117prims

Another preview of 101 Hanover Avenue

2010-11-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

This time it's the "Red Rooms" version, almost finished (I'm going to touch up the wallpaper upstairs before I pack it up).

The insert photo is of the back room downstairs (very suitable to be a dining room or study). This version is actually less prims than the "House of Blues" version because it uses a texture that includes wainscotting in the back room instead of using additional prims for it. The "Red Rooms" version will come in under 100 prims!

Teaser - 101 Hanover Avenue

2010-11-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Well, I am finally ready to talk about the project that I've been working on!

For a long time, I wasn't ready to talk about it. At some points during the development of this project, I've been unsure if I was up to the task of finishing it! You see, I am new to building in Second Life.

About three months ago, I started shopping for Fall/Halloween themed items. I was contemplating setting up a haunted house (which of course fell by the wayside as this project unfolded). I had in mind some kind of elegant house that was somewhat goth in inspiration/color but not extremely Halloween-ish (ie, not garish or run-down). Also, my requirements were that the house be low-prim (about 130 prims or less) and fit on a 1024 lot. And I did not want to pay more than $600L for this house.

I quickly discovered that NO ONE in SL appeared to be selling the kind of house I was looking for. The houses that came close were either much higher prim, extremely low quality, or very expensive.

So that's when the idea for Hanover Ave Homes came to me.

Hanover Avenue Homes are going to be low prim houses inspired by restored old "city houses" found in many East Coast U.S. cities. Typically these are "town" or "row" houses with little space in between them, so there may be little to no windows on the sides of the houses.

The style is not goth or Victorian or Edwardian, or city-chic, but a sophisticated, eclectic combination of all of these. My younger daughter (who is the family stylestia) calls the style "elegant."

In Second Life, I have greatly appreciated a number of the shabby chic home designers who have developed their houses as both modestly priced and low prim, such as Modest House. It is my goal to keep my houses modestly priced and low prim as well.

The first house series to be released is going to be 101 Hanover Ave. This house will be available in 3 to 4 color-themed versions and will be about 100 to 105 prims (depending on the specific house in the series). This house has three stories and 5 rooms - two each on the first and second floors, and a loft in the attic. The first floor has a front porch and a double door; the second floor has french doors and a small balcony. The house fits easily into a square or oblong 1024 lot, with dimensions of about 18 x 22.

101 Hanover Ave - House of Blues is finished and almost ready to go onto the Second Life Marketplace (formerly XStreetSL). I am currently working on 101 Hanover Ave - Red Rooms. The current plans are for a fall-colored version and a neutral-colored version to follow shortly.

103 Hanover Ave is planned to feature a different interior layout, a 2 story front porch, and a brick exterior, but still fall into the same general size and prim range.

I also have plans for a whimsical themed house that won't necessarily "fit" into the main line but will be sold under the same brand.

Right now I have no plans to open a physical store in SL...content creation is taking up most of my SL time budget, and blogging the rest of that time! However, should you be interested in a footprint or seeing one of the houses rezzed in-world, please contact me (Horatia Abonwood) in SL.

My cozy space

2010-09-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

I originally started building this set for the SL Home & Garden Group Photo Contest, but I ran out of time, had inventory issues*...and I realized during the process that I'm not ready to enter photo contests yet. Take a look over at Flicker at some of the wonderful entries, though. You'll get lots of ideas!

Most of these home furnishings are from What Next and LISP Bazaar.

From WhatNext: Sofa (11 prims), Heart Picture (2 prims), Fireplace and Candles (9 prims), Bottom Rug (2 prims), Live Laugh Love print (4 prims). From LISP: Mirror (3 prims), Herb Plaque (4 prims), Herb Planter (9 prims), plant to right of fireplace (9 prims).

Blue Screen from Turnips Homes & Stuff (7 prims).

Pictures taken in: Modest House Hummingbird Cottage.

*BEWARE of returning objects to your inventory through the World > Place Profile > About Land > Objects > Return button. I've lost a lot of my home furnishings inventory in the last couple of months, and I suspect it is because of relying on this function when I want to start over with a new set or house.

If you want a new house, or think you might want one in the future...

2010-09-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

Two great sales going on right now. If you're looking for a new house, or even if you're a Linden Home Owner contemplating taking the next step into land owning, you really should check out these deals.

First, ALL prefabs at Modest House are discounted right now. Some are 5% off, some are 25% off, and some 75% off. Some of the the models are being retired after the sale.

For those who aren't familiar with Modest House, the name is rather descriptive of the style. Typically, the houses are fairly low prim (most around 50-120 prims) and will fit on smaller lots (1024 and some possibly on 512). There are also some skyboxes. The style tends toward Shabby Chic, and the textures used tend to be very nice.

These are very recent releases; a look over at the Modest House blog reveals that most were released in the last 9 months.

The second prefab sale of note is over at the new location for MotoBene! at the brand new Hide and Seek Sim. There's a 50% off sale on all prefabs in celebration of the grand opening. This applies to houses like the Harwich Colonial and the Harwich Mini Colonial, as well as to skyboxes and other structures. I'd show you some pictures, but unfortunately I can't get to the pictures at the Moto Bene! blog right now (which hasn't been updated with the new SLURL yet). If you take a look at the archives at the blog (and Flickr isn't blocked where you're at right now!), you'll find pictures of several of the structures on sale now. MotoBene! prefabs also tend to be designed in a shabby chic style.

In addition, there is a sim-wide hunt going on to celebrate the Hide and Seek sim grand opening (look for ants!). Other stores on the sim include Boom, AtomicBambi, Awesome Blossom, Coeur, Musim, and Olive Juice. Just from what I've seen so far, I can tell you that the hunt prizes look really good! Come on out, brave the lag!

Hey, Linden Labs...want to make SL fast, easy and fun? Then tackle inventory!

2010-09-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

(reposted from Horatia's Hopping and Shopping, because this is significant here as well)!

It seems like these days I spend most of my time in Second Life attempting to organize and sift through inventory…and admittedly, I am loosing patience with not being able to get better control over it. In my opinion, this is one of the biggest weaknesses of Second Life This issue is so frustrating that many SL users just give up, create a new alt avatar, and start fresh. The existing inventory management (or lack thereof) is also a frustration for new users.
If I was Phillip Linden, I would consider this issue one of the greatest barriers to making Second Life “fast, easy and fun.” I would be directing my development teams to look at different ways of organizing user content – from the desktops of operating systems, to software like iTunes, to Content Management Systems, and figure out…what are we missing here? What can we give the end user that would make managing their inventory easier? What can we build into the software to make the ongoing experience of acquiring and using inventory better, faster, and easier?
What I think is needed is to extend the taxonomy-related information for user created content, and then to develop the means within the Second Life viewers to take advantage of that extended taxonomy.
A taxonomy, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is a structure for organizing information. Online catalogs have a taxonomy (departments, types of items, etc.). And yes, XStreetSL/SL Marketplace utilize a taxonomy. When you, as a computer user, go on to your desktop and arrange files and folders in a way that makes sense to you, you are creating a taxonomy.

There’s already a limited taxonomy built into Second Life objects – one that recognizes that a notecard is a notecard and not a landmark, for example. Other information that is already attached to items includes content creator, content permissions, etc. Prims that are part of an outfit have a default attachment point. For apparel and body parts, standard “types” exist (jacket, pants, skirt, sock, skin, shape, etc.) and items are tied to that type whether the item name identifies it or not.
How could an extended taxonomy benefit a typical SL user? They could recognize immediately what category a box or a folder falls into without having to open and investigate the contents. A user could understand what objects belong together at a glance. A thumbnail image could be directly tied to a group of inventory objects instead of just sitting in the same folder with them. . Prim attachments could have a “type” attribute (necklace, hat, shoe upper, etc.) in addition to the existing attachment points information). And every individual item in outfit is tied to all the others, from an inventory perspective, so the item knows where it’s “home” folder is located. That doesn’t prohibit ditching the one skin shade out of a fat back that you as a user can’t stand. It simply means that while that skin shade is in your inventory, it’s “home” folder is the one with the related skins. "Take" a rug back into your inventory from your house, and you have the option to either take it back to the default folder (Perhaps Home Furnishings > Rugs), or the user-created folder where you manually moved it a few days ago (Home Furnishings > Victorian > Rugs > Green)

Customize the organization as much as you want, but when you click the “clean up inventory” button, the objects you have in inventory return to their default folders.
Looking to SL Marketplace provides a starting point for organization of items into categories.
Tagging would further assist end users, as well as content creators, in inventory management. Styles, colors, etc. could all be identified through tagging. However…it is important to remember that free form content creator tagging (vs. directed tagging) does not necessarily produce consistent descriptors (“Pink” could be any color from a light baby pink to fushia).
And while we’re at it, how about standardization in naming objects? Shouldn’t a hair always have “Hair” in the title, regardless of what else the content creator wants to put in the name?

The idea behind this improved taxonomy is NOT to replace custom user organization. It is to provide a starting point for organization and a means of users more easily finding content. Linden Labs could go a long way towards making Second Life more “fast, easy and fun” by focusing on improving how users interact with inventory items.

SL Home & Garden Hunt bounty #1

2010-08-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, despite my hubby being stymied by two malfunctioning ink jet printers and a daughter applying for part time jobs online last night (Mom! What's the street address of my place at college? What's the zip code? What month did I quit the part-time job in my junior year of high school? Am I assertive or tactful?), I did manage to go to a few additional stores in the SL Home and Garden Hunt (Little Boxes, which I otherwise love, is now is at the top of my picks for most sadistic hunt item placement!) and unpack some of the bounty of gifts from the hunt. I even managed to snap a few pictures at my skybox. Without further ado, here are some of the hunt finds.

Above, #1 - Theosophy. Forgot to check the prim count but somehow I doubt this is all that low in prims. Cute, though.

Below - this was actually the container for #3 - Cleo Designs. Or, at least I think it was. If so, I think I lost the items. If I can find out what it was, I may go back and get it. I might save this and use it.

Below, #22 - Art Dummy! Chair and Table. The table isn't all that unusual, but the chair is really cute, IMO.

Below: I find it heard to be live that THIS is what we were all hunting for so long at Aria. I'm assuming that those are blank canvases, and one is supposed to unlink them and put textures on them? Or leave them blank? The linked canvases and frame were no mod but I didn't try to unlink them. I might use the books somehwere, but that's about it.

On the other hand, #18 - Melia, below, had a pleasant surprise or two in their gift. That lamp is just...warm...in a way most virtual furniture never could be, and it's not simply the color, it's also the soft lines of the lamp shade.. I'd totally use this in the right style of a setting. The cute little glass piece with shells in it would make a nice accessory for a beach house.

SL Home and Garden Hunt...some impressions

2010-08-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

The Second Life Home and Garden Hunt officially opened Sunday, August 1^st. I really wanted to do this hunt “right” – the first day, chatting with the official hunt group, and in order. This is the first time I’ve done a hunt in this manner! Let me share with you some things I’ve learned from this hunt.

Hunting before there is a hint and/or SLURL list is really time-consuming! Especially with big hunts like this one (50 items). It ended up being a commitment of about 4 ½ hours of my time on Sunday, broken up into 2 hours + 1 ½ hour + 1 hour segments. I have not even finished the hunt. I have maybe 42 of the 50 items.
Many of the folks who are into designing and blogging about home furnishings in SL are really, really nice people! The official hunt group chat was full of helpful folks who would trade hints and help those who were getting stuck. As the day got later and an unofficial SLURL/hint list was posted at The Hunt Locations blog, there were less people on the group sharing hints.
Home furnishing stores in SL tend to be either really, really big (Aria, What Next) or very small. Generally, it’s easier to find an object in a small store than a larger store. However…
some store owners (both larger and smaller stores) are almost sadistic in their hiding of items (nothing new there!). There were many items on this hunt that I never would have found without a hint or help. There were some shops with obvious hunt gift locations (there was a group of 5 or 6 in order that were astonishingly easy). And then there were the ones that were so hard, very few people could have ever found them on their own (Aria, for example). Store owners should take into consideration that it’s not just about who can be the cleverest in their hiding of items, because this can backfire on them, aggravating a potential customer. Personally, I bought three things while on this hunt, considered several other purchases, and found several stores that were new to me. I’ll remember the aggravation I had in a few stores as much as I’ll remember the items in their stores.
Albero has got to have some of the silliest local chatters and hangers-on that I’ve seen at a SL shopping location or shopping-related event. That’s twice now in just a week – at the Gatcha festival round two last week, and now during this hunt. I’m not talking about event-related chatter, or even simply friendly chatter. At the Gatcha Festival, I ended up adding a bunch of trash talkers to my personal ban list. This time around, it was a constant stream in Chinese. People…can’t you IM or start a group or something?

Obviously, the hunt became a big black hole of time for me yesterday, so I threw the fashion post and the other home furnishings post that were in the works out the window in order to make the progress that I did. And I don’t have any shots of hunt items to show you yet. But I hope to, later today. I can tell you that I’m excited to start unpacking, based on what I’ve seen from other bloggers!

Do people really pay $10,000L for a house or skybox?

2010-07-23T12:34:00.000-07:00

While I was searching for homes and skyboxes in the last few weeks, I quickly discovered that there was a huge range in listed prices...and that higher prices did not necessarily indicate higher quality. Yet, there are many vendors listing houses and skyboxes on XStreetSL/Second Life Marketplace for $1000L, $5000L, $10,000L and more! I'm not sure why that's the case, since even a newbie could easily find low-pried homes on the site.

As with any other category, there is a lot of junk in the residental structures section, There are some real finds as well. Here's a listing of some of my favorites, from $22L to $500L. Since I was looking for a house with about 100 prims or less, and a skybox in the 15-20 prim range, I have primarily focused on those specs. If a designer has a shop in-world, I've tried to add the SLURL so you can hopefully see rezzed samples of the homes. If a designer has a lot of different houses on the XStreetSL site, I've provided a link to the search results for those houses.

DIGS: (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)

Skybox 25 prims, 15x20 w/ loft, $75L
Skybox 12 prims, 20x20 w/loft, $50L
Skybox 28 prims, 17x10 w/loft, $50L

lei Freiman

Simple Skybox with Changable Window Views 23prims, 20x20 w/loft, $125L

{NP}

Simple Studio Loft Skybox 12 prims, 20x20, $99L

Sebastian Standish

Upscale Skybox 20x15, 25 prims, $22L

BELINA Corvale

All glass skybox with loft 17prims, $75L

capriccio (SLURL)

Simple Skybox 10x10, 7 prims, $70L

Finch Endrizzi

Urban Skybox w/Changing Window loft, 24 x 24. 30 prims, $75L
Single Story Urban Skybox w/Changing Window , 24 x24, 13 prims, $50L

Pamela Galli - 3 prim one-room skyboxes, $299L

Serenity White Skybox 2 story, 75 prims, 32x32, $250L (I'd use this for a primary home)

ce (XSTREETSL)

Summer House 47 prims, 1 room, $80L
Not all of the ce skyboxes are low prim, but these two are:
Diona Skybox 22 prims, $80L
Simplicity Brown/Green Skybox 24 prims, $70L

Molto Bene! (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
Many more than I can mention in one post, but here are some highlights:

Simple Skybox 10x10, 16 prims, $50L
Mini Harwich Colonial House 105-128 prims, 17x20, $750L
The Boathouse 92-108 prims, 30x15, $500L
Sweet and Simple Skybox 10x10, 6 prims, $100L
There are two or three other low prim skyboxes in the vendor search.

Starwind (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
Price ranges from $50L (for some retiring items) to $400L

The Cheri Skybox is only 26 prims w/loft (cylinder shape), $200L
Other houses are mostly too high in prims for a secondary skybox, but very pretty for a primary home
The Dusty Skybox 96 prims, 2 stories, 20x20, is only $50L
Summer House, 118 prims, 2 stories, 30x15, $400L
Daydream House/Skybox, 52 prims, 1 room, 20x15, $99L promo

Thayen Eberdene (XSTEETSL)

Variety of very low prim skyboxes(3 prims single story, 7 prims with loft) with bright colored walls or dramatic grey/black styling, $75-$100L

Bang Bang Liars (SLURL)

Modern Beach House 20x20, 57prims, 2 story, $399L - tried this one already and it's nice
Bird's Next Skybox 26 prims, 10x15, $299L

Modest House (SLURL) (XSTREETSL)
$400L to $500L homes, most are two stories or w/ loft, most are moderate prim size for primary homes

White Chalk Farmhouse 77 prims, $500L
The Scilenzio House 94 prims, $500L - tried this one already and it's very nice and roomy!
The Sleepyhead House 74 prims, $500L

Mad Echo

Ember Skybox 20x20, 24 prims, $100L

The adventures of Horatia Abonwood, mainland homeowner, part 1

2010-07-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Linden Labs has put so much effort in the last 8 months or so into attempting to make the new user experience easier. As someone who came back in Second Life in the last year, I can appreciate that. However, I think that a little effort could be made into further integrating those new users further along the path of Second Life participation - in particular, the transition from Linden Home owner to land owner.

After several months of Linden Home ownership I finally gave in, abandoned a Linden Home for the last time, and went in search of land to buy. I had several reasons for doing so, but the biggest came down to one word: LAG. Since I write a fashion blog, I want to capture images almost every day, and my time to do so is in the evening (east coast USA). Most of those images I capture in a photo studio, so part of my "owned" home or land needs to accommodate one. Every Meadowbrook home that I tried had extensive lag in the evenings. Many of the Tahoe homes did as well. For various reasons I had already ruled out Elderglen (too small and I wasn't into the hobbit-fantasy styling) and Shareta Osumai (every single home in this line that I tried had a malfunctioning control panel).

So off I go, attempting to find out what I need to know to own land, and what kind of land to buy. I think about what I really want to accomplish with a land purchase: put a house on the ground for furniture/home decor sets (and occasionally change out that house to try out new ones), and a simple skybox in the air for a photo studio. I determine that I want about 1024m of land - 512m will be too small, and with too low of a prim allowance.

Based on what I read around the web, it appears that mainland will be cheaper in the long run. First I look on XStreetSL/Second Life Marketplace, and then I dig around on the Second Life web site, finding the land auctions. This seems promising. I watch for a few days, then start visiting land.

(to be continued)

New Beginnings

2010-07-20T04:10:00.001-07:00

This weekend I moved from being a Linden Home owner to being a Linden Land owner. Only one word difference, but a big difference as far as the Second Life experience. I'll be sharing more about my journey shortly, but rest assured, 117Prims will still be focusing on low prim home furnishings, even though I'm on a 1028m plot of mainland now and have a larger prim allowance (for those who don't know, when you own land, all prims, including your home, count toward the allowance). I'm just going to also be commenting on homes under 100 prims and under $600L.

Above: inside my first home on my land, as I begin furnishing. House: Modest House The Silenzio House, 94 prims, $550L. Fireplace and Accessories: LISP Restoration Stone Fireplace, 20 prims for all pieces, $250L.

Jewell Tones

2010-07-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

I love the richness of jewel tones in home furnishings. Ever since I first saw the MudHoney Water Sectionals with color-changing features in bold tones, I knew that I wanted to put together a living room featuring them. Finding pieces that go with them has been a little challenging, but I'm beginning to pull it together.

The rug is from Tatty Soup, which is a new store to me. I'll be featuring more of their items in future photos. The "wallpaper" on my Linden Home walls is one of Daisy Designs' 40 Grunge Wall and Wallpaper pack (should be available on XStreetSL.com). Most images in this pack have top and bottom border already included in the image.

Linden Homes tip: wallpaper those boring MeadowBrook walls!

2010-07-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

A quick tip for the morning...getting bored with the limited choices in walls in your MeadowBrook Linden Home? For just a few prims, you can "wallpapper" an area or even an entire floor. It's a lot easier than, for example, trying to create a loft in a Tahoe home!

Here's what to do, for those who haven't figured it out on your own. Go to your building tools and create a cube. Change the depth to something narrow, like about .005. Move the prim near a wall that you'd like to "papper" and stretch the height and width to fit. Adjust positioning as needed. Right-click on the prim and select "edit." In the texture tab, chose a texture from your inventory.

Now, as far as finding textures...the grey texture above is from the vivid - suede textures pack2 on xstreetsl.com. The cost is $79L for 10 textures, which isn't bad. I like the dimensionality of the sueded "fabric" texture on the walls.

There are many other textures available on xstreetsl.com. Here's a suggestion on how to search for them and cut out a lot of those you really don't want to look through. Go to category > home > building products > textures. Scroll up to the top of your browser window to the search button. Click on the "advanced search" link.

Make sure the "Search within the current category" checkbox is checked. Put in a description for the style you'd like to search for. Put in a price range (for textures/texture packages, 0 to 150 is a good range). You can optionally add permissions, but leave blank if you don't care about that right now. Sort by age - ascending if you want to see the newest ones first. Sort by price - ascending if you want to see lowest priced ones first. Now, click on the green search button at the top. You'll find that this cuts out a lot of the clutter and junk that you'd typically find if you were just browsing through the textures category.

Way to go, 3-Oh!

2010-06-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

There's a new shop that specializes in room sets that total 30 prims...so a Linden Home owner could put three of these sets in their home and still have 27 prims left over! The shop is called 3-Oh! and it's in the BugTussle sim, home to Sher's Cottage Gardens and LVS & Co.

Not only are the sets only 30 prims each, but each is only $300L for everything...lamps, rugs, plants and other accessories included.

Not surprisingly, most of the sets available now are living rooms, but there is a couple of bedroom sets and one breakfast room. Above is the Beach House Living Room.

For low prim furniture, the quality is about in the middle range. Some objects have shadows. Texture quality varies by the piece. Most of the sets are variations on a country theme - from the Victorian influenced Earthflowers Living Room to the Farmhouse Breakfast Room.

For the price and the low prim count, most of the rest you can find in SL is from is sales/promotions. PopArt, of course, is still the low price leader (but there most of the furnishings are going to be modern). For those who don't have the patience to put a room together from multiple sources, this is a great way to get a jump start on furnishing your Linden Home.

This is a concept I hope other stores will consider adapting.

Baustein Humpday Bargain!

2010-06-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

Take a look at this great living room furniture set available at Baustein this week for Humpday Madness. Prim count on the sofa is fairly high - 17 prims - and the set is no mod - but it's such a great deal for really good quality furniture I wanted to pass it along to you. I didn't check the entire group's prim count but I suspect it's in the 40 prim range. So, you could still put the whole group into a Linden Home, especially if you were only doing, for example two furniture rooms/sets.

Modern Store Tour #2

2010-05-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Bright sherbet colors mixed with white or painted wood typifies the Second Spaces look. It's a gentle "modern" look -- a little too clean and new-ish for shabby chic but without the "hard" look of much modern furniture. Prices here tend to be moderate with sofas and chaises running in about the $200L range. Prim counts vary widely, so be sure and check the count on any piece you're interested in.

The entire "Listening Porch" set below costs only $500L, and the sofa is only 9 prims.

Modern Store Tour #1

2010-05-12T09:26:00.000-07:00

When I decided to do a store tour of shops with modern style furniture in Second Life, the first name on my list was PopArt. If you are on a low-Linden budget and in need of home furnishings, this should be one of the first places you check out, no matter what style you prefer (there's likely going to be something you can use here).

I recently teleported to PopArt for the first time in several weeks, and I was surprised and pleased to see that the store was in the midst of renovation (while still open for business). New furniture was in place, along with some old favorites. In addition, there was an increased emphasis on low-prim furniture.

The bad news, if this is really all that bad, is that prices have increased. Previously, all furniture at PopArt was $1L. Now the price ranges from $2L (most pieces) to $50L (mainly kitchen fixtures). It's still a bargain.

Above: the ground floor of the main building features mainly living room and dining room sets, with some kitchen sets in the rear of the store.

Above: the blue sofa above is only 8 prims. Not every piece of furniture at PopArt is low-prim, so be sure and left-click on the piece, chose "Edit" and take a look at the prim count in the Edit Window.

Above: the dining table and chairs featured above are in one of the demo houses on the PopArt property. The table is only 2 prims and the chairs are 4 prims each. Be sure and buy as many chairs as you need, because their permissions are set to no copy/no modify.

While you're at PopArt, make certain you go through any external demo houses and sets they may have at the property. Otherwise, you may miss a real find!

Note: this SLURL is not as accurate as it should be, it sends you to the front of the store across from PopArt. I'll try to get an updated landmark ASAP.

Free Linden Homes Textures

2010-05-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Did you know that textures used in Linden Homes are available for free? Use these to make custom elements that match your home's decor...a window seat, a second floor for a Tahoe home, etc.

See the Second Life Wiki Linden Homes page for more details and SLURLs.

Linden Home update

2010-05-04T06:32:00.000-07:00

I'm now comfortably settled in a Plumtree, a model that I haven't tried before. It features a first floor with a step-up living area and a nook under the stairs. The second story has a small loft set apart from the main living space and a deck with a small pool.

Currently I've got my photo studio in the main area on the second floor, and plan to use the loft area as a bedroom (the bed's in there already). This still leaves room on the second floor for a bathroom (or, as I may do, just a tub) and a sitting area.

I really like this floor plan; so far this and the Grayson are my favorites of the Meadowbrook homes. I've also tried the two Skylight models; for various reasons I feel those designs were designed with less optimum usability (two examples: one of those models has stairs that are easy to fall off; and at least one of the models has an L-shaped area on the second floor that is pretty much unusable - too wide to simply be a walkway and too narrow to be used as living space.

I'm keeping with the shabby chic theme right now, especially as I finish out the shabby chic store tour. It is very typical to see modern furniture in the Meadowbrook homes so I wanted to do something different. Those of you who prefer a different style, never fear, I am going to feature other styles in the future and will be doing "resets" featuring different styles.

In the photos above and at left there are pieces by bitter vanilla, La'Licious, Shabby Chic furniture, and other designers. I'll be giving a more in-depth report on what I'm using as things progress.

With everything moved I've moved in so far, I've only used about 65 prims of my total 117 prim allowance! That leaves a lot of prims to use in the remaining furniture pieces and accessories.

Shabby Chic Store Tour #7

2010-05-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

La'Licious Designs is one of the better-known Second Life shops focusing on Shabby Chic as well as other styles of furniture. The furniture here is well designed and has beautiful textures, but not all of it is low prim, so I recommend taking a look at the prim count before purchasing. For example, the sofa pictured below is 19 prims, and at $350L more on the higher-priced end for SL furniture. Rugs are generally a good value here with most being $50L and under.

Horatia Abonwood, Linden Homes vagabond

2010-05-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

When I fist became a premium member of Second Life, I had no idea that I'd go through so many different Linden Homes in a short time. Here I am, several months later, and I've literally stopped counting how many homes I've tried.

Why have I moved on? Curiosity, for one. But more often...design limitations on specific models, the lack of availability of popular models at certain times (leaving me with the choice of staying homeless for a while or "settling"), and numerous instances of something people keep doing that is likely to drive their virtual neighbors crazy (or simply, drive them away).

The whole experience leaves me with many questions that I'd like to ask the Lindens. Here are a few of them.

1) Regarding the Meadowbrook Quad home design...am I missing something here? Who would want to share an atrium space with two strangers? Especially considering how many people are doing what I describe in item 2...

2) Flashing Ban Lines. Seriously, why hasn't this been explicitly prohibited in the Linden Homes covenant? With as close as Linden Homes are to their neighbors, especially in Meadowbrook, one is faced with the choice of either 1) moving, 2) permanently shutting your curtains, or 3) enduring annoying flashing coming through the window. Yes, I've been able to make them go away, temporarily, by changing a setting in the menu, only to see them again the next time I teleport to my home. And filing an abuse report of this is just a joke...I tried multiple times regarding the neighbor at my favorite home.

3) Bear with me here, this one's long.

One of my biggest questions is regarding the "favoritism" given Meadowbrook homes.

The two story Meadowbrook homes offer much more usable space than other designs (yes, not all Meadowbrook homes are two stories, but a majority of them are). Now, not everyone wants as much usable space as others do, because (for one thing) it can be a challenge to fill two stories using just 117 prims. However, more space tends to equal higher value in the offline world. And the Meadowbrook designs are the only Linden Homes at this time that have this amount of space.

The Tahoe homes are all a-frame styles with high pitched roofs. They can easily accommodate a loft; this doesn't quite equal the space in two story Meadowbrook homes but it does provide more usable space. But if you want that loft, you've got to put it in yourself, and it counts against your prim allowance. The minimum amount of prims I've been able to use is four - two custom prims to use as long floorboards (because for some reason one can't stretch the entire way), one to serve as a landing, and a straight one prim staircase from a vendor on XStreetSL. And my design was more of a closed-in second floor, because with a loft I'd want railings (taking more of the prim count).

The feature favoritism doesn't stop there. Meadowbrook homes have track lighting in the first floor living space. That track lighting (3 lights and a base) would be a minimum of four prims if one was adding it or building it custom. No other line of Linden Homes has this lighting included.

Meadowbrook homes have more options for the windows as well. Meadowbrook homeowners can change between open windows, closed miniblinds or gauzy closed curtains that still let in light. Tahoe homes can only chose between open windows and closed shutters - so if you want filtered light, you've got to use your own prim count to put up curtains. I don't think the other two design sets even have window options (I had one of the Japanese homes briefly before I realized I couldn't even have open windows, but haven't been back since).

From what I've seen, Meadowbrook homes tend to have more attention to landscaping and exterior space, as well. Many have second floor decks - and my current home's deck includes sculpted bushes and a pool (since it's unusable, I will likely use the option (which again, is only for Meadowbrook homes) of turning the pool into a green space where I can plant one prim flowers. Yes, the Tahoe homes often have nice front porches, but that's not as private as a second floor deck.

So I have to wonder, why couldn't other styles of neighborhoods have been designed with the features that were designed into the Meadowbrook homes? Why do homeowners in other neighborhoods have to use their own prim allowance to put in features that are included in Meadowbrook models?

Shabby Chic Store Tour #6

2010-05-03T10:00:00.000-07:00

Putting the emphasis on the "shabby" in Shabby Chic is Cheap Cheap...shabby as in the "well-lived-in" look. Furniture here is generally low priced (cabinets and desks for under $50L) and a moderate number of of prims. Most of the wood furniture has a dark but lovingly worn texture. Tans, rose, and mauve dominate the color scheme.

Many items have poses attached, and some of the poses are quite whimsical (such as the desk, where one can fall asleep out of boredom while cramming for that final.

Weekend freebie and another going out of business sale

2010-05-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings, lovelies, please forgive the unladylike pose. I'm coming to you from Sher's Cottage Garden in Bugtussle, 3 where this sweet bench with retro-patterned pillows is a freebie gift this weekend. While you're here, be sure to check out all the rooms of Sher's shop, as well as the gardens

And sometime soon, please be sure and visit The Freaky Beaver in Car Wash. Freaky Beaver is going out of business at the end of May, and all items are marked down to $1L, including this cute patio set which is available in several fabrics.

Shabby Chic Store Tour #5

2010-04-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

*bitter vanilla* is another cute shop that's off the beaten path.

Shabby Chic style here has a retro slant, with a focus on wooden pieces in natural and pale tones.

Be sure to check out the second floor, where you'll find kitchen and dining furniture. Below is the kitchen I have been using in my own Linden Home; it's 10 prims and sells for $200L. I'd like to have an oven door instead of the shelves below the stove, but otherwise it's pretty much perfect for what I wanted. Now if I could only find a retro refrigerator somewhere that went well with this set!

Sale alert!

2010-04-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Renee Lowenhart for posting this on the Fabulously Free in SL list in-world...

*PASH*, a SL shop selling skyboxes, furniture and trees, is having a going out of business sale. Skyboxes and furniture suites are reduced to $1L.

The sofa below is 8 prims, so this is a great deal on low prim furnishings that you can use in Linden Homes.

A note about my rating system...

2010-04-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

I want to help my readers determine which stores and which merchandise is worth taking time to investigate. I try to give readers an idea of the prim count and the pricing typical of products offered in a store, in addition to commentary on styles and quality.

Prim Count
Very Low Prim...most pieces are 5 prims and less. Dressers will likely be about 1-2 prims, tables 2 to 5 prims, sofas and beds in the 5 prim range. Shadows may be optional or not included.
Low Prim...larger/more complex pieces are mostly 10 prims and less. Less complicated pieces are mostly 5 prims or less.
Moderate Prim...larger/more complex pieces are mostly 15 prims and less. Less complicated pieces are mostly 8 prims or less.
High Prim...want a sofa that will take up 20% or more of your alloted prim count? Want to max out your alloted prims with just a living room set? These places tend to go for detail, not for cutting prims.

Pricing
Very Low Price...I'll let you know specifics about unusual cases, like Pop Art with all their items being $1L. Otherwise, very low price will indicate that all items in the store are less than $50L.
Low Price...Most items in the store are less than $100L; some significantly lower.
Low to Moderate Price...Most items in the store are less than $150L; some significantly lower. More complex pieces and groups may be higher than $150L
Moderate Price...Most items in the store are less than $200L; some significantly lower. More complex pieces and groups may be higher than $200L.
Moderate to High price...Most items in the store are less than $250L; some significantly lower. More complex pieces and groups may be higher than $250L.
High price...Pricing tends to be in the $300L range and higher, except for a few accessory/occasional pieces.

Shabby Chic Tour #4

2010-04-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sher's Cottage Gardens recently moved to the BugTussie sim. Sher's features both garden/plant items as well as furniture. The style is definitely cottage/shabby chic with an emphasis on garden influences and feminine styles. Sofas are a little higher than moderate in price (about $300L) but accessories, like rugs, are often very reasonably priced.

Watch the prim count on pieces, though...the pretty sofa below is 19 prims (the pillows count for at least 7 of those prims).

Be sure and explore all the rooms - there are three main rooms in the lower level and a deck upstairs, in addition to the gardens.

Sher's participates frequently in promotions, such as LOW (letter of the week), so there are always bargains to be found here.

Shabby Chic Store Tour #3

2010-04-28T13:50:00.001-07:00

True Love Never Dies, or TNLD as it's also known, is one of the best implementations in SL of Shabby Chic style in low prim designs. TNLD's two locations, the main store at Mists Edge, and at Albero Home and Garden in Hyssop, feature low prim wood furniture at moderate prices. The popular Daydream Bed, featured in the picture below, is only 5 prims and $200L, available in white and black. I've got the white version in my Linden Home.

Shabby Chic Store Tour #2

2010-04-28T07:05:00.000-07:00

Today's Shabby Chic Store Tour stop is off the beaten path, at the Shergon sim. Sunshine Designs is a sweet little shop set in a field with sunflowers.

Below: the cute little retro kitchen on the left is not low prim, but it's one of the cutest I've seen in SL. The window seat topper in the porch on the right is low prim (5) and a sweet deal at $100L (includes a reclining pose).

Don't have a window seat in your Linden Home? Just rez an oblong box, give it a wood texture, and you're ready to add this cute throw and pillow set.

Shabby Chic Store Tour #1

2010-04-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

Hello, lovelies! Today we're starting our tour of Second Life furniture stores that specialize in the Shabby Chic style. Fittingly, the first stop on our tour is Shabby Chic Furniture Shop, in the Venice Isle sim. This shop features the designs of Laura Liberty.

The furniture here is moderately priced (sofas in the $250L range) and is moderate to low prim. The Shabby Chic Ruffle Sofa pictured below is 11 prims including the pillows and the throw; the coffee table is $75L and 6 prims; and the chair is $150L and 6 prims including the pillow and the throw.

After you investigate the ground floor, be sure and take the stairs to the second and third floors, where you'll find more living room and bedroom furniture.

Why 117 prims?

2010-04-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

117 is the number of prims a Second Life premium account holder is allowed to place in their Linden Home. While 117 prims might appear to be a high allowance to those without experience in furnishing a virtual home, it ends up being a challenging limit. For example, many sofas available for sale in Second Life are 12 prims or higher. That's 10% or more of the prim allowance, for just one piece of furniture.

Even items advertised as "low prim" may not be really low in prim count. "Low prim" tends to be used as a relative term when describing furniture. Is it "low prim" compared to the designer's other work? Compared to what the designer perceives as an average prim count for this kind of object in SL? Compared to some arbitrary number (as in, if a sofa is under 10 prims, it's "low prim")? Consequently, even items advertised/marketed as "low prim" may not have all that low of a prim count.

But never fear, that's why 117 Prims is here. I'm going to try and cut through marketing claims, and give you the straight scoop. What kind of furniture out there is truly "low prim" and what compromises does a designer make when lowering prim levels? How much is that furniture going to cost the buyer? What styles does a particular home furnishings store specialize in, and are they worth your time to visit? What accessories will liven up your Linden Home without inflating your prim count, and which ones are prim-count-busters?

Stick around, and enjoy the ride.