you can create a 2 by 1 "fireplace" using regular walls, then place another wall on top of that, then place a chimney on top of that. Trim can help and you can also put a hole in the top and place a chimney in so that the walls can create a "chimney."

That's how I usually make fireplaces, but I wish you could make them enclosed like in the picture. When they added half walls, I was really hoping they would add top half walls, so I could make things like the fire places, and the wall cut through we had between the kitchen and dining room my grandmother had at her house.

NZsimm3r

You can do the cut outs with just the base game. Sometimes it glitches out a little bit.

Piperbird

NZsimm3r wrote: »

Piperbird wrote: »

I really wanted to build this one, but we can't make different wall heights on the same level. I thought about using one of the half walls, but you can't put a roof over it. I was looking forward to trying to do something with that fireplace in the yard, but I think you would have to use MOO, since you can't build top half walls.

Oh! I've built this house, I changed it slightly and gave the roof a slight curve.

I wanna see! I wanna see! Do you have pictures?

HIFreeBirdIH

Piperbird wrote: »

I will try that roof trick! I really wanted to try that house!

I wanted to make a ceiling over the pool, with those cut outs, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I made smaller rooms over where I wanted the cut outs and removed the floor to make the spaces, but when I deleted the walls, the spaces filled in again. I finally deleted the ceiling completely. I don't know if it is a feature that was added later, I only have the base game.

If you're talking about cutting out spaces in a ceiling, what you need to do is get a fence, surround the area where you want to cut out, then take the room it forms and delete it. It should leave a space for where the room was. If you do trim too, it'll also be placed on that space so you can make it look detailed, but if you just want the trim on the outside, hold down shift and place it on the sides you want it too one by one.

NZsimm3r

Piperbird wrote: »

NZsimm3r wrote: »

Piperbird wrote: »

I really wanted to build this one, but we can't make different wall heights on the same level. I thought about using one of the half walls, but you can't put a roof over it. I was looking forward to trying to do something with that fireplace in the yard, but I think you would have to use MOO, since you can't build top half walls.

Oh! I've built this house, I changed it slightly and gave the roof a slight curve.

I wanna see! I wanna see! Do you have pictures?

I don't but as soon as I get home I'll go in game and take some.

HIFreeBirdIH

I'll probably return sometime and post pictures of modern houses I've built along with reference houses if I had any.

NZsimm3r

@Piperbird ...nearly didn't find this thread!

Well, here's my attempt at the house. I made it ages ago,before half walls were added to the game so it's a pretty old build. I think it may have been quite shortly after the game launched actually. Now that I have gone back and looked at it again... well, it's not very good but still, least I can see how far I have come as a builder!

Back View with the fireplace.


Master bedroom


General overview. The empty room was going to be a gym but I never got around to finishing it.


Front View, just guess work as I had no idea what the front looked like from the picture on the net!

Piperbird

Yeah, I really hate when someone just decides to move threads. There are 6 month old threads about builds in general, but as soon as I make one, it gets moved. It's a pretty big slap in the face. I wish they would at least tell us when they do it, so you don't have to hunt for it. I've often thought about just moving the threads back to general.

Anyway, I like what you did with that build. I might try it today, I like the idea of using the roof to try to make that tall section. I really love that there are so many free floor plans available on line. I've seen others build the same homes as me, and I love to see the differences.