Use buy mode plants. You could do a potted plant border like in some backyard pics I was looking at. See attached.

Btw, this is my inspiration board for this challenge, if anyone is interested: https://pin.it/kuzg4f3vbdjn73. I never shared a board before. I hope the link is ok...

Thanks for the clarification. I'll be ready to post pics later today.
Love that ideas board, phantom. I'm hoping I'll be more inspired for the next round.

Great board, thanks for sharing

Round one: row/townhouse apartments
 

Well I didn't think I would be the first!
This is not my best work but I lack time for this round. I made substantial changes to one of my existing apartment lots to save time, but I'm not sure it was a good idea. However, at least I got an entry in.

So, first, required pics

The left-hand side apartment is designed for a couple starting out. The two middle ones are for families and the one on the right hand side is for a couple and friend (or roommate). There are two two-bedroomed units and two (potentially) three-bedroomed units.

More pics on the structure/outside

Now inside the apartments:

I didn't show the second bedroom for the family apartments. One was for a young girl (apartment 2) and the other for a teenage boy (apartment 3). Nor did I show the 'hobby room' for the last apartment. The couple and their friend are into art and music (you can't see the paint brushes/deco stuff or synthesizer very well). All units have phones, smoke alarms, etc.

This looks like a really fun contest and I hope you all have loads of fun.

Would love to participate, but I absolutely loathe the game objects/walls/flooring textures and would seriously struggle with not being able to use object recolors/custom walls and flooring for such large builds.

I hear ya. I struggled to find stuff I actually liked didn't detest. I'm too used to using CC to get the look I want.

I wasn't too worried about the decor for this round at least, cuz I love the Ikea stuff pack. That, plus H&M stuff and some basic paints go a long way. What worries me is not including cc for the later rounds so that when I want to get creative and put in things like a laundry room or an atm, etc. is difficult to do so without cc. There are a few categories of cc that I would've liked to use to really complete some looks, but considering that there's no lot restrictions and that it's a little hard to go over budget, the lack of cc is what will make this contest a challenge, at least for me.

@gummilutt, if the judges don't mind, I really think more pictures per unit, at least, would be ideal. Four pictures might be enough for a studio or a small two bedroom, but for medium to larger apartments, judges might not get clear shots of bathrooms, offices, hallway layouts, or garage workshops, etc., and considering deco is a whole scoring category that makes me nervous. Depending on the lot set up, the extra shots might be needed for some common areas or outdoor spaces. Perhaps there could be an increased number of pictures per unit depending on how many rooms the apartment has?

And wow, first entry is up already! Good job @ yavannatw; I really liked the outdoor space, how you laid out the living room differently each time and of course, that black fence. :lovestruc

Bathrooms and garages are boring anyway. Being limited to four pics per unit for a max of five units forces us to take better pictures. If we inundate the judges with the full force of our awesomeness, their poor heads will explode.

Mine are finally all taken, with only one crash, but there's no way I'll be able to pick the 20 best/most representative tonight. Congrats on being first out the gate, yannatw!

If I'm lucky, I'll finish my build today. If not, I'm confident that tomorrow it will be done. Then I'll playtest and take pictures. And since we still have room for more contestants, I think I'll join.

Apartment Mania, here I come!

Hmm, bathrooms and garages can be boring, but then, so are bedrooms. Idk, I guess it's just personal preference and I'm the type that likes to see everything, or most of everything at least. I always hate when I'm watching shows on HGTV and they neglect to show the bathroom, laundry, mudroom, or spare bedrooms. Drives me nuts and messes with my sense of space. I guess some people think it's just bare walls and paint, but I'm sitting there wondering if the renovaters actually touched the other rooms, what kind of paint they used, how big is the closet, etc.

I guess I'll have to remember to get as close as possible in the layout shots.

almost done~ just gotta furnish the last unit and then take pics uvu
I also made my yard bigger cos hey---long term housing! gotta have a yard for a pet or a jacuzzi, bbq w/e

Why not be a play-along? No scores so doesn't matter that you don't meet the no cc-requirement

Have moved kanzen and Yvelotic to the contestant board. Glad to have you both

Nice work yavanna! I really like the exterior of your house, it's very pretty :lovestruc And very rowhouse-y!

I have asked judges how they feel, waiting to hear back. If they are okay with it I will consider raising picture limit, but only by a little if so. As Peni said, part of the challenge is having to choose what parts of your lot are the best and feature those in your pictures. But on the other hand I also want to see everything like Phantom said, so I will consider it

20 W. Mercado St., Nova Colonia
 

Nova Colonia, future downtown of my BACC, is a densely-populated metropolis with high property values and strong architectural traditions. Vibrantly-colored stucco and tile roofs are the norm on its well-lit streets, and public green space both preserves ancient relics of the alien race that vanished before the first Simlian ships arrived and supplements the limited or non-existent private yards available to city dwellers. Balconies and large windows are another common feature of apartments seeking to prevent claustrophobia in their tenants.


As you see, the featured townhomes are part of a larger development surrounding the fascinating alien monuments and public park known as El Jardin de las Cabezas Grandes. Los Townhomes de las Cabezas provide five flexible floorplans for middle-income families, couples, and singles who want a slightly upper-income address, without the hassle of yards, nosy landlords, and snooty neighbors. (And I'm about to get hosed on the landscaping points, but in my experience townhomes are inhabited primarily by people who never go out into the yard anyhow, so I'll take my licking and keep on ticking, because Authenticity is Important and I didn't want to build a new set of townhomes from scratch.)
Pictures under the spoilers are 800 x 600; attached pictures should appear in the original size (1024 x 768). I hope this compromise between maximum picture visibility and minimal page loading annoyance works out okay. I've also spoilered them in groups, so first up, front and back views:



Floor Plans. This is the best shot you'll get of many of the rooms, so I hope I homed in enough.


And finally, the best assortment of sim's-eye view pics I was able to take. Some of the spaces are a bit tight. I'm organizing them by room rather than by unit, but promise no more than 4 from any one. And I'm counting floorplans as part of the 4, since I used so many shots to take the front and back.

@gummilutt , before I spend too much time de-CCfying this lot, would you count this as rowhouses, since they're attached round the corner from each other?

It meets the technical requirements, but whether or not it meets the "spirit of the challenge" (requirement score category) is up to the judges. To me it does since I could imagine a townhouse somewhere looking like that

Is it okay to have this price for 4-6 sims?



Total max is 7 sims with the 7th being a baby or toddler. When that kid grows up, it's gonna be tight. Though it's highly possible to fit 8 sims in here if they use cc bunk-beds.
I tested the dining space and it can comfortably sit 8 if they don't mind some of the sims using barstools, or removing the islands and using a 3 tile table instead.

Round 1 Entry: Townhouse with Yard
 

Show Required Shots:
3 Units, each with

• 3 Bedrooms
• 3 Bathrooms (1 Shower in the garage, 2 on 3rd floor)
• 1 Powder Room
• 1 Office/Nursery/Flex Room
• Decent Pet Friendly Backyard
• Garden Sprinkler System
• Large Balcony
• Garage
• Trash Shute
• Alarms: Smoke Detector (hidden behind the vent hood), Burglar Alarm (first floor hallway)
• Good for 4 to 7 sims, 8 if player uses bunk beds.

Show Per Unit Shots:

Rent:

• Unit 1 - 6,085
• Unit 2 - 5,964
• Unit 3 - 6,197

When it comes to interior decoration, my entry will be very similar to yours, kanzen! I guess great minds think alike

@gummilutt - The play-along sounds perfect, so could you please add me to the list. Thank you for suggesting it!

Also, while I love Maxis objects (especially add-ons), I always have to give them new textures in order to use them.

@kanzen I like the modern look and angular shape of your roofs. I also like your use of fencing for exterior structure deco, very neat!

I've just finished my lot! Hooray! Now it's time to playtest it. I did my best to noise proof bedrooms, so I don't think I'll run into any problems there. I hope I haven't created an AI-unfriendly layout, though. Tomorrow I'll see.

i found it helpful to pull up a notepad or something to make any notes of what needs to change when you play test so you can apply to the original build (IF you plan to package the original for upload) I've found it very helpful for everything to adjusting chairs on quarter tile so they can be used by the playtest sims to reminding myself of some things I forgot on initial build like burglar alarms!

Peni and kanzen, those lots look wonderful and I would love to be able to download them! Also, Peni, it's LAS Cabezas.

Thank you; fixed it. I see I got it wrong once and right once, which looks like I was covering my bases. But it was a typo, I swear.

Totally understandable, given how we pronounce Los Angeles/etc. in English.