Revision as of 17:14, 4 August 2009

Under Construction

Introduction

Choosing The Right Colors

When it comes to choosing colours for your house you have to make sure they don't clash, to the right you will see the 3 different catagories for colour, there are the cool colours which consist of blues, greens, and whites; then you have the warm colours such as oranges, browns and reds; finally you have the vibrant colours, which in the sims is usually just the pinks. When using the warm colour schemes you can use greens with the colours, this is because dark greens are earthly and fit well.

When doing the colour schemes for a pre built house in the garden, you should always look to see what style of house it is and what will fit with it, for example you are not going to find a small cottage in the woods with bright pink flowers sprouting in every direction, warm colours would be more appropriate. Again if you had a modernist white home, you wouldn't add in warm colours as it would damage the effect, you would stick with the cool blues and whites.

NEVER mix colour schemes around the garden, this is when you have a patio with nice warm colours around it, then a few metres away you find a gazebo covered in vibrant pink flowers and then the house has some borders with cool colours in it, they clash even if they aren't right next to each other, your house will be a hodge bodge or colours and styles, it would be like water that is not hot nor cold nor luke warm!

Terraforming - Forming the Terrain

Terraforming is the editing of the land, this includes ponds, hills, rock faces etc. To the right is an image of the main 3 styles of terraforming; all of these can really help to enhance a houses' looks and it is well worth reading if you want to add a little interest to your home.

"Rocky Hills:" Rocks hills are not curved and smooth like normal hills, they are jaggedy and rough, when designing one it is better to try and use the small brush with a lot of hardness as this gives a jagged effect. When you have finished forming the terrain into this rocky shape you need to make sure you use an appropriate form of terrain paint, you should use a stone terrain paint, but at the bottom use the normal grass terrain and put it on a high softness so you can blend the rocks in with the ground. A little tip is not to have a rocky hill sticking up in the middle of your garden, try and blend it in with the landscape, or sink your house so you can have more natural rocks.

"Smooth Hills:" To create smooth hills you need to turn the

Ponds - Adding in Water Features

Plant Placement - Arranging your Garden

Terrain Painting - Where to put Dirt

Fences - Containing your Garden

Pools - Adding Some Fun

Basic pools are a great addition to a yard. They offer fun and build muscle for your sims. This section is geared toward helping you incorporate a pool without killing space. Some ideas you can try to play around with are...

• Adding in decorative stairs
• Adjusting the depth
• Creating Islands
• Pool in a pond - TS3 only
• Using diagonals and the circular extensions - TS2 only
• Painting the sides of the pool

...Some other things that are neat to experiment with are adding in water lilies and reeds to make it look dirty or worn, or even grand.

Construction - Gazebos, Decks, and Patios

Finishing Touches - Fine details

Finishing touches are what make the house look complete and full. By adding in these tiny changes your landscaping looks much more professional and beautiful every time. In particular, people have a way of neglecting these things the most. They are...

• Putting dirt under plants
• Not rotating plants
• Having leafs cut through walls
• Having all of the same plant
• Filling the lot with one terrain paint
• Blocking windows or doors

...when really they are all extremely easy to fix. The reason why dirt should always be put under plants is because the plant will block light and water from reaching the grass in real life, causing the grass to die. Many novice builders or landscapers make the mistake of just putting down trees in a row. Which this is okay, you have to remember to rotate them so that it looks like different trees, since not all birch tree's grow the same. Having plants cut through walls is self explanatory. It isn't so pretty when there are leaves appearing through sold walls. Another easy thing to fix is using all of the same plant. Having all roses may look pretty, but it isn't something you would see too often. Use trees and other bushes to break repetition. A huge peeve of mine is when lots are covered in total green grass. Perfect lawns are myths. Having dirt outline your house and under your trees as well as fading at the edges of lots adds spectacular detail and realism to any lot. One last thing that should be taken into account is when your plants block windows or doors. In some cases, it is okay. But for the most part, a tree would block a view or a pathway. Always take it into consideration.

Particular Styles - Japanese Gardens or Apocalyptic Debris