A Cavalcade of Columns

EDIT 2/14/12: Man, I'm slow. Actually, I forgot that I needed to do this until the other day when I used these and...yeah. *cough* I is bad. I sorry. Anyway, new files have been uploaded for the UpRite, Country Kitsch, and Aggressive Accents columns. The Storybook ones will be fixed...uh, once I find their file, which seems to have evaporated into the ether....

But anyway! New, fixed files. They are named such that they will overwrite the old files if you stick 'em in the same place in your downloads folder and haven't changed the file names. Let 'em overwrite and you should be good to do. Sorry 'bout that. Columns are apparently weird in that they (and nothing else, at least nothing else that I've recolored) have separate files for neighborhood view and on-lot view (Whatever, EA! :p), and the originals had screwed-up 'hood-view stuff.

EDIT 3/14/11: For those for whom these flash blue in neighborhood view: I now know what's causing it. (Thank you, HugeLunatic!) I will be working on fixing them, probably one column type at a time, and then attaching fixed files as I have them. Sorry about that!

So, if you're going to build covered porches for your Sims' houses, you're going to need columns to hold up the roof, right? (Well, unless you like roofs that appear to defy gravity, that is.) So...have some columns.

I have recolored four different Maxis columns that I like and that can work with the various modular stairs and fences that I've recolored. Like the stairs and fences and wood floors that I've made, each column style comes in the 20-color palette that I created, so all of the various pieces will match. The columns that I've recolored are:

1) The Aggressive Accents Column
This is the craftsman-style column and, really, it doesn't specifically go with any of the stairs/fences. I just like it a lot, use it often, and wanted more colors. I have only recolored the wood parts, not the masonry parts.

2) The Country Kitsch Column
As advertised, this is the country/Victorian(ish) style column. It works well with the Chic style and sort of well with the "Euro" style. (I say "sort of" because it tapers too much to "cover" the entire "post" part of the Euro fence, so if you use it with that fence, it looks better if you place it in the middle of the "rail" part of the fence. But really, there isn't a column that goes really well with the Euro style. Since I generally use that style indoors more than outdoors, anyway, I don't worry about it too much.)

3) The Storybook Column
This, of course, goes with the Storybook fence and stairs. Note that I have removed the curlicues from the base of the column; they just didn't seem to go well with the deco on the fence/stairs. To me, it just looked too busy when the pieces were all used together. I have left the arrow-ish deco at the top of the column, however, because that does go with the deco on the fence/stairs, and since it's high on the column, it balances the stairs/fence well.

4) The Upright Column
This is your plain, basic, 4x4 column that best matches the plain wooden deck stairs/fence.

All of these except the Storybook Column are base game. The Storybook Column, like the other Storybook pieces, requires Open For Business.

Here are color-labeled pics, with each column sitting on a square of a matching wood floor. To conserve space for picture-taking purposes, I've broken out the 20 colors in the palette over the four different column styles, so that each column is shown in five of the colors. Of course, each column comes in all 20 colors shown, not just the five used as examples on that particular column.

Now, to show just one example of how these various deck/porch pieces work together, here is the side wrap-around porch of a house that I built. I used Smitty's Distressed Floorboards, and the Chic Fence and Chic Stairs with the Country Kitsch Column, all in the Gravel Pit color:
(Of course, in order to get the columns to intersect with the fences like this, you have to use move_objects on and turn off grid snapping. You probably already know that...but you never know. )

Here are some quick links to the other Maxis items I've recolored and that you might want to have, if you're interested in creating decks/porches that match. These pieces are all available in the same 20-color palette so that everything matches:

Five Maxis Wood Floors: http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=420511
Deck Stairs: http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=421075
Euro Stairs: http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=421616
Chic Stairs: http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=421142
Storybook Stairs: http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=421141
Four Fences, to match the above stairs: http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=422195

Because one of these columns requires an EP, I've set this up so that you download each column separately. All of the files are compressed and are clearly named so that you can easily determine which ones you want to keep and which you want to discard.

As always, I hope that you will find these useful in your own building projects! Next up: Interior and exterior doors and arches.