Even though I have a strong interest in architecture and I love making blueprints, I have the hardest time making interesting-looking lots in TS4. I constantly struggle between having a unique outside but not enough space inside, and having all the room in the world inside but the outside is boxy as hell. So! I was just wondering, for those of you that like to create lots--what exactly is your process? How do you find that perfect balance between space and looks?

Usually, before building, I get a big wave of inspiration. This may be from seeing a style of architecture, a nice building, or I’m in a certain state of mind design wise (liking making lots based on ice cream).

From there, I do a lot of research for a bit before I touch the game. Like, if I’m building a gothic nightclub, I’ll look at graveyards and churches, and mix and match elements, then try to get a little creative on my own with a generic idea and goal I want to achieve.

Them, I go into the game. I lose my self for a bit and I start playing with shapes, colors, and textures. Pairing the right leather with the right wood...

I look at it from every single angle I can and I get really anal and detailed about how it looks and edit it accordingly. It can be a few hours or it can be days.

Afterwards, I delete it.

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If you’re worried about space and sizing, look at premise houses. Those are all great sizes. You don’t need an 8x12 bedroom. Once the rook is populated with decor, you’ll notice. I think 6x5 is a great size unless it’s an actual mansion.

If you’re new, start with a room and decorate the hell out of it.

My process?
Step 1. Alright! House building time! I'll have a house with a veranda and a garden with a shed flat and low to the ground
Step 2. *remembers* Oh yeah we can't do that in this game...
Step 3. *looks on internet for mod* Damn it, still doesn't exist.
Step 4. *Downloads something from the gallery instead* Figuring out how to be creative in this freedomless prison is someone elses problem.
Step 5. Profit???

I cant build to save a life. So my first process is go into gallery, type in desired keyword and plop in whatever I think is suitable for the family.

Lately, for me, is how well they functional than how they look, I'll like every corner useful than just costemic reasons, I can't see why I want to build a restaurant with 2 levels with 50 tables with 200 chairs, when only serveral groups eat at the restaurant at one time, giving the impression of a ghost restaurant.

1. I look at the surrounding to help me decide whether to build a suburban, modern, mansion, or else.
2. brainstorming through internet
3. build
4. refine

last but not least

5. demolished them :v

if you raised the population limit of the community lot with MCCC, your restaurant will be filled in no time. I have my restaurant tables indoor and outdoor and all of them are filled.

I have built so many houses and with my studies, I don't have that much time to plan. I can't really say where it comes from or how I get there. It's better to ask about concrete things.

There are tons of threads on this subject. One suggestion is to use RL floorplans, another is to start on small lots and think about practical solutions.

Very often people start building very big. What I usually do is make rooms that fits what it needs to fit, and add a tile or two to ensure good game dynamics and avoid routing issues.

It varies.

Sometimes I'll have an idea in mind, and I'll just build it as close as possible to what I envisage. Then I'll change it and tweak around the edges after.

Other times I'll look for inspiration in pictures, though personally I never use real-life blueprints as a basis for my builds.

Sometimes I literally draw boxes until I find a layout that makes sense, then start shaping it into a proper lot.

I'm also rather fond of the builds EA use in their trailers, but they annoyingly rarely share them. Sometimes I'll recreate a scene from the trailer or screenshot, then build the rest of the lot around that from my own imagination. I've had some pretty awesome lots come out that way.

In the playthrough for seasons they had a splitt level house with doors in the bottom part. I haven't been able to follow along this last year, but I didn't think it was possible?

Can you make a floor that is lower than a regular floor in ts4? If that was possible, it could be done. It's not possible to dig out the basement and have a door in it either, or what?

Being British, all my lots have to have a good back garden, even if the house directly faces the roadway. I must always have a hedge, wall or fence the whole way round. We don't have the space to waste in the UK!
I start with the hall and where the stairway goes, sometimes with a stair to the basement (useful for sticking the Laundry room in) alongside to save space, leaving at least two squares width at least for Sims moving either side or one side only. I must have a comfy library, small toilet, kitchen, lounge on the ground floor directly from the hallway - and now, after Seasons, a conservatory at the back of the house.
Top floor must have at least one ensuite bedroom and two or three bedrooms with a large shared bathroom near the stairwell!

This is typical of the detached UK suburban house which I am used to and like playing myself though my dream in reality is of living in a cosy country cottage in an English village!

Plop down a tent, campfire, woohoo bush, and a portable shower. Now start digging and live like a mole. Add rooms and items underground whenever you can afford it.

I suggest you read my post one more time

I usually decide I want a certain style of house. I try to find it on the gallery, nothing. I'm trying multiple sites, no dice. I then find a house plan I like on the outside, redo the inside to for my sims' needs and then spend several hours decorating the house.
After that I think briefly about uploading and decide against that sure to the buttload of custom content I used...