What do you like to see in houses?

[KlistiesSeMio Ewinaga]

I'm thinking of building again, but seeing as how I've been out of the game for so long, I'd like to ask some of you guys what you like to see in houses that you purchase. Tastes change and all that. xD

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1) How tall do you prefer the walls to be? On average.

2) Do you like a lot of windows / an airy look to your house?

3) Do you like open floor plans (studio style), or a lot of hallways and closed off rooms?

4) Do you like 'realistic' plans (ie; those with bathrooms & kitchens), or more 'sl style' (just bedrooms & living rooms)?

5) Are bigger houses better? Smaller houses?

6) How about levels? Are single story houses more your style, or do you like multi-level?

7) What kind of textures do you like best? Simple and easy, or something with more flair? New and clean, or lived in? Perhaps a healthy mixture?

8) What sort of colors do you like your houses to be? Neutrals, colorful, patterned, etc?

9) How do you feel about extra details (ie; 3D doorknobs, baked shadows/lighting, trim around the walls, light switches/outlets, etc)?

10) How many prims will you allow just the house to be? What's the maximum limit you have?

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Thank you very much for answering any questions! This will be a very big help! c:

[Sakinan]

Hey, well I'll tell you what I always wanted in an SL house... I myself build a bit but don't want to take on my dream home till I'm really good just to save lots of unneccessary (sp?) work. But in a house, I would pay to own a beautiful home with a courtyard in the middle. That means the house would be build around a courtyard with a pond, a waterfall and fish, a sitting area and cobblestone, little flowers creeping through the stone... I suppose some of the small stuff would be layed down by the new owner like the flowers n stuff, but just so you get an idea. Several enterances from the c/y into the house, and the walls around the c/y glass so I could enjoy a aqua-lit pond at night... take care

[iCade]

All just my personal opinions.

1) I do like higher ceilings, the houses that are built realistically in relation to avatar height seem suffocating and make camming quite difficult.

2) Personally, I love glass walls, large floor to ceiling windows and the likes. I am a landscaper, so the house sorroundings are worth seeing, and I'd definitely prefer to see a garden or the sea as opposed to a wall when I am chilling on a couch with friends.

3) I am a bit torn, so I would have to say middle ground. Studio style can be amazing if it's section by half walls, or dividers inbuilt. What I personally hate are narrow hallways with just closed doors. That to me is not pleasing to the eye at all, unless it's a funky house where there's loads to explore that you shouldn't be seeing all at once.

4) I like both and I own a wide varity of both. For roleplaying purposes a realistic house is great, for just chilling? A bedroom and living room will suffice, the rest would not get much or any use at all.

5) Either. Personally I don't care about the size as long as it looks great and inspires me to build around it and to furnish it.

6) I prefer multi-level. My biggest pet peeve are teleporters. I cannot fathom why people build them into their normal houses. I love walking up and down stairs! TP'ing just kills it for me, and I only own 1 maybe 2 houses that employ them.

7) I prefer clean and neat. Colorful but not with a pattern on it. I like the walls bland with perhaps a lightning effect.

8) I love colorful, whether it's bold colors or pastel. Neutral is okay, too.

9) Extras are lovely! Though, for those who have to watch their prims it's always incredibly awesome when a creator packs up a bland house version, and one with all the details and extras. Thus people with less prims can still get the house.

10) Depends on my current parcel size. Say, if I had a 4096sqm parcel with 937 prims, I would not want the unfurnished house to take up more than 200 prims. Furnishing and landscaping around it is primmy in itself.
For say, a 1/4 sim with 1875 prim, I'd get a house with up to 600 prim unfurnished but that is pushing it.

What's important though is that the prim count in relation to the house size. If it's a small 15x20 one floor house it should not be made up of 200 prims or anything ridiculous like that

 

There you go

[KlistiesSeMio Ewinaga]

Thank you both!

I'd still like some more opinions~

[Knutz Scorpio]

Wall height.  If you mean distance from floor to ceiling then 5 meters seems to be the norm, can't get much lower then 4 without loosing the cam in the ceiling due to the crappy default avatar cam placement.

For windows I tend to go all glass or mostly glass in the direction of the views I want, like a scenic lake, and mostly solid wall towards the stuff I don't need to see, like someone's failed attempt at a futuristic cyper night club.  I think all exterior walls should have at least a minimal amount of window in them.

I tend towards open floor plans with some definition of areas.  An area intended to be more private, like a bedroom, could be walled off from the rest.  I think a well laid out floor plan has no need for hallways, and hallways tend to cause problem with that default avatar cam placement.

I think it's more flexible to design houses with just great rooms and bedrooms and such and the owner can subdivide and add the kitchens and bathroom and such if they feel they need them, or just enjoy the larger more open rooms.

Bigger houses versus smaller ones, can't really say one is better then the other.  Some like to have all their living area closed away inside away from public view while others like to have something minimal surrounded by forests and gardens.

Seems really hard to have all the living space I want unless it's a really big house so I typically go multiple levels.  I tend to agree with someone's post about teleport between levels being a cop out, I'd like to add that actual stairs between levels seems more elegant then ramps.  To me split level homes seem more impressive.

For textures I tend towards stone and stucco and other masonry, probably because I really like castles and cathedrals and such.  I like the look of stone that's old enough to have all sharp corners worn off, and moss and ivy on exterior walls adds character, but I think the grunge look is just yucky.  Another note about textures is look out for ones that have an alpha channel in them although they are suppose to be solid.  I had a hardwood floor texture that I thought was great till I noticed the windows below showing through them, major let down.

I like doors that are more then just flat boards with a texture.  A little shadow baking at the corners and edges can add some realism, but window frame shadows and such baked in makes it feel that the light can never change.  Light switches and power outlets I think are a bit much.