My New House - The Living Room

So, it's been a while. I broke my radius and ulna when I tried to take on a massive crack in the sidewalk with my electric scooter (on which I was going too fast), and the crack won. I got tossed ass over teakettle, and landed hard on my elbow. I've been in a splint for four weeks now, and only just graduated to a simple sling. 

When my last post, "Sedition Chic", took me a good six hours to do one handed, when with both hands it probably would have taken me two? I figured it was time to put the blog on hiatus. Now that I can type with both hands again, I want to show off my cozy new living room! 

Here's the Before:

And here's the After! 

The next part will be my hall/guest bath, which is almost done already, so hopefully it won't take four weeks for the next post. 😜 As usual, if you have any questions about any of the items you see, or would like more information, leave a note in the comments! 

Credits:

Apple Fall - Magazine Files 

Apple Fall - Macarons on Sketchbook 

Apple Fall - Woven Rug - Charcoal Stripes

Atelier Burgundy - Norwich Side Table 

Bazar - Dreamy Lantern 

Bazar - Evan Sectional 

Bazar - Milena Books 

Celeste - Alchemy Globe Lamp 

Consignment - Declan Chair - White

Construct - Mesh Book Stack 

D-LAB - Sea Side Long House 

Dead Unicorn - Board Games Clutter 

Decor in House - Old Retro Radio 

Disorderly - Crystal Collection / Display Boxes 

Dust Bunny - Quirky Planters - Hedgehog 

Elev8 - Nobu Dining Set 

Fancy Decor & Commoner - Modine Nut Dish (Gacha Item)

Fancy Decor - Julian Wine Glasses 

Fancy Decor - Ruben Potted Plant 

Fancy Decor - Saturn Record Player 

Flaks - Tennis Ball (Thrower) 

Half Deer - Blanket Clutter

Jian - Kitty Shelving - Cushioned Loafin' 

Jian - Teddy Cuddlers - Kitten 

K.G. The Rug Store - Contemporary Eruption black white rug #17 

KraftWork - Bellosguardo Book Collection

Languor - Chinese Checkers Board  

Little Llama - Messy Room - Blocks! 

Llorisen - Boule Lamp Set

MadPea - Crazy Cat Lady's Starter Kit - Butterfly Toy (Gacha Item)

MadPea - Crazy Cat Lady's Starter Kit - Toy Mice (Gacha Item)

Merak - Wood Tray Glasses (Temporary Location)

MudHoney - Deja Pillow

MudHoney - Milo Pillows

Muniick - Roebling Lounge Vintage Bar Cart (Accessories Decor)

Muniick - Roebling Lounge Fireplace Tool Set

Naturi - Wall Art - Sand Storm 01 and 02

North Oak - Lillias Tea Cup 

Paws & Claws Pet Co - Pet Toy Basket 

Peaches - Inked Set - Tablet

Pippin Long - "Tender" painting (Currently unavailable)

Pitaya - Octopus Planter

Sayo - Color Block Pillow 

Second Spaces - Gettin' Jiggy - Puzzle

Second Spaces - Cluttered House - Pile of board games (Gacha Item)

Second Spaces - Block stack set (Gacha Item)

Seven Emporium - "Chico", 1979 

Tartesso Arts - Boss Drinks Tray

Vespertine - Peace Lily Plant

West Village - Ginger Jar - Navy Toile

What Next - Bailey Picture Shelf

What Next - Picture Light +Frame 

What Next - Wine Caddy 

What Next - Wine Glass Decor 

What Next - Rattan Plant Stand 

What Next - Zebra Plant

Zaara - Goa party - Trance CDs (Gacha Item)

My New House - The Kitchen

Having been raised Italian, to me the heart of the home has always been the kitchen. I feel the same in SL, and the kitchen is usually the first room I decorate. I love a spread, so I chose to fill my kitchen island with goodies, for a simple weeknight buffet. The little cubbies in the Tegan Kitchen from Consignment provide lots of space for little plants and treasures, and help give this room its own sense of whimsy. 

Before:

After:

FYI...I'm going to be working the next five days, so it might be a bit before the next post. 😣

And now, the credits:

Apple Fall - Basil Sproutlings LI:1

Apple Fall - Cut Tulip  Arrangement - Creme LI:1

Apple Fall - Enamel Teapot - White LI:1

Apple Fall - Towel LI:1

Apple Fall (West Village) - Ginger Jar - Navy Toile LI:1

Atooly - Kitty light/black string .black. LI:1 - (No longer available)

Canape - Silver Stainless Steel Dish Rack LI:2

Canape - Stoneware Tray Set White LI:2

Chez Moi - Recipe Books LI:2

Consignment - Tegan Kitchen - (Various pieces and LI)

D-LAB - Spice shelf (gift) LI:1

Dust Bunny - kitchen clutter . canisters . white LI:1

Dust Bunny - kitchen clutter . cutting boards LI:1

Dust Bunny - kitchen clutter . paper towels LI:1

Dust Bunny - summer picnic . silverware basket LI:1 (gacha)

Fancy Decor - Water Pitcher LI:1 (gacha)

Fancy Decor - Glasses LI:2 (gacha)

Fancy Decor - Antique Tea Caddy LI:1

Fancy Decor - Ivan Salt and Pepper Shaker LI:1

Fancy Decor - Modern Toaster LI:1

Fancy Decor - Vintage Handled Vase LI:1

Fapple - Fortune Cat (gift) LI:1

Fetch - Lunar Wall Hanger LI:1

Granola - Heat Waves Planter. LI:3

Hilted - Little Droid Pack - 3 LI:1

KraftWork - Kitchen Rails - Magnetic Knives Strip LI:2 (gacha)

KraftWork - Runner Rugs - Boho Set . Beige Rainbows LI:1

KraftWork - Runner Rugs - Boho Set . Gray Ethnic LI:1

KraftWork - Runner Rugs - Boho Set . Red Geometric LI:3

KraftWork - Tube Hanging Lights - White/Aluminium Short LI:1

Kunst - Coffee jar LI:1 (gacha)

Lok's - Pet Bowl - Food (Color Change) LI:4

Marke - Panni Aceitera LI:1

MishMish - Ceramic Friend Oil Diffuser LI:1

Mithral - Alocasia Black Velvet (Pack A) LI:1

MudHoney - TV Tray - Gray LI:1

Muniick - Wickman Ceramic Dinner Plate Stack LI:1

Muniick - Wickman Stand Mixer LI:3

Post - Marquette Broom LI:1

Pitaya - Macrame plant hanger - White (dark leaves) LI:6

Soy - Art Milk Glassware - Basket LI:1

Vespertine - Mid century kitchen accents. - cooking bowls. LI:1

Vespertine - Rainbow fruit selection tray. LI:1

Vespertine - Teardrop succulent terrarium / type 2 LI:1

Vespertine - Woodland owly utensil jar. LI:1

What Next - Palisades BBQ Condiments LI:1

What Next - Palisades Burgers & Hotdogs Platter (dispenser) LI:1

What Next - Palisades Salad Bowl LI:1

What Next - Pothos Plant (stand) LI:2

What Next - Provence Picnic Cake LI:1

What Next - Camper Cooler (beer & soda) LI:1

Getting Started...the Layout.

Sorry this has taken me so long, but this next part of putting the new house together has taken a stupidly long time, and honestly still isn't 100% set in stone. You see, when I put a new house together, I like to put all the big furnishings out first. 

I like to ensure that the furniture I want to use is going to fit. I like to live with the layout for a week or so to make sure that I can get around inside the house without bumping into walls, that I can get around the couch, and in the kitchen without having to climb over any of the furniture. 

So here is where things stand. I won't be doing complete credits here - that will happen when the house is finished - but I'll try and list what I can remember off the top of my head. 

Here's the modified house on the parcel. I still need to tweak the landscaping a bit, but landscaping A. isn't my favorite, and B. is not my strong suit, so it will probably be done last. Again, the house is from D-Lab. 

Starting with the kitchen...this is the enclosed space I created in my last post. I really love how it came out, and was thrilled to find the "Tegan Kitchen" from Consignment. It has the sleek modern look I wanted for this house, and the slatted bits mirror the slats on the outside so well, it feels like it was custom made for this space. Which it sort of was, as it's modular, so you can set it up any way that you like!

The Living Room is next. The low slung boucle' couch is from Bazar, and the boucle' chair is also from Consignment. The style and texture of these is so puffy and cozy...perfect for sitting by the fire on a chilly ocean evening. The table and chairs from elev8 (A collab between Meshworx and Bazar) will be a space for games and puzzles, but obviously could also be used for dining. The slatted side tables (see a theme here?) are from Atelier Burgundy. 

The entrance hall is pretty basic at this point. It needs plants badly, and lighting. This hall is daaark. But I'll play around with it. The bookcase is from Kraftwork, the entry shelf and mirror are from Fourth Wall, and the stool is from Schultz Bros. 

This little room was a conundrum. It was too small to be an office, too big to be a hall closet, so I opted to turn it into a half-bath. Speaking of dark, the walls and floor in here were all almost black, so I tried to lighten it up by adding the white tile walls and floor. The toilet and sink are from Bazar. 

Ah, the bedroom...my little nest. I'm sold on the bed and night tables in this room, but not sure on the rest just yet. The night tables are from What's Next, the bed is from a collab from Kraftwork, Atelier Burgundy, and Pitaya (The Nordic Cottage Collection), and the armoire is also from Kraftwork. 

The bathroom was fun to put together. The HUGE (slightly modded) shower is from Fourth Wall, the toilet, which is tucked behind the little privacy walls I put up, is from Fancy Decor, and the sink is part of the Gabor set from Consignment. I did add a prim to the floor with the same tile used in the half-bath above. Mainly because there was a drain in the floor that limited where I could put things. So I did it to make it cohesive, and so I could do what I wanted to with the space. 

Lastly, we have the little semi-enclosed outdoor area. I figure every beach house needs an outdoor shower and laundry area, so that's what I figured that would fit best here. The laundry set, including the rack is from Astralia, and the outdoor shower is from Soy, but I might be replacing it with another one I found at Fourth Wall. The (modded) cabinet next to the laundry set, which will contain toiletries, laundry stuff, and towels, is from the Thela kitchen by Your Dreams. 

"BuT SkYe iT's So MoNOchROMatic aNd BOrinG." Yeah, I know. Especially compared to the old house I had before which was light, bright, and very colorful. But remember this is just the basics, and now starts the fun part. The Decor. Adding all the rugs, plants, clutter, books, and artwork. THAT is what will make this house a home. I'll be doing it mostly a room at a time, and will dedicate a post to each, so that you can see it from all the angles, and get a view of everything. So stay tuned! 

Whoops, I Did it Again...

Hi! I do still plan on doing more of the One Room Challenges, but am taking a break from this because, "OMG NEW HOUSE!!!". 

A little backstory...due to circumstances that are not mine to share, I had to move parcels suddenly. I went from a four seasons sim in the middle of winter in February, to an "All beach, all the time" sim. My little winter cottage wasn't going to cut it on this parcel, and I decided I wanted something long, low, modern, and sexy to replace it. 

I rezzed every house I have, which is a lot, and nothing struck me. I went shopping, and didn't find anything that ticked all the boxes. So I put out an old standby in the meantime, the "St. Paul 2021" from Scarlet Creative, which is pretty much the antithesis of what I was looking for, but it was loved and familiar, so I was still happy with it. It is the height of bright, shabby Mediterranean vacation chic, as you can see below.)

Then, while wandering around this month's Uber (open through May 22nd), I found it. The "Sea Side Long House" from D-Lab. It was (mostly) everything I was looking for. I bought it on a whim, then had a moment of panic that it would be TOO long for my parcel, but it just fits. I'll have to swizzle around my landscaping a bit, but that's not a big deal. (On that note...home designers...PLEASE include the house's dimensions in your ads, and/or provide a floorplan cut-out demo that we can take with us to make sure your house will work on our parcels. Thanks!) 

Here it is! 

The front of it is spartan and uninviting to say the least, but from a privacy standpoint, it's great. But the back of the house is the real gem...all those windows...nothing but view! Upon going inside and walking the house, the main thing I noticed was that there wasn't really space for a kitchen, which for me is an issue because I adore kitchens. I wandered out to the patio area over on the left, tried a few things out, and decided to enclose it, and make it the kitchen. 

Now, the key to modding a house like this, is to try and make it look intentional. You want it to blend, you want the textures to match. You want to make it look like the creator themselves had done it as much as possible. 

When I mod a house like this, I tend to go to a sandbox, and rez two copies. The one I'm going to add to, and the one I'm going to unlink and rip apart for walls, windows, beams, doors, whatever I can scrounge and make work. When doing this work, it's best to do it in a bright, shadowless environment, so that if you have to tint things, you're seeing it a good light, and the chances of it matching are much better. 

After some (OK, a lot of) finagling, here is the finished product. I am incredibly pleased with how it came out. 

I won't detail everything I did, but I'll point out the main parts, to give you an idea. 

Do you see the slatted portion on the right? I wanted to mirror that on the wall of the enclosure.

Obviously, the kitchen wall needed to be solid, so grabbed a copy of the wall below where the orange arrow is pointing. It's lighter on the outside, but the inside matches the texture of other inside walls, so it worked out perfect.  For the sliding doors that lead out to the deck, I grabbed copies of two of the windows where the yellow arrow is pointing, and sized them to fit. I ended up having to remove the scripts in those doors, as when you would open them, they'd open up the living room doors as well. I very simply replaced that script with one I had in my inventory, and it works fine and there are no conflicts. 

This is the inside view...I am considering adding a tile floor, but haven't found just the right texture. I was unable to stretch the floor as it has baked-in shading, so I need to find something in the same spirit. I also edited the former outside doors to keep them back, and leave the walkthrough open. 

So, I think that's enough for now. There are still some fine tuning tweaks to make, but in the next post we'll be getting into the fun part...decorating! I hope you stay for this little journey, and have fun with me as I put it all together. Now to go inworld, take down the old house, and get the parcel ready to go. TTYL! 

One Room Challenge #1 - Kitchen and Dining

So...it took longer than a week. Took about five, actually. As it sometimes happens, I got a new job right as I was reviving this blog, and let me tell you, it's a lot. I went from IT to restaurant management, and after more than a year of fairly sedentary work at home, I'm up and about, doing inventory, ordering, organizing, cleaning, helping the staff, doing whatever needs to be done. And it's exhausting. This room has actually been done for a while, I've just been too freaking lazy to put the blog post together. 

But here it is! The first room. I love putting kitchens together, so I opted to do a kitchen/dining room combo. I retextured the kitchen wall to a pretty vintage tile, and tinted the ceilings in a coordinating color. The coral accent of the dining room cushions and the chandelier also come from the tiles, and I put out lots of plants and greenery to give it a lush feel. 

I'm not fond of tons of clutter. I like a room to look homey and lived in, but I don't like it to feel overcrowded. Still, I feel like I managed to pack quite a bit into this small space without it feeling too tight, and really like how it came out. Credits are below, but if you need more information on something, please feel free to leave it in the comments, and I'll get to it as soon as I can. (Photos are raw, and just resized to fit.)

Apple Fall - Aspidistra in Wicker Planter 

Apple Fall - Basil Sproutlings

Apple Fall - Mixer - White & Gold

Balaclava!! - Melby Wall Light (Nickel)

Blue Sky - Animated Sky Painting - Landscape

Blue Sky - Animated Sky Painting - Mountain Clouds

Canape - Stoneware Tray Set White

Cheeky Pea - Heather Cottage Art

Chez Moi - Recipe Books 

Dust Bunny - Guiana Chestnut Tree

Dust Bunny - Kitchen Clutter - Canisters in White

Dust Bunny - Tiered Hanging Baskets, brown

E&R Texture Design - Vintage Style Tile Texture (Seamless)

Fancy Decor - Geometric Placemat

Fancy Decor - Modern Toaster 

Fancy Decor - Satie Cream & Sugar

Fetch - Carlson Console Table

Hive - Simple Skybox

K.G The Rug Store - Eruption Black White Rug #17

KraftWork - Runner Rugs - Boho Set - Beige Rainbows

Marke - Panni Aceitera

Merak - Reclaimed Strainer

Mithral - A Frame Plant Hanger (Black)

Mithral - Ficus Umbellata (Pack A)

Mithral - Pyramid Plant Shelves (White) 

Muniick - Roebling Lounge Vintage Bar Cart

Muniick - Vintage Art Deco Glass Chandelier 

Naturi - Banana Oriental indoor plant 

Naturi - Potted Palm Indoor Plant

Nomad - Triangle Tiles

North Oak - Bird of Paradise

Post - Marquette Monitor Top Refrigerator

Pitaya - Holiday Table - Candles Group

Pitaya - Holiday Table - Cups Group 

Soy - Handmade Blown Glass Ceiling Lamp

Sway's - Febo Flowerpot with Monstera

Tarte - Garden Birdcage (Bronze) w/ Stand

Your Dreams - Summit Dining Room - Table and Chairs

Your Dreams - Thela Compact Kitchen

Vespertine - Woodland Owly Utensil Jar

What Next - Colonna Coffee Machine (white)

What Next - House Plants - Set of Three

What Next - House Plants 2 - Set of Three

What Next - Coffee Time - Biscotti (wood)

*Taps Microphone* Hello? Is This Thing On?

Remember me? Probably not. I started this blog about a year and a half ago, really got cracking on it, then...nothing. I honestly have no idea what happened to me, or why I stopped blogging so suddenly after just a few posts. I guess I'll put it up to life happening. 

Lately though, I've been getting the decorating itch. Being rousted from my old sim and having to find a new place to live, then put a new parcel together took care of a lot of that, but it never really all goes away. 

One of the channels I follow on YouTube is "Architectural Digest". They have a series of videos where they give a fairly blank room to three designers with no limitation on budget, furniture, finishes, art, lighting, etc. They're really fun to watch, and you can check out an example here. 

So I thought it would be fun to take a simple one room skybox, and using this idea transform this room in multiple ways and styles. And while the videos limit it to a certain type of room, I thought it would be fun to expand it to any kind of room I want. 

I decided on using Hive's "Simple Skybox" for this little experiment. The attic type room will present a bit of a challenge, given the attic space with the sloped ceiling. However, I've never been one to shy away from a challenge. My only limitation is an LI limit of about 250, but I can do A LOT with 250 LI. 

So keep an eye on this space! I hope to start this little challenge ASAP, and hope to have something up by this weekend, if not sooner. Toodles! 

A Place to Dine, and Enjoy the View...

Hi Ducks! Sorry it's been so long between posts. I have been EXTREMELY LAZY this past week. I also haven't been feeling 100%, and that didn't help. Anyways, today I'm setting up the dining area, and this post will be a bit less wordy than the last couple. 

Last post when we did the kitchen, I went with a very traditional, somewhat "shabby chic" look for my cabinets, so I decided to keep that flow going with the dining furniture. The Muniick kitchen set also had a freestanding hutch cabinet, so I opted to use that in the dining area. The decor inside is from the What Next - Sofia Dresser with Decor set which I had originally considered. It was very cute in that space, but I couldn't get it looking just the way I wanted it, so I went with the alternative that made more sense. 

The table is the Apple Fall - Country Table. It has that same weathered look to it, and the round table fit so nicely in that corner. The chairs are from the Apple Fall Plantation Kitchen which I mentioned in the last post. Now, the chairs rez all in white, which is nice, but I wanted the cushions to match the blue in the kitchen tile, so I opted to recolor them. 

How did I do that? Well, let me show you! 

Edit the item, and go to the Texture tab. Select "Select Face", and click on the area you want to recolor. As you can see from the picture above, the arrow points to the area I've chosen, which encompasses all the cushion area. Then click on "Color" to bring up the color picker menu. 

Choose the color you want the item to be, in this case I chose a dusty sky blue, and click OK. It's that easy! (At least in this case. Be aware that it might not work so well on some items. As with any mesh item you try to modify, the creator might not always make it so easy, so sometimes it will be trial and error.)

Now, another thing you might have noticed from the picture of the dining room furniture, is that there seems to be a view other than just sky outside. I opted to do some landscaping of a sort, and I'll outline below what I did. 

First off, I needed a backdrop. Unable to find a panorama picture of Paris that I liked, I remembered that another skybox I had from AT Designs Skyboxes - The Reality Loft B124 - had a great backdrop system. So I rezzed it, and from the backdrop picker inside the skybox, chose the Paris option, which is a lovely sunset view, with the Eiffel Tower all lit up. I unlinked the backdrop from the skybox, and deleted the rest of it. 

I then moved it in front of the windows of this skybox, and stretched it to cover that side. Below is the outside view. The reason I tilted it the way I did was so if you're standing closer to the window, you won't notice the empty space between the skybox and backdrop so much. I also wanted to add a couple of trees, to give the illusion that this is an upper story apartment, and to give some depth to the view. The trees I used are from the JIAN - Ash Trees collection. I used a couple of the smaller, 1 LI trees. This kit includes a HUD that lets you pick the bark and greenery of the season, so you can customize them as you desire. 

The last bit I added to the outside were some window boxes, specifically the  World of Wood - Balcony Flowers. They're only 1 LI a piece, and while not the most detailed, when looking at them through the wavy glass of the skybox, they look pretty good. 

 

Using these window boxes also helps disguise that empty space between the skybox and the backdrop. But I had to really manipulate the camera to see that area. When you're just at regular eye level, you can see that you end up with a very pretty view.

That's it for this post! I know it's not as long or detailed as the others, but as usual, if you have any questions about anything, please let me know in the comments, or hit me up inworld, and I'll be happy to show/explain what I can. 

Next time, we'll start furnishing the living room above. Couches, tables, bookshelves, maybe a desk? We'll see what fits. I was browsing Instagram, and found an apartment much like the one we're working on that was done with more modern furniture, and it looked pretty cool, so I thought I'd try it out. 

Until then, take care and stay well. 💖