Moony and I are having pretendy sleepovers in our pretendy houses. I've been creating houses for myself ever since I was about eight, and that is the root of the reason I have invested so much time playing The Sims. Here, then, is my house so you may all make pretendy visits.
I am a post Victorian Arts and Crafts sort of girl, so the house is a two story Craftsman painted in some deep earthy green or brown or a very dark blue that almost looks grey. It has a southern exposure and the front of the house does not include a garage (ideally, the house sits on a corner lot and the drive comes up the west side, that way, if the garage is attached, it opens into the kitchen). As a Craftsman it has built-ins: there are odd little cupboards all over the place, while some of the walls are nothing more than bookshelves, and tucked into unexpected places there are little cozy window seats with deep cushions and within close reach of bookshelves. Sometimes electric lighting is forsaken to candles.
The house has lots of windows, but nothing that's floor to ceiling or ridiculously wide. There is no separate great room, den, and family room in this house: true to Craftsman style there is one living room for entertaining and for the family. The living room has a decent sized brick fireplace, but it's fueled by the brush from the garden (in my mind, there's an ancient apple tree that was struck by lightning which we cut and burn in the winter- mmm, apple wood). There are dark wood columned entries instead of doors (think Bilbo's house if the doors were square- actually the whole house has lots of resemblances to Bag End). If there is a television, it's not hidden in a cupboard- there isn't always a television.
The kitchen is a warm version of a butler's pantry with tiled countertops and glass windowed cupboards. The fixtures are in either a copper or porcelain. The refrigerator is not hidden behind cabinetry! There is a funny little window in the kitchen with cloudy circular glass (think of the window in Snow White, when she's in the kitchen baking pies, only mine doesn't open).Just off the kitchen I have a dining room with lots of windows, which is open to the kitchen and used as it was intended to be used.
I do have two bathrooms, one up and one down, but both are on the small side. Their smallness is made up for with their brightness- yellow or blue or maybe even lilac, and there is Arts and Crafts inspired stained glass in the downstairs bath at least. While there's probably a shower downstairs, a claw foot tub sits in the upstairs bath. There is no �master suite�, but the bedrooms are all fairly large, with largish not quite walk-in closets (maybe 4� by 4�) and have dormer windows or some other kind of "architectural character" as it's called now.
Somewhere in the house, maybe my bedroom, or maybe in a hallway there is a tree made of plaster growing out of the wall. I once knew a girl who had made one out of chicken wire and papier mache, but I think plaster will look better, be more permanent, and paint nicer.
The house has a front porch and a back porch, and the back porch is more like a room. There�s a line of windows and the walls are either wood paneling or bead board. This porch looks out on the back garden, which actually slopes down from the house at the back. This means I have a sort of rock or wall or terrace garden at the back of the house, which trails down to the yard. There are four or five mature maple and oak trees here- one of them has a swing. It's a yard big enough for croquet (not that we'd have croquet on the lawn, but that's about all the open grass it has) planted all the way around with old-fashioned little flowers and bushes.
There will be lilies of the valley, daffodils, violets, hollyhocks, asters, and loads of other flowers that mean butterfly garden or hummingbirds. I probably will not be able to resist having some nightshade (black, not deadly), witch hazel, henbane and some other slightly suspicious plants. Probably a Dictamnus (also called a Gas Plant or Burning Bush), they�re pretty and give off a flammable lemon-scented gas. The high walls or fences around the garden cannot be distinguished because they're so overgrown with honeysuckle, creeper, and morning glories (which are allowed to grow even if they are weeds). There are lilac bushes in a back corner.
Beyond the grassy part of the yard, maybe through a gate, the trees (pines, spruces, birches, and apple, along with the oaks and maples) grow into a forest and there are outbuildings tucked into odd little places out here. One of them, maybe a chicken coop or a horse barn at one time, is my little writer's studio. It's a tiny little room with low ceilings and tiny windows. The walls are mostly full of built in cupboards attached with iron straps. They're stuffed full with books and papers. There is a desk (which has a computer, but it's not obviously an "office"), and a little sofa.
There is a cellar reached either through stairs in the kitchen, or a cellar door outside. The cellar is stony and cool; at one time, someone lined the walls with Mason jars full of pickles and tomato sauce.
These were probably grown in the side garden- along the whole east side of the house is a kitchen garden with tomatoes, strawberries, onions, sweet corn, lettuces, parsley, thyme, peppers, rosemary, snow peas, carrots, and pumpkins. I think it�s probably impossible to grow carrots and pumpkins in the same garden, but this is my fantasy and I want to grow my own jack-o-lanterns.
While sometimes Nathan and I sneak off by ourselves (because of course Nathan is there), everyone who loves good conversation, games, and food are welcome. We can work in the garden, make dinner, and afterwards sit out on the back porch. As the sun sets, we�ll watch the stars or the fireflies come out.
For those visiting during Christmas, the house is tastefully outlined with large outdoor strings, either white or coloured. There will be a snowfall, at least four inches deep. Inside, the house is decorated with bells, candles, pine branches and cones. There are cookies in the oven- possibly spritz, molasses, pepparkakor or chocolate chip. An enormous real tree sits in the living room where a fire is going. If it�s apple wood, in combination with the baking the place will probably smell like an apple cinnamon muffin.
The house is basically friendly and cozy and just perfect for a dog, friends and Nathan and me. It�s full of dark old wood furniture, open windows and deep cushions. Hardwood floors spotted with rugs. It feels so good writing about it- I hope someday I get to live in it.
Thanks for the opportunity to write this Moony, hope you enjoyed your stay!