The Koffi-Laffoon House

A hearty hello to those of you who are still reading this here blog! I’m sorry I’ve been so neglectful of it over the past few months. I’m still gabbing and picspamming over at The Sims Daily, and in a way, the 10-pictures-per-post limit over there has worked well for me — it seems I post more often when I’m forced to keep it short and sweet. For example, I’ve been meaning to post a Fran update here for months, but when I think about the enormity of it, the 50-60 pictures to post, and the 5 or so pages to write, I get intimidated and put it off. What can I say, I’ve always been very lazy and lacking discipline. :-/

Anyway, I’m going to try something new…I know some of you are already reading my threads over on TSD, but for those of you that aren’t members of that forum (even though you totally should be! ;-), I’m going to repost my pics here as well. I figure I’m paying for this darned webspace, and I have this lovely blog stretching back into 2004…I might as well be using it! So without further adieu, here is my latest project, a modern house I designed for Gobias Koffi (EA pre-made in Sunset Valley) and his husband, famous fashion designer Jo-Jo Laffoon (a creation of Samkat, who posted Jo-Jo in the Style My Sim challenge forum).

First off, here’s my makeover of Jo-Jo, which I think sets the scene for the house:

The Koffi-Laffoon House

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I’m still here…really!

And Simming more than ever, actually…I just haven’t been blogging. I’m bad. I keep meaning to post an uber-mega-update, but it’s been easier just posting a few pics at a time over at The Sims Daily forum. So I don’t know if anyone is even reading this blog anymore, but if you are, then…hi! And come on over to The Sims Daily — everyone is super friendly there, and there are all kinds of things to do — challenges of every flavor, sharing pics and stories, and mostly just yapping about anything Sims-related (that includes Sims 1 and 2 as well as 3).

I hope to post something here soon…I was working on a re-do of Hidden Springs (now called Mt. Geneva in my game!), and I have a ton of pics to share (there are some here on TSD if you want to take a peek). That project is on hold for the moment while I explore Appaloosa Plains and the Pets EP (which I am LOVING, by the way…here’s my thread for that).

By the way, if any of you remember my Franchesca Diaries stories from TS2 — I’ve re-created the rest of Fran’s family and put them in Appaloosa Plains. They’re a hoot…I’ll have to post a story of them here. (Sorry to tease and not share any pics…but the ones I’ve taken and uploaded are all too wide for this blog, and I really felt the need to finally post something here…so it’s just words for now until I make some pics that are the right size!)

Hope you’re all having fun Simming or whatever you’re doing! Let me know what you’ve been up to! :)

Contest Results and Other Stuff

Hey all, just wanted to let you know that I made runner-up in the Triple Trouble contest! Lhonna was the winner, and no surprise, too, as her pics were gorgeous. It was a fun contest — I learned so much, and am now armed with some cheats and decorating knowledge that I didn’t have before, so I’m richer for the experience. I have to say, though, I’m glad it’s all over — I was obsessing over it for almost a month! Now I can get back to Mt. Geneva and all my other projects. ;)

Speaking of Mt. Geneva, I got all giddy and grumbly when I saw that new downloadable world from EA — Hidden Springs. Grumbly because it’s going to be another pay world like Barnacle Bay, but giddy because I absolutely love the geography of it! It reminds me of those lake towns in Switzerland with mountains all around — I have always wanted to build one of those in Sims 3, but I lack the CAW ability to do so. I always pictured Mt. Geneva to be like those towns — heck, it’s even named after Geneva, Switzerland. So the wheels are turning in my head, and I’m pondering redoing Mt. Geneva on the Hidden Springs map…but we’ll see. Yeah, I know…there’s always something! I never quite get around to just playing.

Also, my new computer is here! So just to see what it could do, I moved Christopher Steel into Macthekat’s Zamel House, and decided to decorate it for him. I’ve been experimenting with modern style, which is a refreshing change of pace after doing those complicated and clutter-filled contest entries. So far I’ve had no crashing problems, and it runs just fine with all of the graphics settings on high, so…*fingers crossed*! I haven’t tried actual playing yet, so we’ll see what happens there. Here are a couple of pics from the bathroom and bedroom:

Christopher's House

(Hah, I just realized I forgot to put blinds on one of the bathroom windows…oh well, it was for a 60 Minutes challenge, so I’ll just have to go back and finish it up! :-D)

Christopher's House

Triple Trouble: Round 4

Huzzah, I made it to the fourth and final round of Triple Trouble! For this last challenge, we had to do the kitchen and dining room in a Tuscan Country style. I had a lot of fun with this round as I’ve always wanted to visit Tuscany (and Italy in general!). I tried to keep a rustic, country feel while still designing a kitchen that would meet the needs of a large, modern family (especially one that has a couple of Natural Cooks in it).

By the way, thanks for all of your kind comments on my past entries — it really means a lot. I feel like my decorating has grown by leaps and bounds since I joined the Living Sims forum — it’s a very inspiring place. Anyway, here are some extra pics from my entry (you can see my official contest pics here):

Triple Trouble - Round 4

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Triple Trouble: Round 3

Hey all! I’m happy to report that I made it to Round 3 of Triple Trouble! I was amazed and honored that I made it through, but I gotta say I had some trouble with this round’s theme. We had to do the triplets’ nursery and playroom in a shabby chic style, which proved to be extra challenging because you can’t have things be too shabby in a kids’ room — peeling paint and little kids just don’t go well together! Plus when I think “shabby chic”, I think of pastel colors, frills, ruffles, florals — girly stuff. Since one of the triplets is a boy, I wanted to aim for something a little more gender-neutral. So it’s a bit like taking the shabby and the chic out of shabby chic!

Anyway, I ended up going for the “vintage” aspect of shabby chic, and settled on a vintage hot air balloon theme. Once I had this theme in mind, it ended up being fun, but I have no idea if it fits with the required style anymore. Heh. I guess we’ll see what happens! Here are some extra pics — I took a ton because I just wasn’t getting what I wanted. :-p (You can see the shots I submitted for my entry here — and check out the other entries while you’re at it — they’re all so beautiful and creative!)

Triple Trouble - Round 3

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Triple Trouble: Round 2

Huzzah, I made Round 2 of Triple Trouble! Woot! I gotta say, I was really excited and surprised that I got through considering the high quality and creativity of all of the entries. The competition was fierce!

Here are some extra pics from my Round 2 entry, which charged us to decorate the family’s living room in a Coastal style. Since my Stevens family lives by the beach in Sunset Valley with palm trees all around, and one of the sub-styles of Coastal is Tropical, I went with bright coral orange, sea green, pearly white, and some stark white as well. I even got some brown in there (the wicker pieces, the tray on the ottoman), so I think I represented everyone’s colors in the room. I wanted it to be a lively yet relaxing space, something that would be fun for the little ones (with kid-friendly fabrics on the furnishings, of course) and yet comfortable for the adults.

Triple Trouble - Round 2

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