How do you begin building a new house?

hely0t · April 2022

(Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I don't know where else it could make sense to go.)

In Sims 4, since that's all I play currently.

When you're building a new house, do you start with a specific room every time? Do you put furniture down first and build around that? I do that sometimes to gauge how big the room will need to be. I've noticed I start with the living room most of the time. I don't know why, it just seems to be what I start with.

I'm interested to know if there are different ways of building for others.

Calico45 · April 2022

I usually start with the frame first. I estimate how much space I want for my rooms and the layout I want and start drawing with the wall tool. It is a large part of why I would never use foundations in the old games since I always forgot to start with them.

From the family I made, or have in mind, I know the bare minimum rooms I need and once they look good drawn I start decorating. I am not afraid to change things midway, but I rarely have to. I usually know what I want at the first drawn layout.

wahini2024 · April 2022

With dread. I am more concerned with the internal layout so I try to build around that which tends to lend itself to a boxy outcome and my curb appeal is lacking. I would love to be able to envision both but I'm never able to start with the outside and then build inside without hating the floor plan. I just have strong preferences to how far away my sims are to each other and certain rooms. I don't love big homes because my sims tend to drift and never chat with each other they find an open computer and start gaming or trolling forums and a few would rather talk to the garden plants.

GlacierSnow · April 2022

It depends on what kind of structure I'm building, why I'm building it, and what sims are going to be using it. I always keep the personalities of the sims and the story I want to tell in mind as I build.

When I'm starting a new game with a new sim on an empty lot, I often do just create some rooms, put stuff in them, adjust the size to fit the stuff and go from there. I think, a lot of the time, the kitchen is the first room I work on fully.

But I also like to build stuff that looks like real houses and buildings. I work from photograph references, and do all of the exterior before deciding how the interior will look. This is something I'm more likely to do either when my sim gets more money and I'm ready to give them a nicer house, or when I just feel like trying to make something cool that I saw.

When I am building community lots it's often a combo of these two approaches. I usually have some kind of reference image for what I want to make, and I work primarily on the exterior early on. But as I as I do that, I also start placing the required lot objects to make sure there is room for everything that will be needed to make the lot function.

SimsilaSimrise · April 2022

It varies a lot for me. Sometimes I do the terrain first, other times I start out doing the front etc. Really depends on the build.

RedDestiny92 · April 2022

I usually start with the shell or the pathway to decide where I want the door, but I have started backwards before, put down the furniture where I would have it then add the walls and shrink rooms if I need to for something different. Starting with a room in mind helps too maybe they don't live that well at first glance but they remodel the kitchen or something first. In the interest of "remodeling" I might place walls and other debris where I don't want it and clean it up over time to change the shape completely. So I guess whatever I'm in the mood for.

Brd709 · April 2022

If I’m building a real life house I build the shell first, then I add the windows and add the rest after. Doing this gives me a rough idea to see if my build matches what is on the floor plan and images.

SeashoreLivia · April 2022

I like to build from real life house plans. I start with the entryway and front porch area, and then build the rest of the shell off of that. Then I add windows, doors, and furniture. I’m bad at landscaping so I often don’t do much except put a tree in the yard.

crocobaura · April 2022

When I start building a house, I usually already have an idea of what I want it to look like so I start with the front part of the house. A livingroom and an entryway are usually found there so I guess I start building from the livingroom too. But really, whenever I build I usually just follow the flow of traffic in the house, so once I've decided where the front door will be, it's easy to decide where to place the other rooms, livingroom usually goes to the left or right of the front door. I don't build a frame first, because whenever I tried that before, I found it difficult to properly carve up rooms inside, there either wasn't enough space for some rooms, or too much space for other rooms.

Kathykins · April 2022

I also use real house plans for the most part, adjusted for size and the rooms I need. I often will place some furniture to gauge how big a room needs to be. I like my builds to be easy'ish to expand upon later, when I need more space. For kids, etc. I try to make sure there is at least space for stairs, should I need it.

Stormkeep · April 2022

I'm not very good at roofs and exteriors, so I always start my building with someone else's work from the gallery or with the original lots in the game provided by EA/Maxis. From there I can do full scale renovations, even including adding more floors and a complete demo of the interior, but that lets me preserve the roof and exterior styling (when I add new floors I just copy the exact way the original roof was a few floors higher)....interiors are fair game for complete renovation though, and I tend to just do them one room or floor at a time based on my Sims needs.

DaniRose2143 · April 2022

I don't try to build from scratch very often because I get frustrated, or have a creativity block, half the time and drop it before I'm done with the basic footprint. But when I start I work from designs of the exterior I find online and try to work out in my mind how that converts to tiles. If the blueprint I find online has measurements I will try to calculate it as 1tile=2-5 feet, I kind of use my gut as to where in that range I want to be. I build the foundation and then I go my own way and tinker around with room sizes and shapes.

Nate_Whiplash1 · April 2022

First I decide on what kind of house I want (1 story, 2 story, etc) and then I'll draw the frame using the wall tool. For me, it's not an exact science....I might say to myself "8 tiles x 12 tiles looks about right". From there I'll draw the separate rooms.

There are times when if I'm not sure if a room is big enough, I'll temporarily put furniture there. For example, if it's a bedroom, I might put a queen-size bed in there temporarily to see how it fits, and then delete the bed.

Now I'm in a mood to build lol

DaniRose2143 · April 2022

Nate_Whiplash1 wrote: »

First I decide on what kind of house I want (1 story, 2 story, etc) and then I'll draw the frame using the wall tool. For me, it's not an exact science....I might say to myself "8 tiles x 12 tiles looks about right". From there I'll draw the separate rooms.

There are times when if I'm not sure if a room is big enough, I'll temporarily put furniture there. For example, if it's a bedroom, I might put a queen-size bed in there temporarily to see how it fits, and then delete the bed.

Now I'm in a mood to build lol

I'm pretty sure you hit on why I get so frustrated so often, I try too hard to make a science out of it. When I decorate or do makeovers I just dive in and experiment.

I think it's because I need something to look at to feel what I'm trying to create, because if try to envision the shape of a house I can't find that mental picture of it. If what I just typed makes any sense at all.

haneul · April 2022

My builds tend to be pretty big so I first write a list of rooms I want and a theme such as modern or baroque-inspired, then sketch things out on paper (just to get an idea of the layout). After that, I build the outside walls of the building and then kind of randomly go from there. I tend to do one room at a time, starting with whatever strikes my mood.

CK213 · April 2022

First I do an hour of meditation.
And then I start at the beginning.

Not helpful.
I wish I have video of me building, I've been doing it so long I don't even think about.
I probably just start with what is clear in my mind about the house and go from there.
I don't build from plans. TS4 build mode is so flexible it's easy to alter whatever you are building

Thrior · April 2022

Smack a square in the middle. Delete it. Then start placing the ready-made rooms. Get frustrated with those too. Bullzone the whole mess. Download a house from the Gallery.

Yeah I'm a completely hopeless builder and seem to need an already existing house to use as a template.

Oldeseadogge · April 2022

I generally start with a layout of a real place, either from a book of plans or one am familiar with and go from there. Everything else depends on the era am trying to portray. A Victorian will have a different look than Regency or 20th century.

Karababy52 · April 2022

Sometimes I'll use a floorplan found online, other times I'll download a house from the Gallery, gut it and set up my own floor plan inside. I might keep most of the landscaping, but often remodel most of that too. My favorite way to build though is from scratch and just wing it. I'll start with a shell, decide where all the rooms will be, place windows, doors, and then do the exterior; siding, porch, stairs, fencing, columns, trim, roof, etc. I'll next decide on wallpapers and flooring for the interior and begin furnishing/decorating room by room.

The colors/type of wallpaper/flooring might change as I'm decorating each room, but sometimes it stays consistent throughout the entire house from the beginning. I like to keep a consistent color theme/style for all the rooms, but not always. The kids rooms tend to be a bit different and more colorful. The floor plan might change a bit as I'm decorating too if I need more room for something. Next, I'll do the landscaping and go around tweaking everything until I'm satisfied with it.

Lastly, if it's a build for a challenge or intended for the Gallery for another reason, I'll place my tester Sim on the lot and have her playtest it and fix any problems. Plus, she'll change the lighting as needed if I need colors for anything. Mostly though I consistently use the neutral white lighting. I can't stand the yellow lighting for anything but candles.

GalacticGal · April 2022

I choose the lot, first. Often I'm either building a house that I have lived in, at least that's where I got a feel for how to build in this iteration of the game. Lately, however, I am using floorplans and exteriors from a Design Magazine I purchased many years ago, now. I will deviate, from time to time, from the original floorplan, to help make it more Sims friendly, but also to suit the family I'm building it for. I do a great deal of guess-work on just how many panels of walls I need for the overall width of the house and go from there. I make use of the overview camera to be able to see the overall configuration as it goes along. Helps me to divide up the individual spaces in the place, especially when I'm winging it. I will turn that off when it comes to placing windows on the perimeter of the house, and doors, etc. Lately, I've been finishing the ground floor, before moving onto the second floor. I still have work to do on my latest build. But the couple who will eventually own it, just met, so there's time.

SailorCeti · April 2022

hely0t wrote: »

(Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I don't know where else it could make sense to go.)

In Sims 4, since that's all I play currently.

When you're building a new house, do you start with a specific room every time? Do you put furniture down first and build around that? I do that sometimes to gauge how big the room will need to be. I've noticed I start with the living room most of the time. I don't know why, it just seems to be what I start with.

I'm interested to know if there are different ways of building for others.

Generally speaking, I have a layout in mind, but I don't build the specific house. I build rooms, individually, on the same lot, figure out how best to slot them together and/or make hallways. When doing the rooms, sometimes I build first, then fill. Other times, I place furniture on the ground and build around it, so that I know I have enough room for pathing around them.

Finally, there are times when I go off a blueprint, using 2.5 feet per tile as a measure. I know this to be correct. My IRL home is 15' across. My bed (which in the sims is three tiles long) come exactly to the halfway point. 3 x 2.5 is 7.5', which confirms my assessment of the tiles width. The other exterior dimension of my IRL home is 80'. It took 32 tiles to perfectly recreate, again confirming my 2.5' estimate.

Simmingal · April 2022

well first of all I usually google house exteriors in styles i am planning to build and gather some ideas
I also like to take look at houses in other sims games cause sometimes its good inspo even if the houses as whole are... odd

but once i have my inspo I then start with exterior
getting it how I wanted it first and accurately sized to windows and doors and such
(otherwise it can easily be oversize and silly looking which i don't like and id rather have house be too small than too big)

then I add landscaping with debug trying to get it to match the world as closely as possible

this is where i often scrap or move the house on another lot
if it simply does not fit right despite moving it million times on lot (bless ts4 build tools)

then i probably add some activities outside while decorating it
then i move inside and start drawing the rooms layout and add the stairs and such

this is where i often pause building the lot for few months cause i cannot be bothered with interior at the moment
and this is also where i often notice the ''oh dang i can only fit in one bathroom in this 3 story home I am screwed''
but I continue building anyway because well as long as there is one bathroom my sims can live in it even if its painful existence

so yeah i probably build the small bathroom/toilets first after the room layout since i want to make sure i have at least the one
then I probably build either kitchen or living room unless i get insanely stuck trying to figure it out
then maybe dining room if i managed to fit one in to tie it with them

then i will most likely finish any rooms i have left in first floor if any (i tend to build small so

)
and move to bedroom(s) that are usually in second floor (if i have one)

will probably start with easiest that is usually parents bedroom
then go to possible kids rooms or study/ hobby rooms or whatever fun rooms i have left

well that is, for residentials.

with public its similar exterior first
then stairs if theres more than one floor
then figure out room layout if i can

(its bit more problematic with public lot though cause you don't actually have room types
and you just have to know what you want there yourself)

then hopefully i remember them toilets (tho i sometimes forget and curse it at the end of build)
then whatever i consider the main function of the lot / uses most space on the lot
then fill in the rest with useful fun things if i have space left and add some additional decor in odd spots

also, I have no idea why this explanation got so long I am sorry if you read until this point
I built 3 houses today I seem to be in overcreating mode

duhboy2u2 · April 2022

hely0t wrote: »

(Sorry if this is in the wrong place. I don't know where else it could make sense to go.)

In Sims 4, since that's all I play currently.

When you're building a new house, do you start with a specific room every time? Do you put furniture down first and build around that? I do that sometimes to gauge how big the room will need to be. I've noticed I start with the living room most of the time. I don't know why, it just seems to be what I start with.

I'm interested to know if there are different ways of building for others.

I start with random wall layout. I never (or almost never) start with any design in mind. I play with wall/shell shapes and build it until I have the full structure complete, then I decorate the outside, including the landscaping and outdoor furniture and items then I move in doors and begin with the "Necessary" rooms. Kitchen, bathroom(s), and bedrooms then move on to any offices, gyms, living areas, etc... Last is house decorating and Tchotchkes.

InuMiroLover · April 2022

Loads of things for me.

I first look at the world I wish to build in and get a sense of what the general architecture style of other residential buildings. I want my house to look like it would fit into that world. For example, I would never build a New England style colonial house in Oasis Springs, since it really doesnt fit in a desert environment and would just look so strange. I'd leave that for Brindleton Bay.

The neighborhood is next. I keep my bigger, wealthier houses in one neighborhood, and keep my low income areas in another. And this goes a little deeper too. I want to make sure that the houses in a neighborhood are all in tune with each other. I have a poor area in Oasis Springs where the lots are meant to be sketchy and grungy. The lots are generally not a nice place to visit. There's a public pool in the area that is filthy and the park has graffiti everywhere, and there's also a gentlemen's club of ill repute, where alot of illicit activity happens. In a neighborhood so derelict, even a nice family friendly starter home wouldnt make any sense. By contrast, I have another neighborhood in Oasis Springs, that isnt terribly high income, but the lots and homes are nicer and is a more enjoyable place to visit.

As for the building? Well 90% of the time Im looking at floorplans online to get started. And it would definitely take time to find THE house that satisfies whatever criteria needs satisfying at the time. I make adjustments as needed, whether it be I have to take lot size into account or changing certain rooms the floorplan originally offered. I also take into consideration who's moving into the house, as to how it will inevitably look like. Is it a young family moving from the city? A single parent? A bachelor in his prime? Older retirees? All my sims have a story, and I want to feel that "yes this is their house! I feel that this is the kind of house they would live in!"

Elliandre · April 2022

I don't build very much, but when I do I usually start with the walkway and mailbox and then build a porch or patio if there will be one in front of the house and then the room that the door opens to first, which is usually a foyer, living room or kitchen, then I estimate a shell and put in the other rooms. I put the flooring first, then the paint, then the furniture, but I often change them as I decorate and make the rooms bigger or smaller depending what I want to fit in. Interesting topic!

PlumbobCrossing · April 2022

I like to use premade blueprints. There are talented people on IG who make up blueprints and you can even request something you would like. It’s really fun to build them.

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How do you begin building a new house?

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