10 Tips For Building Exteriors In The Sims 4

There are hundreds of furniture and decoration options to choose from while playing The Sims 4. It's completely possible to spend hours creating the interior of your Sim's house, only to see a rather dull exterior. We get it though; working on the outside of a building can be difficult.

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Here, we are going to take a look at some helpful tips that you can follow in order to improve the exterior of your builds. Overall, if you apply tips like these to your building process, you should create a more natural-looking home for your Sims to live in.

10 Look At Real Examples

The best piece of advice we can give is to look at examples. If you have a style in mind, try searching for real houses that fit the vibe. For example, say you really want to build a Gothic mansion, but don't know where to start.

Head to the internet and search simple search for Gothic mansions. Doing so will show dozens of dark, multi-tiered buildings, with many of them having a 'spire' of sorts. You can also see the use of wrap-around porches and several small roof sections. It's perfectly fine to use one of these images as a reference, helping you create a 'real' house.

9 Stick To a Color Scheme

Whether you want muted tones or a bright yellow getaway, it's important to pick a color palette filled with colors that complement each other. Too many colors in a build can make it feel cluttered and disjointed.

In the Gothic mansion example from above, you would probably stick with darker colors, as well as white and grey for highlights. If you suddenly had baby blue windows, the building would look a bit strange.

8 Remember To Landscape

Landscaping can make or break a building in The Sims 4. A house can be absolutely breathtaking, but if there is not a single tree, rock, or bush, then it can look a bit fake. In real life, buildings don't usually sit on a flat lot with bright green grass, so your Sim's house shouldn't either!

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Landscaping greenery is quite cheap in Build/Buy mode, so you can go wild. Place trees in the front or backyard, use bushes around the foundation of your house, and don't forget to use the terrain painter tool to add more variation to your grass.

7 Create Extruding Rooms

Box houses are a staple of The Sims franchise. We've all made a giant box with one pointy roof. Maybe you've seen real houses that look like this, but in The Sims 4, this can be a bit boring. To add some spice, consider having a part of your room that extrudes out.

For example, you can have a breakfast nook that extends past the floor above it. Cap the extrusion with a little roof, and you already have some variation! You can also extrude rooms on higher floors, creating a little overhang. To make it more practical, add some columns underneath to support the room.

6 Line Up Windows

While decorating the inside of a building, you may put a window here or there, depending on what looks best in the room. For a house with multiple floors, this can make the exterior look a bit strange. For example, if you have a kitchen on the floor below a bedroom, you may have a weird layout of windows from the outside.

Rather than placing windows from the inside, take a step back. With your walls fully visible, place windows in the same position for multiple floors. Remember, real houses do the same thing; windows usually line up with other floors.

5 Put Your Building On A Raised Foundation

Does your building look a little flat? Try creating a raised foundation for the entire building to sit on. This will create some depth, as well as allow you to create a proper porch area. Instead of a front door that leads directly to grass, you can have a patio with a bench and area for guests to wait.

If you don't have enough room for a porch, you can also just create a little platform with steps leading to it. This will make the entrance of the house stand out a bit more.

4 Use Friezes & Roof Trims

Friezes and roof trims can add extra detail right on the exterior walls, especially if you have an empty space to fill. Friezes sit on the top of a wall section, which means that if you have two or more floors, the frieze will sit in between. The friezes in the game are kind of thick, so these work best if you have taller walls.

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Roof trims attach directly to the end of a roof, and can be pretty much any color. You can also choose the trim's thickness, adding a bit more detail to the roof. While roof trims aren't needed, they can definitely help a build feel more well-rounded.

3 Create The Illusion Of A Real Fireplace

There are fireplaces in The Sims 4, but they don't have a chimney that's visible from outside the out. You can go in and add a chimney, but what about the part that attaches to the side of the house? A great way to add some variation is to have this 'brick chimney' illusion.

To do this, simply create a 2x1 room on the exterior of a house with a brick pattern. Extend this up to the roof (adding more if you have additional floors), and you have a perfectly fake chimney!

2 Include More Than One Exit

In addition to your front door, try adding another exit. This can lead to the backyard, or just to the side of the house where trash bins are. There aren't the most amount of wall adornments for exterior walls, so you can create your own point of interest with a new door.

This second door doesn't have to be as grand as the front door, but you can spruce it up with columns and a little roof, as well as surround it with bushes or hedges.

1 Look At The Gallery

Lastly, we suggest looking at the Gallery. From here, you can use households and lots created by other players, but you can also get some inspiration. Sort the Gallery by most popular lots, and you will see some amazing builds.

If a certain build really speaks to you, try implementing some of the features in your own build. Whether it be a color scheme or a wall technique, this is a great way to learn new building designs.

Next: The Sims 4: How To Find And Fix Broken Custom Content