Welcome back to Room Reno #72 here at The Sims Resource! Today we’re helping a Sim who wants to try out the new whimsigothic aesthetic in her living and dining areas. Let’s meet the Sim we’re helping!
Meet Alyssa!
Alyssa is a Sim who recently moved to Midnight Falls and who wants to make her house…a lot less garlicky, but a little more gothy! She really loves the new Whimsigothic aesthetic, and I have to say I think she has great taste. Whimisgoth is an aesthetic that “embraces romanticism and the macabre in equal measure” according to Glamour, and I think it really captures the bright and sunny romantic style as well as the dark and creepy goth look perfectly. If you’ve seen the new Wednesday series on Netflix, Wednesday’s shared bedroom with Enid is a funny, but accurate example of how these two aesthetics look when they collide–a little strange, but not without merit. It’s similar to pastel goth, except instead of simply taking a gothic item and turning it pastel, the items themselves are often strange and playful while also having some sort of gothic element. Now that we’ve reviewed the aesthetic, let’s see what we’re working with!
The Before
This room has…charm. I like a lot of the Victorian elements, and the fireplace is lovely. The layout is pretty standard, but workable, and I’ll probably end up using a similar one in my final build. My issue is with the garlic. Jeez, who needs that much garlic in their house? I say this as someone who loves garlic, and puts probably more of it than I should in most dishes. But I don’t decorate with it! Mostly because it would go bad and then my house would really stink. But also because how does one even acquire that much garlic? You can’t buy that many heads of garlic at once, can you? Is that even legal?
Garlic rants aside, this room really isn’t so bad. If anyone is wondering what the deal is with the garlic, it’s because this original lot came with the vampire pack world, hence: garlic. Which is pretty funny when you’re building to keep vampires out, but less useful when you’re just trying to interior decorate like I am right now. This is genuinely a pretty nice build and I think there’s a lot of potential in it, especially given that the space is big but not too big, and also has a pretty solid floorplan already in place that makes renovating seem like a pretty easy job overall. I would just…air out the house, first. Try and get the garlic smell out before moving any furniture in. Maybe light some candles.
The Planning
Alright, this is somehow a more complex planning map than most of my recent builds, but it really didn’t feel all that complicated when I made it. I kept the main division of the room the same, with the living area on the left and the dining area on the right, but I also made sure to add some more chairs and living items in the dining area to make the space feel more homey and less sterile and unwelcoming. I loved the fireplace, but I knew I would like it more on the other side of the room, in the living area, so I moved it there. It really fits better in that spot than right behind the dining table in my opinion, giving the room a better visual flow.
A sitting area will replace the fireplace behind the dining table, and I think it’s a more natural fit for the space. A few comfy chairs are never a bad idea in an empty corner, and always make a room feel more homey, while also providing a comfortable place to sit and read a book or do work. They also work together well with the bookshelf I’m placing on the right wall, which obviously will require a place to sit and read all those books. The dining table would work, but a soft, cushy chair is always better when you’re reading for relaxation. I think that’s the floor plan all settled, so let’s get building!
The After
Okay, okay, this is a build that I’m really happy with. As soon as I looked at whimsigothic inspiration photos, I realized that they matched up really well with a lot of the furniture from the Paranormal stuff pack, which is actually one of my favorite stuff packs the game has ever come out with. The furniture, a lot of which can be seen above in the build, is rich and luxurious in color while also retaining a lot of gothic character and darkness. One of my favorite pieces in the entire room is the loveseat–I’ve never seen a couch irl with different color bottom and back, and I really love the look of it. If I had any talent with upholstering, I would totally try and diy it at home. Another super versatile piece is the wooden screen. While I know not everyone loves cutting their beautiful open floor plan in two, I really like having the option, which is where screens like the lovely vintage one I used come in handy.
I’m happy with how the dining area turned out as well, and I especially liked tying the burgundy color in by using upholstered chairs. I think they can either work really well or really poorly in a room, and this happened to be one of the ‘really well’ moments. The sitting area worked out the way I wanted it, too, along with the bookshelf (which is a miracle, because not all bookshelves work well at all in The Sims 4).
Thanks for checking out this edition of Room Reno #72! If you liked this blog, check out Room Reno #71: Thankful Dining Room or our Gilmore Girls inspired lookbook. Looking for something else? Read about my thoughts on the Pastel Pop Kit or about the latest game updates! Have a great day 😎
