starladustangel

The laundry room and bedroom are a shared space. There is a loft and bedroom upstairs. I put the nursery in the loft.

Some yard pictures and my new Trompe Loeil house. The Roost house I had before was just too big and not enjoyable to decorate considering it's just me and an animesh baby living here. The blue house in the background is a neighbor's house.

I got tired of my Linden home after a week there and bought this lovely 2048 parcel in Rivuline to have a little more space to spread out. The price was very cheap compared to other similar parcels. It seems like a nice area. I haven't finished decorating yet but I like this view of the water and a lighthouse built by a neighbor.

I also have an animesh baby. I would put her away but my real life children (age 3 and 9) insist she be out in my SL house. Decorating around her is a challenge but I managed it. Still not done with the yard but have 85 LI left to play with things. I used a few add ons to create a second bedroom, add a laundry room and bathroom, add a back deck and a carport. I can probably switch out the bedroom for something lower LI but I like this set. Carport and the deco car were the insistence of my RL son who is obsessed with VWs.

Kitchen so far. I keep redoing it. Not sure I will keep this house or not

Pussycat Catnap wrote: Its really not wise to start so big in SL. Its much better to start with something tiny, and build up - over time - as you get used to the system, get used to building, and get comfortable in knowing what kinds of housing decorations appeal to you. I see it all the time that people new to SL or new to owning land buy huge plots of lands for several hundred real-life dollars, throw some junk down... and then a few months later vanish... and the land goes abandoned... because they start getting the tier bill and start looking at how much they spent... and then notice that their land is full of ugly junk... They blame Linden Lab and Second Life... but it was their own choices made before they had expertise that got them there. I started with a simple 512m lot back in 2009. I've got about an 1/8th of a sim now - split across a few locations. But I did that slowly - learning the difference between what I thought I would like and what I actually like in the context of SL over the years. I agree with this. I started small as well although I have only had an account for 2 years. I initially had a tiny 512 Linden House then progressed to a 1024 plot on mainland. About a year ago I went for 1536 m. Initially on a road side plot and currently on the water. I right now have an active ticket to try and get the 2048 abandoned land adjoining mine released for purchase. I initially bought the 512 from a private seller then LL agreed to sell me the 1024 abandoned land next to it. One common mistake I see people make is that they think if they don't have a big plot with lots of prims then they won't be able to decorate nicely. I thought that at first myself as I met people with 150 prim kitchens and big houses that were 300 land impact. But you don't need it. I have a beautiful house right now that is 53 land impact. I have a smaller house that will fit on a 256 m plot in inventory that is 21 land impact that I used when I had just 512. There is also a lot of low land impact furniture and decor out there as well.

Most of the lower cost boot moors I know of for rent are in the 125-150 a week range and are more in the 50 prim range so more for small boats. If you have premium then buying a 512 plot of water land would probably be the best option. If you're willing to buy an unprotected plot you may be able to find a reasonable price. Protected water land is pretty unaffordable. There are a few land management companies that rent small parcels by the water but probably still more than you're wanting to spend

I agree with just looking at the maps in world to find land. Auctions and advertisements are often higher than what you may find just looking around. On the downside looking around can be time consuming. You can get lucky though. I personally prefer looking around so I can assess things like neighbors and sim traffic.

I'm looking for land that I could have a small family park, campground or resort on. I looked at both raising my tier as well as renting. A few private estate owners have told me I have to rent a full region to do this in their covenants. Not sure why as traffic would be less than a lot of commercial lands but their land their rules. I'm not really looking to sublet to anyone. Maybe just have items set up that people can use for RP and give myself a place bigger to design. I do not want a full region or need one. But raising my tier looks to be more than I'd like to pay. So I am looking for somewhere to rent maybe in the 4000-8000 m range. Not picky on prims or whether it's mainland or a private estate. Anyone have any reccomendations?

Personally, I find it better to find a empty 512 plot and rez a little home of my own rather than a linden home but yes if you wait the one you want will become available. The linden homes are not the only premium benefit.

I would check out FabFree. Either in world or their blog. I have a decent job in real life and money to spend in SL but I still love finding bargains. FabFree always has where to find high quality low cost or free items.

they have rents starting as low as 25 linden here: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/IQ/245/58/23 this place is 75 L to start but with a lot of options: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Family%20Bonded/203/166/23 This place says free for new players: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nefrax/23/80/23 40 L weekly: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Phantasm/45/191/67

I own the slink physique. Main reason I bought it was I already owned a set of Slink casual hands plus the Slink high and the Slink flat feet. I do like it as the price was reasonable but if one doesn't already own Slink hands and feet it could be quite a bit of cost. You can wear it without them but it looks better. It does come with a neck join to hide the seam between a default SL head and the body which is nice since I don't have a mesh head. I haven't had too many issues with mesh clothing because the slink HUD allows you to hide body parts if needed. I like the Slink physics but not sure how that would work with mesh breasts or behind. I haven't found a skin/shape combo I like that works well yet. That is one downside. I don't really miss system clothing. Maybe it's because I've only had a SL account for 2 years and have primarily bought mesh clothing. I've tried a few things with appliers but they look painted on.

Even unprotected water land is going for outrageous prices. There is unprotected water land near mine and it is 3072 m being sold for 69000 lindens. In contrast my unprotected water parcel which is 1536 m I paid 2500 lindens for total. The sim of Exomorogun which is on protected water is being sold for over 2000 US dollars. If I had that much money to spend I'd probably buy an island.

I have noticed this as well. A lot of houses I feel like I am in a giant cavern. The rooms are huge and the ceilings high. I've found if you don't a large piece of land, that many of the houses that will fit are one or two rooms because many home builder do build on a larger scale meaning that if you need a house for a 1024 m plot that feels like a house and is nice, it's not easy. Not impossible though. There are many homes that don't feel like a giant's home but are still nice. You just have to look for them. I have an odd L shaped 1536 plot that I need a 1024 home for. Some homes I love in my inventory that don't feel giant (at least not to me) and will fit on my land include La Galleria's Blue Bonnet Cottage, By Dorian's Tumbleweed tiny house (the store has some lovely cottages and farmhouses too) and Roost's Dillhurst House. Currently I have Barnesworth Anubis's Lakeside Cottage rezzed and love it. All of these feel like a good scale to me. Furniture fits nicely and the rooms feel realistically sized. I think a good scale may just depend on avatar size though.