A Crazy Idea

I'm always looking for something new and entirely different to build in game. One can only build so many standard houses before they cease to be of any entertainment value at all. Besides, if I had the 'motherlode' cheat in real life, I sure as heck wouldn't be living in a typical house. So I decided to try to incorporate one of my favorite styles into a Sim home. I adore repurposed buildings in the real world, but they're not all that common in a game where you can build any structure from scratch without real life constraints.

I've had the opportunity to work in a couple of repurposed churches, and I nearly lived in a repurposed factory. I like how the original architecture is given new life by new furnishings and an unexpected layout. In addition to my own experiences, I drew inspiration from this church in Australia. As a note, I wasn't trying to replicate it exactly, but I definitely pulled a few ideas from it.

It might be a silly idea to "remodel" a building when I am actually building the entire structure from scratch, but I'm pretty fond of how it is turning out.

 The building process is about 85% complete. I'm still deciding on a few of the features, and I'm constantly changing things.

 The basics: The house is currently placed on a 40x40 lot, and I still have some room left in the yard. There are two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The church part of the building has two floors, but the newer living area only has one. I have added a full basement below.

 Second Floor: This area contains a large library with two computer work stations. It may be stupid for game play, but I added wood ceiling beams to add to the old church feeling. They do get in the way a bit if you are trying to view this floor from the top down, but I'm willing to deal with it.

Ground Floor: In addition to the bathrooms, bedrooms, living room, dining room, and kitchen, there is a large rec room with a pool table and a bar as soon as you enter the home. I stole this idea from the church I linked earlier. 

The pool area (more pics later) is inspired by the home of a family friend. I wanted to create a sort of secret garden, but it will be easier to see this section later.

Finally, the incomplete basement. I've set up the nectar cellar and nectar making  equipment, but I haven't quite decided how I will use this space yet. Possibly an art studio? Even if I don't know what I want to do with it, I always add a basement to my homes. It's so nice to be able to access that space later without major renovations.

 This is the front entrance lounge area. Who wouldn't want a bar in their church? I'd probably have far better attendance if this is what my local house of worship looked like.

 Moving into the living room with staircase to the library.

 The living room. I'm sort of in love with the glass wall overlooking the pool.

Looking back at the second floor library balcony. 

 Here's another little feature that I stole from the Australian church. Between the church section and the kitchen, I have created a tiny office with glass walls. It's a great way to put your favorite sim on display. Better yet, lock the doors and you'll have your own sim aquarium.

 The dining room and kitchen have a bit of modern and Asian influence going on. Sims can either eat at the formal dining table, or they can use the breakfast bar that looks into the kitchen.

 The kitchen is large and well-equipped for a serious cook.

 Apparently I felt I needed another shot of the dining room. You can also see the basement stairs from this angle.

 And here's where I lost my fucking mind. Most of the house is in neutral colors, but I really wanted the bedrooms to have some more life, so I chose purple... It's not all my fault. I found a pretty neat bedroom online that inspired this madness.

 A different view. I created a glass column to display some bamboo in the corner.

 The craziness started in the master bedroom, and it continued in the second room. I may have/probably went overboard. I'm considering changing it, but I kind of like it.

 Moving up to the second floor, here is a shot from the back of the library.

This is a shot from the front of library, looking over the balcony. This is another reason I decided to add the ceiling beams. That open space seems to be the perfect spot for the large chandelier from Seasons, but I hated to leave it hovering in midair. The beams give me a nifty way to provide some support.   

 Off of the indoor dining area, there is a small patio with a full outdoor kitchen. Because this area is actually in the front of the house, I used fencing and bushes to create some privacy. Your sims wouldn't want their neighbors to know how much nectar they go through at a dinner party.

 At the back of the kitchen, there is another small patio that leads to the pool area.

 I may have gone insane with the flowers, but I really wanted that wild look. I'll have to see if they gum things up during play testing.

Around the corner, I added a small fenced area with a hot tub. With the high walls around this area, you just know your sims are going to be getting a lot of action here.

There's still a lot of work to be done (recoloring, basement, vegetable garden, and so on), but I think it's coming along well. After I finish this home, I'm back to creating dumps for a very trashy version of Moonlight Falls. I just needed a break from all of the horrifying surroundings.

I'm having an issue with Custard at the moment, but once I get it back up and running, I'll be listing all of my cc here. If you have a question in the meantime, feel free to leave me a comment.