About three months ago, I wrote an article on how to make sims that feel a bit more realistic in the game. Now that we’ve been making all these awesome sims, I decided to expand that idea by talking about decorating homes that reflect their personalities. (Thanks for the suggestion @GuiFreitasG!)
As I mentioned in my previous post, I like making Sims that don’t look the part – for instance, my musician sims don’t necessarily have the “music lover” trait – so naturally I take the same approach when decorating their homes. The majority of scientists probably don’t live in a hospital-spaceship hybrid, and most dog lovers wouldn’t decorate their home like their local veterinary clinic. Home decor will usually reflect some personal interest – like book lovers having tons of books around – but will also feature personal taste.
Now that we covered realism as a basis to what we’re gonna talk about today, I have three main topics to discuss. To help me illustrate them, I brought back the three Evas from the “Realistic Sims” article and gave each one of them a new place to live.
I chose the very same apartment for each of them (one of the starter ones in the Fashion District) and will stay in budget in all three scenarios (after paying the moving fees, I was left with about 19k for each). When decorating the apartments, I left my personal taste out of this. I wanted to have fun imagining what decor would suit each of them best.
Let’s start with Eva the Painter’s place.
First off, let’s talk about making use of the space we are given. We know she’s a painter and that her traits are family oriented, perfectionist, and clumsy, so there were a few choices I had to make to suit who she is. The first one, logically, was giving her a place to paint near a big window.
Light is a big part of a visual artist’s life, so I wanted to make sure everything was properly lit, because that ends up being how she sees the world. Being a painter, she probably is not afraid to use color and to fill all the spaces of her place with design, so I had to make sure this all balanced out with a warmth feel compliments her Family Oriented trait.
There’s quite a lot of clutter everywhere, but since she’s a perfectionist, even her cluttler seems organized and well put together. Since she is believed to have a creative soul, I thought it best to be creative with objects, using a stack of suitcases for a nightstand.
I wanted her place to look like a good painting: Something that catches your eye, and calls your attention. I think that is very reflective of who she is, as well as of a complex personality, and I gotta say she looks pretty happy with it.
Her bathroom was not very interesting to look at, and that’s why it’s not shown here. It was very basic and I did whatever I could to make it look decent, but money was short.
Ok, now on to the second Eva:
Our “Busy Sporty Eva” is all about success, so I wanted to add gold colored items to her living room. She’s always busy with some type of activity, so I thought practicality would be also key in her life. Everything is a bit simple, but never truly basic.
She’s single, so I decided that she doesn’t really need a couch, and added a few chairs to face the TV. There are pillows around in case she has more people over at once, and maybe those living chairs could work as dining chairs if she need to improvise. Again, practicality is key here.
I turned the second, tiny bedroom into a small gym with a treadmill and a punching bag. She also loves the outdoors, so there’s plants everywhere, along with a framed poster of Granite Falls in her bedroom. This reflects her adventurous side.
Lastly, I chose objects that reflect her past. It’s as if you could write her life story just by looking at her decor. Ever visit someone and feel that you have better understanding of who they are just by looking at their living situation?
(And once again, her bathroom was not that great, so you’ll have to excuse me once again for not showing it.)
Alright, it’s time we visit our final Eva.
She’s materialistic, childish, outgoing, and has an aspiration for Romance. I also described her as being a “girlie girl”, so I immediately thought pink and purple. Being that that would be the easiest way to decorate, I decided to challenge myself.
I then decided to match shades of pink with lots of baby blue, which I think evokes a more childish quality. She will likely have gentlemen friends over every now and then, so it was important to have a proper space for dinner, as well as a love couch – and I love how the couch’s back acts as sort of a room divider there.
Her bedroom is not very well lit, but I did that on purpose to set the mood. Same goes for the second bedroom, which I turned into a study. Always take advantage of a huge window when creating a small reading nook.
Her kitchen is quite simple, and the ingredients on the shelf give me the impression that she likes to cook. Perhaps she’ll aspire to become the greatest chef in town?
So there’s everything to keep in mind each time you decorate your sim’s home. Remember, Creatively use the space you have, add objects that reflect a sim’s past, and always be sure to add decor that paves the way for their future. Look around your home! What does it say about you? When I do it, I conclude that I utilize space to make messes…and my past is a mess…and I’m heading towards a future of huge messiness. Sounds about right.
PS: I did manage to get a screenshot of last Eva’s bathroom. Why do you think she has a bathtub? (This is how I’ll know whether or not you really paid attention to what I said)
