Exchange Item: The Blue Bottega & Kane Family

I was planning on leaving this 'til after I was finished with the storyline, but I wanted to just get them up already. I know, I know, I'm impatient. What can I say, I'm just excited to be done with these things. :)

---

Alright, the first thing I uploaded is my newest community lot for Twinbrook; as you may recall from earlier in the Season, Meredith decided to renovate an old house in town and turn it into an Art Studio.

Since this building will likely be used as a set quite a lot in the coming Seasons, I worked really hard trying to give it as "Meredith-y" a feel as I could; crazy, wild color combinations, thrift-store-like mishmash of decorations, but with a cozy feel that makes the place more about relaxing and community than just workworkwork.

The Blue Bottega

http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3854565

bot-te-ga [boh-tey-guh] :: the studio of a master artist, in which lesser artists, apprentices, or students learn by participating in the work

Epic name, right? XD Also follows in the trend of name Twinbrook lots with alliterated adjective titles: The Red Rendezvous, the Steel Stallion, yada yada. Now I just need the Yellow Yowler or something... Hm. I don't wanna know what kind of lot THAT would be. Anyways.

You may recognize the building if you've ever played Riverview; instead of trying to build my own lot or find one suitable in Twinbrook, I chose the 'Wrap-Around Deck' house that's built into a corner in one of the neighborhoods of Riverview. I've always loved that house, but never actually used it for any of my Sims... So I'm glad I finally found a use for it.

Since it's technically a business, the first thing you'll encounter when walking through the door is the alcove where you can purchase things people have made (well, in your imagination), or you can really purchase things by heading over to the Register, which is the Consignment Store register, so it does spawn a townie to work there (though I'll probably use the Register mod to assign a Sim living in town at some point).

I figured it'd be useful to have there to consign off stuff that Sims have made while painting/sculpting here.
Since this image doesn't show a lot, here's the full image, that shows how the counter is oriented towards the front door and the sculpting room.

I was pretty amused to find that my town's NPCs actually used the sculpting wheels when left to their own devices. There's only two in here, but there's another hidden away in the garage if there's a sculptor about who wants some privacy.

The painting room is up on the second floor, which makes it easier to get a nice view of the surrounding area (and consequently let in a lot of natural light for the painters). I originally had the lot placed next to the river, so it had a pretty nice view, but I later moved it to get it a more accessible location in town... The view still isn't too bad though.

This seems to be everyone's favorite room over at TSS, and I can't blame them. The color combo is very... 'uneclectic' compared to the rest of the building, but still pretty vibrant. And that maroon is pretty wicked.

This is also sort of the "landing" right when you come up the stairs. It has a dollhouse tucked around the corner as well (which is actually more for Meredith herself than any visiting kids), but basically this is either where you dump your kids when you go to paint, or where you come to crash with some friends.

I know this isn't a color scheme that anyone would really be all that wild about (omg, it's a carrot!) but ever since I saw a home-design show where they used a "Tuscan" color scheme (oranges, yellows, greens and browns; bright organic colors), I wanted to do it myself. Since the whole purpose of this studio is to be "off the wall" and take artistic liberties, I went for it.

Why is there a kitchen in an art studio, you ask? So the artists don't become starving artists, durh! ^^

You can see that the kitchen (and the sculpting room, to the "right" of the frame) lead onto the patio, where there's more easels. And, as you can see, my town's NPCs were have some fun right before I took these shots.

Further down off the deck; here's a little platform, where there are more easels, and a couple of chairs for observers.

You can also see the garage door, that leads into a garage that's basically just filled with crates and a sculpting wheel. It's the storage facility for all the art supplies, o'course! It serves no actual purpose except as a set.

That's the extent of the "formal" images for the lot, but if the limited angles leave you wanting to see more, you can view the entire WIP album for the lot here.

---

This is *definitely* preemptive, but since Season 6 is rolling out around the corner I've uploaded the family again, except this time it's on the "next generation", in Legacy terms.

Now their baby's name won't be a surprise or anything, but that's okay.

http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3854286

This is also the first time I've uploaded Alesha, but if anyone has a hankering for her as just a single sim, keep an eye on my studio because I'll be uploading her as one relatively soon.

---

Hopefully both these items work, since I seem to have that problem rather frequently; if anyone gets the hankering to download them, please let me know if they install properly or not.

Story will resume soon, once I get some sleep and take care of my severely neglected house. Stupid dirty dishes. I curse thee! *mutter*

Anywhos, cheers!