Welcome back to Room Reno #63 here at The Sims Resource! Today we’re helping a Sim who wants to turn her bland but functional spare room into a stylish but practical haven. We all have one spot in our homes that could use a little more TLC, and this is definitely one of those spaces. Let’s meet the Sim we’re helping!
Meet Shayla!
Shayla lives in a family home in Willow Creek and loves her house! She’s immaculately designed the entire space to suit her lifestyle…except for one room. The spare room. I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like every living space has that one area that just sort of holds all the junk. Even in my apartment, there’s one shelf in my closet that holds literally everything I can’t be bothered to go through and organize, or that doesn’t have a home anywhere else. There’s just nowhere to put it all! I can’t be the only one like this. I’ve seen spare rooms in basements, in bedrooms, and even in dining rooms. Spare rooms are just sort of something that happens after you move in and lowkey forget that you still have boxes to unpack.
And Shayla definitely has that problem. Her spare room has her washer and dryer in it, along with a treadmill and a litter box for her cats. All functional stuff, right? All stuff that needs to go somewhere, right? But none of it can really go anywhere else, and none of it goes together well. Such is the curse of the spare room–everything is necessary to keep, but none of it feels quite right in the room that it’s in. Let’s see what we’re working with!
The Before
This room is pretty simple, though the layout is…not great. The washing machine and dryer being against the front wall of the home (and the window) is really not great for the flow of the space or the ability to do literally anything else in the room. It forces the treadmill to stare at a blank wall and the litter box to sit out in the middle of the room, probably creating a bit of a smell. There are even still some moving boxes in here, just to add to the chaotic energy of this space. It’s frankly sort of insane to consider just how “spare room” this spare room is–it really hits the mark for every single part of what makes a spare room what it is.
I really want to fix up the space and move the washing machine over to one of the side walls, for one. I think an improved floor plan will do a lot of good in this room, along with some newer appliances and an improved color scheme. The current room is really just a mish mosh of random furniture and colors which is not cute…or even all that functional. With the stuff scattered all over, it really becomes a mess that doesn’t even route well for the Sims who are trying to use it. I can’t tell you how hard it is to get Shayla to use the treadmill without getting the little arm waving error. Anyway, let’s get planning!
The Planning
I ended up planning this room around the front windows of the home. Since the washer and dryer were up against it originally, I wanted to shift them so there wasn’t as much of an eyesore right up against the window (and also because I don’t really feel a need to look out the window when I’m doing laundry, and I don’t think Shayla does either). The treadmill can face the window, though, because it’s nice to work out with the view of the outside to watch as you go. It’s also nice to run with a fan on you–I tried it once IRL and I have to say that I can’t go back. It’s just so much easier to run with a nice breeze, even indoors on a treadmill.
The extra space in the room was a bit of a challenge. I sat and studied the space for a few minutes and really tried to figure out what Shayla could use in the area. A desk and computer area is always helpful to have, and with the new color scheme and stylish decor in the room it feels a lot more appropriate to work in as opposed to the old room, with its mismatched furniture and random laundry machines by the window. Let’s get building!
The After
This was a pretty quick renovation to do, all things considered. Maybe it was because I played a lot in this house and realized exactly what I wanted to do in my subconscious, or maybe I just happened to love building this laundry room a whole lot. There was definitely something very soothing to my soul about building it. Either way, it was really fun because I found that this room was a creative challenge in a way that a lot of my renovations haven’t been so far.
See, when you start building most rooms, you know what goes in them. A couch and a TV for a living room, a bed and a dresser for a bedroom, and so on. Pretty simple, right? This room made me think a lot harder about what I could put in it, because all I technically had to put in the room was two laundry machines…and nothing else. Obviously, that meant I had a lot of room to play! Adding the treadmill back in (but a much nicer version) was an easy decision, but it took me a little bit to decide on the desk and shelves. All I can say is…what a rush!
Thanks for checking out Room Reno #63: Laundry Room! If you liked this blog, check out Room Reno #62: Modern Living Room or a Back to School CAS Showcase. Looking for something else? Read about CAS secrets or about the latest game patch! Have a great day 😎
