Created by: Parsimoniuskate
This lovely rustic home, parked in the idyll of cherry trees and lily-pad lined ponds, is pleasing to the eye—especially if you are fond of pink. The farmhouse in painted in similar tones and hues to the ever-blossoming cherry trees that surround the lot and cast leisurely shade on its grounds. Not all of the
farmhouse is living space, mind you. The upper stories of the farmhouse are actually empty, designed to give it imposing height over the trees and recall days of grander homes. (The days prior to the creation of garish McMansions, of course.)
Let’s look at some of the most bracing features of the Winsome Farmhouse and see both how they were created and what they contribute to the character of the lot.
The First Floor
The first floor of the house has the most square footage, which is necessary for building multi-story homes with Build Mode. You cannot ignore basic laws of weight distribution. The ground floor has a nice great room just inside the front door, giving the household plenty of space for socializing. A lovely living room set would look nice in here, but the view demand less clutter so it can be truly enjoyed. As you move deeper into the house, you have spaces for a dining table and breakfast nook. There is easy access to the bathroom, which is just big enough for the essential functions. Next to the stairs is a nice small room that would be perfect for a home office.
Notice how everything matches in the kitchen. The Chillgood fridge normally comes in white, but with Create a Style, you can grab a color off the walls or counters and splash it on any object. Now the fridge matches the style of the room. There is ample counter space in this kitchen for multiple Sims. You want to avoid bottlenecks in your houses, and this kitchen does that.
Note that the downstairs bathroom also matches the kitchen. Use the drag-and-drop patterns in Create a Style to easily make objects match. In the bathroom, for example, the metals on the toilet, sink, and bathtub are all the same brassy color.
Once you have settled on colors and patterns for a window, use the Eyedropper tool to replicate it without having to dig back into Create a Style for each one.
The Second Floor
The second floor of the house matches the general appearance of the first floor, but the two bedrooms offer slightly different decor so the entire house doesn’t blend together. The huge balcony overlooking the grounds in a nice touch. If you have a Sim who likes to paint, setting up an easel out there would be nice, especially once they reach level 5 and can paint still-life scenes picked out by you. The small bathroom upstairs lacks a bath or shower, so it can be smaller and give extra room to the social area at the top of the stairs.
A cool thing about the Winsome Farmhouse is that it challenges where objects can be placed. The fence around the stairs is pulled from the fence category in Build Mode, but there is no hard and fast rule that it needs to be outside. In fact, the lattice at the top of the fence adds to the rustic atmosphere of this
quaint farmhouse. However, leaving the fence white is a good choice because despite what you may think, there is such a thing as too much pink.
The Gables
A striking feature of the Winsome Farmhouse is the gables. Creating gables actually isn’t that difficult. It just takes a little patience to lay out your plan and then construct it.
After laying out the second floor, create a ceiling just above it. Then, use the Wall tool to make small “rooms.” These will not be connected to any other room. There will be no doors.
However, because there will be windows, it’s important to paint the inside of these small rooms that make the artful gables.
After making these rooms, go up one floor and place down a section of roof. Don’t use auto-roof, because you want control over the height and positioning.
The Grounds
The grounds are just as critical to the beauty of the Winsome Farmhouse as the gabled house itself. The incredible amount of plant life on the grounds really makes the house stand out.
On this lot, the pink theme extends from the house to the cherry trees that highlight the grounds. There are shrubs everywhere, too, and the use of the terrain patterns lets you transform regular grass into pleasing patches of small flowers without spending Simoleons on vegetation.
To give the lot “texture,” use different sizes of trees. There are two sizes of cherry trees, for example. Mixing them together ensures that the top view of your lot isn’t all the same.
Mix up the trees, too. The cherry trees are beautiful, but adding a voluminous willow gives the grounds additional character.
Brambles, azaleas, and other flowers give the lot additional texture at a ground level.
Don’t forget that both the garbage can and mailbox can be dressed up with Create a Style. The Winsome Farmhouse’s pink theme carries over to the trash, which is nicely sectioned off from the grounds in a small fenced area decorated with flowers.
Sinking a pond with the Water tool is a good way to also add depth to your creations. Smooth it out for a professional look.