Here is the birth of a series (maybe? anyway I hope so) of Floridian houses... :D
#1 30-03-2014 
Hi people, I'm working on this small house that I want to upload here, but I first need your opinion and advice. Smile Please, *be* harsh! I want to improve myself! lol Big Grin

The terrace and garden areas are not done yet.

If you want to check a particular area of the house for your criticism, ask me, I will do other screenshots to show you the details...

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POISSON, proud to be a member of LeeFish.nl, since February 2014... Big Grin

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#2 30-03-2014 
Hi Poisson. Smile Here is the updated house, and pictures of so you can go away and fiddle with it. To everyone else, Damien and I went through this in Chat and went through a few iterations until we came up with something that was aesthetically pleasing to both of us. Smile

Download shell only (I removed the CC from the Sims2Pack seeing as you already have all the CC. Big Grin)

FRONT:
[Image: Poisson-Final-Front.jpg]
Changes Made:

The traditional columns have been removed and columns matching the columns at the back have been added to the front, the bump out in the porch has been removed as well. Although it was a cool idea, it tended it made the building a little too pattern-y (three bump-outs in the front) and traditional. Most modern places don't use that many diagonals or bay windows.
I've also updated the porch's paint to a darker one. I've done this for 3 reasons -
1. If you have the building completely white, the details get lost. Which is a pity, because that's a pretty door.
2. buildings/rooms/spaces that have tonal variation seem more vibrant and active - so it doesn't have to be colour - colour tonal variations in the same colour works just as well. Think black and white, compared to lt grey and white? Which one jumps out at you?
3. The bigger posts make the porch look small, so making the porch a darker colour, will make the back recede to the eye. What that means, is that it regains some depth and so looks more 3D.
Originally, I had the med grey stucco that EA has, but I've swapped it for the dark khaki 'Shades of Autumn' paint because it brings the green down to the porch.


The Roof (Front)
Problems with the original roof - the roof angles over the bay window didn't match roof behind it. It looks crooked because of that.
The roof didn't cover all of the house - putting in floor tiles and fence, mixes the styles and while they both are great styles, it's not really working with them together especially as two jutting out pieces.
The top of the roof - going across needs to meet up with the tops of the roof going from front to back - it gives a cleaner line. Because the side roofs were a lot lower, the middle part becomes much more like a little house on the top, rather than one unified roof.

I deleted the roof, and extended the floor/roof of the higher roof room. This allowed me to make the cross roof longer. What that meant was I could match the top of the roofs of the cross piece line up with the other piece.
I've made each of the side roofs 7x12 instead of 6x12, that makes the roof overlap with the cross piece - that gives the roof line unity.
I've also fiddled with the roof angles so that nothing shows through the roof, and the roof looks like it's one piece.
I also fiddled with the bay window angles so that the slope matches the roof behind it.

[Image: Poisson-Final-Back.jpg]

The back was already pretty good. All I've done here is use the same wallpaper on the porch, as I did on the front porch.

The roof didn't look that great though, the front changes made it difficult to replicate what you had there previously.
What is there is a bit of eye tricking - there are 3 different roof pieces that integrate together to make a flat roof without protruding bits.
This is the shed roof, that has the middle bit continuing up to the top of the roof line, and then the angle dropped until it fits within it, and there are no protuding bits. (A very low angle - 16 or 17)
When you look at the house, you'll notice that there is a slight bend in the roof.
The shed roof gave this nice little awning detail which is quite cool. So I added two more shed roof pieces that are 2x1 on either side, to extend the awning out across the windows. They overlap I think? With the other shed roof, because they were being difficult in how they were facing.

Also the other big thing is that the roof colour was changed to the Dark Green, to match the house I was using as a reference example for the style. It's a good idea when creating a house in a particular style to get resource pictures to see what sort of details they do and don't have that define the type. Having a dark roof like you had originally is a good idea.

[Image: Poisson-Final-Side.jpg]
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The sides have hardly been changed - all I've done is add a window. It's actually in the kitchen column so it doesn't shed any light, but it breaks up the vast expanse of white.
If you were to replace this with some landscaping around the house - Palms, ferns, etc that would work as well.

The problem with the sides is that there are vast expanses of uniformity. The front and back have details that make your eye move around. The sides don't. So you need to find some details that will lift it. What's often really good is a garden bed or something similiar with both tall and short plants. Again it makes the eye move around over the house and stay interested.


This feels like a lot of criticism, but I hope you understand that I really like this lot - it's got good bones, and with a bit more work it should be pretty awesome and definitely worth uploading. I particularly like the CFE room on the top. That adds such a wonderful detail to it. Smile And one of these days I'm going to work out how to do that. (I only know how to use CFE on the ground).
(This post was last modified: 30-03-2014 07:35 AM by celebkiriedhel.)

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#3 30-03-2014 
I liked what you had done Poisson and I like what Kiri has done to it too.

Internally, I like what I can see so far. I would suggest that you make the bedroom a little smaller and add in a smaller ensuite and make the current en suite another bedroom. What style of furnishing are you going for? I see modern and traditional here. I would choose one and stick to it throughout the house. If you're going for a pale neutral interior on the walls and floor you really need to add a few more plops of colour.

I'd like to see the kitchen area in a little more detail because I can't quite see what you've done there with the counters and the bay window.

It is a lovely house Big Grin
Karen Lorraine, proud to be a member of LeeFish since Jan 2012.

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#4 30-03-2014 
Looks like there's a half wall between the bay window and counters in the kitchen, with a plant between the window and half wall, very clever. I have to agree with Karen Lorraine about the bedroom and feel it needs something in the foyer/entrance area maybe a water feature or indoor garden. I'd also like to see a little more colour, can't wait to see what you do with the landscaping. Love the changes made to the front, though it needs something, maybe the center roof section the same height but 2 tiles wider and coming out a little further at the back or not at the back. Hope you don't mind I took a look.

E.T.A a couple of pics.

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(This post was last modified: 30-03-2014 11:29 AM by Michelle.)

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#5 30-03-2014 
Hi everybody! Smile

I would like to thank everyone for your advice. I will take into account most of your ideas. Besides, Michelle, the exterior lighting you used in your screenshots (coming from K&B I reckon) is far more adapted to this modern house. I also have a couple of other ideas that emerged thanks to your opinions.
__________

Oh, and btw I also have a question that has nothing to do with building, but as there is nobody in the Chat now, I thought I could post it here:

one of my Sim is an artist, he has creativity at the maximum (Freetime option) and he also has the skill at the maximum (10 points), but when I click on the easel, there is only one option (paint) instead of the three that I should have had when a Sim is that good at painting. I wanted to know if it's a bug, perhaps linked to Freetime, or if it's because of a mod (I have quite a few mods installed in my Downloads folder).

Thanks! Smile

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#6 30-03-2014 
I live in Florida (central - 3 miles behind Cindy's castle in the Magic Kingdom) Are you somewhere in this state?
There are many different building styles here - 18th c. Spanish with lots of arches and a front courtyard, Miami Neon/Art Deco, 1940's brick bungalows, and 1960's housing tracts (like in Edward Scissorhands.) Antebellum mansions and their nouveau McMansion counterparts Rolleyes The Key West breezy 'shotgun houses' and Victorian farmhouses with all their delicate gingerbread trimmings. In the cities you'll find more sleek modern buildings, but usually not houses... Which style are you representing with this build?

Most houses have much simpler roofs - done in tile and in lighter colors to reflect the heat. Most houses are also one story - though not all, our's is a two-story. And, most do not have basements because if you dig down more than 6 feet, you'll hit water. Also, most houses with a back porch/patio are have a larger area than you've used.... like, maybe, stretch the back porch across the whole back of the house.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with Big Grin ...and your landscaping. I wish EA had given us azaleas to play with. They are so pretty right now!


PS - I really liked your original front with the columns - but the roof was all wrong for it. If you take away all the upper walls and try auto-roof, what does it come up with? That may be a good starting place - take what it suggests and make it better. You could also add a temporary wall about 2 squares out from the front door before you hit auto-roof, and that will give you a small covered area at the front door. (Remember to remove the wall after the roof is on.)
Proud member of LeeFish since Sep 2013. Angel
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#7 31-03-2014 
Hello Catherine! Smile

No, I don't live in Florida, even though I would looove to! Big Grin I live in the North-East of France.

So, actually, I didn't intend to represent any particular Floridian style in the first place, but when I had finished the lot, it looked pretty Floridian to me. lol I did that house a few weeks ago, before my PC broke, so it especially was the terrace/garden/pool area that looked Floridian (rather, lol). I had to rebuild it from my memory, on my new laptop. Anyway, thank you very much for everything you told me (about Floridian houses), it will be really, really important for me to meet the actual standards to the best way possible. A second house is in preparation, besides... Smile

EDIT: I'm currently working on that first house, and it seems that quite strangely the different auto-roof options don't work. When I click on each of them, nothing happens... Probably a bug, linked either to Windows 8 or to my installed mods ?
(This post was last modified: 31-03-2014 07:37 PM by poisson.)

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#8 31-03-2014 
Here is what I ended up with, taking into account most of your ideas, of you all:

I count on you all to tell me what should still be improved. Smile

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(This post was last modified: 31-03-2014 10:42 PM by poisson.)

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#9 31-03-2014 
Very nice Poisson.

Why not use the blinds on all of your windows, especially in the open plan area?
Karen Lorraine, proud to be a member of LeeFish since Jan 2012.

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#10 31-03-2014 
Smile

I thought it would be too much of blinds in that room, as they are pretty wide. So, I only put them in the dining area of the open plan, for more discretion towards the exterior, when the Sims are having dinner.

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Sorry, that is a members only option