Editor’s Note
Dear Readers,
I’d like to start out by saying thank you to everyone that was a part of
the making of our first issue. The staff has been great, as well as the
contributors and contest winners. This magazine wouldn’t have been
possible without all of you.
A lot of hard work has gone into this magazine and we hope you
enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it for you. We hope the tutorials
and articles in this magazine help you in your future builds. I myself have
learned quite a bit while editing.
Enjoy our magazine, and we’d love to hear your feedback. Visit our
site and our request thread if you’d like a new home for your Sims.
Our magazine’s web address:
http://abcmagazine.webs.com
Thank you and enjoy!
pepper090889
Co-Editor’s Note
Dear readers,
I would like to thank ALL of you, especially
those of you who helped put the magazine together!
You all exceeded our expectations and amazed us
with your creativity. The winners of the contests
also worked very hard making their creations and
deserve a thank you! This magazine could not be
possible without the staff and readers! Myself and
Pepper, the Editor, hope you enjoy the first issue of
ABC Magazine!
CTGjgs985 (Candy)
Co-Editor
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4532982
Mei Mai's Lobster Shack
and Distillery
Ahulani
See the World as Nature Intended
"Leave no carbon footprint." is our motto at Ahulani
(Heavenly Shrine). Open 6 months of the year left
to nature the other. Take the exhilarating 5 mile
hike, in one of the most beautiful rainforest in the
world, to get to us. Feast our fresh picked produce
and morning caught fish beside the waterfall.
Explore paradise, commune with the Gods and
sleep under the stars. Enjoy nature at her best. *
Ahulani
(continued…)
*Reservation a must, no tents, max 2 night stay.
Take out only what you bring in & nothing else.
Leave your CITY-tude at home.
gngrsnp
How to Build a Beach Themed Restaurant
By Jonny
The Building.
First, start by making your floor plan. My lot has
focused mainly on the restaurant aspect, there is a
small deck for the entrance to the main
restaurant, a bar area, small kitchen, toilets and a
deck for extra outside seating, and, lastly, beach
space for relaxing and playing. Try to find a good
balance between space and unusual shapes in
order to get a good looking floor plan, with more
protruding parts you'll get a more interesting
roof. Many things you can use to make it more
interesting are, using columns, decks, half walls,
and awnings. Be creative!
Decorating Your Floor Plan
You've got a floor plan down, right? Here's
where the fun begins. Add in windows,
decorative columns, stairs etc. Keep the items to
the style of your restaurant. You'll see I've gone
for an almost Hawaiian style, but you could have
a pirate themed restaurant, sea themed restaurant,
modern restaurant, whatever you think looks nice
by the seaside. For the more advanced builders
out there you may see the trellis made of low
fencing above the decking, have a go with this
making different patterns with them (just make
sure you have columns or temporary walls so you
can make it first)
Entrance
The entrance to your restaurant should be at the
front of your lot, perhaps make it obvious with
lights, plants or stairs if you intend for others to
use your lot. Double doors are particularly handy
for busy restaurants with customers coming and
going all the time. Keep the entrance clear, you
may also want a foyer for Sims to sit down and
chat in whilst waiting for friends but this isn’t
necessarily needed. Also having room for Sims to
park their bikes or cars will give the place a
natural feel, but don't feel like you need this,
especially on a small lot.
Seating
Seating is the second most important thing for
your restaurant (next to the food of course).
You'll need plenty of seats. Mine perhaps has a
few too many tables. The minimum would most
likely be about 6 tables for your establishment to
look like a restaurant. This is where the Sims will
spend a lot of time eating and chatting so
decorate it well, napkins, lights, photos, sauce
bottles, and the works! Be cautious with the
decorations so that it doesn't look cluttered, I for
one find myself saying "Oh, but that looks great
too" and try to plug it into the nearest empty spot.
Another point, make sure you leave spaces for
Sims to eat on the tables or else all that
decorating will be for nothing as they can't eat
there. Kitchen
The problem with community lots is no ovens.
Why, nobody knows! Perhaps EA overlooked it
or maybe they just can't be trusted around any
Sims that have access to them. Whatever the
case, you'll have to make do with the fridge,
coffee machines, and the food register. Now,
depending on how you want your restaurant, you
can go either one of two ways; an open kitchen
that allows others to see the food being cooked,
or a closed kitchen so Sims can make the meals
in peace. For the food register, available in the
community items section in build mode, you may
want it outside the kitchen or part of an open one,
as I have done, to enable your Sims to get food
without being huddled together stomping and
demanding for more space. The kitchen won't be
a focal point but is still important for you to keep.
Toilets
All of that food has to go somewhere, so toilets
are definitely needed in restaurants. They can go
where ever they suit your floor plan, try to keep
them a reasonably close distance to your tables so
your Sims don't have to walk too much. It may be
fun to decorate your toilets to match the
restaurant or you can stick to the traditional clean
tiled white surfaced toilets.
Decking/Balcony
The reason anyone goes to a seaside restaurant is
for the views of the shimmering sea and soft
sand. The best way to create this open feel is to
use balconies and decking. Your decking can be
completely open or with some type of roofing
just make sure you decorate it for day use and
night, some Sims may want a candle lit dinner by
the sea. When making your decking make sure
there is easy access to the restaurant and, if you
like, to the beach.
Outside Decorations
The important part about making a beach
restaurant is to use the fact you're at a beach. Get
some palm trees and some plants to bring a
realistic look to your restaurant. Use what's
normally on beaches. Put loungers, games,
campfires. Be creative, you could add some
picnic baskets, swings or even a pool or hot tub.
The Bar
It's not always needed but a Bar can be a nice
addition to any restaurant. In this restaurant it's
almost the main feature as it's at the center of the
lot. Using the windows it’s more open looking.
However, this same effect can be used with half
walls.
Expert Builder Trick By Jonny
Using "moveobjects on", you can place objects
freely. This can be used to put columns in places
they can't normally be placed such as next to
windows, on the corners of rooms, effects like this
have been used to make the windows and trellis in
my beachside restaurant. Be careful with
"moveobjects on" make sure it doesn't obstruct the
Sims ability to use nearby objects or that your
placement doesn't blank out the windows or doors
making them unusable.
Good Items to Use
If you have the "Sun, Surf & Sand" set or the "Tiki" set from the
Sims 3 Store then these will be very useful in helping you make a good
looking seaside restaurant. There are many other items from the Store and
Expansion Packs that can help your restaurant look its best.
Such as,
Seaside Fire Pit - Store
Tiki-spresso - Store
Headhunter Battle Mask - Store
Micro Grotto Hot Tub - Store
Perma -Palm by Indoor Oasis Inc. - World Adventures
Umbrella Sculpture - World Adventures
Portable Knub Set - Ambitions
Standing Sign - Ambitions
Wall-Installed Digital Fishiness Display - Late Night
Hopefully now you've got a wider understanding on what goes into a
beach side restaurant or you've picked up some useful building tips. Either
way go be creative, imaginative and try new things. Lastly make a beach
side restaurant worth being proud of.
Modern design is sleek, artistic, and above all, easy to clean.
Funny as it seems, it's true. Materials often used in this design
type are usually solid and smooth: stainless steel, glass, cement
slabs, etc. Also, this theme tends toward minimalism and bold
colors with splashes of geometric patterns. Look at originalsim's
Boxcar Terrace. There are only two items on the counter space,
circles and rectangles are repeated through the kitchen and the
counter top and cabinets are smooth. My favorite feature is her
artistic use of the medicine cabinets, a beautiful overlapping
pattern.
Exchange Link for originalsim's Boxcar Terrace:
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4003260
Kitchen Design Styles
The word Retro comes from the word retrospective, which
means to look back. So when it comes to design, this theme is
ever changing. In fact, what we consider retro now was once
modern. If you want to have a retro kitchen, research into the
era you want to capture and pull inspiration from books, old
magazines, or the internet. Ask questions about the prevalent
design aspects used for that time period. What colors are used
most often? What materials? The time period for chemicalwibs'
Norwegian Summer House was the 1950's and it is apparent in
her kitchen. The use of older appliances, the cherry wallpaper,
and homey knickknacks make this a retro kitchen.
Exchange Link for chemicalwibs' Norwegian Summer House:
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4038197
Kitchen Design Styles
From the colors to the materials, kitchens with a rustic design
bring the forest inside the house. The colors of autumns change
are quite common, along with a heavy use of wood in the
building and furnishing of the home or kitchen. To insulate from
the cold, heavy wool tartan, also known as plaid, fabrics were
often used to cover the windows in log cabins and have become
a symbol of the rustic theme. Yoda65's Wooden Christmas Cabin
2 demonstrates this theme clearly from her old fashioned
lighting, all wooden furniture and iron skillet displays.
Exchange Link for yod65's Wooden Christmas Cabin 2:
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3486587
Kitchen Design Styles
French Country is a blend of styles between social classes, a beautiful
mix of a farmhouse or cottage and a French manor. You will see the
rustic dynamic of distressed wood and the fancy and intricate pattern
of toile de Jouy. French Country is a great theme for those "going
green". Re-inventing is key to this design type and in fact, the French
have been doing this for centuries. A broken, but still beautiful vase is
made into a mosaic on an end table; an old serving bowl is re-
fashioned into the basin of a sink. In petalbot's French Normandy
Home, you will see old exposed beams and delicate china. French
Country is also very light and airy in regard to color, which is noticed
in petalbot's kitchen with her use of soft cream and sage.
Exchange Link for petalbot's French Normandy Home:
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4302158
Kitchen Design Styles
Latin If you have a zest for life, you might want to try a Latin-inspired
kitchen design. These kitchens are full of vibrant colors and textures. In
hot tropical climates, adobe, a building material consisting of clay, sand,
straw, and water, will absorb the heat of the day and transfer it to the
interior of the building during the day. Not only is adobe functional, but
it can be molded into beautiful designs or textures. Stucco is a similar
material that can be used on the interior of the house or exterior, but is
as a coating on wall surfaces, not an actual building material. Notice the
textured surface on the walls of itguyinsc's Santa Fe Splendor as well as
the intricate tile pattern on the floor and the mosaic on the arch
entrances to the kitchen. She has even included Chile peppers and
ornate pottery. A fantastic representation of a Latin-inspired kitchen.
[ Link will soon be on our website ]
Kitchen Design Styles
Gothic Gothic design is not necessarily dark. In fact, the
architectural aim was to bring in more light with numerous
windows and high ceilings. Although this is the case, the
buildings were still relatively dark due to the use of stone and
lack of electric lighting during this time period. In my Gothic
build, Gargoyle's Perch, I used both aspects: stone and torch or
candlelight. I also used the most identifiable feature of Gothic
architecture, the pointed windows. For my entire build, I used
this theme, but I made it a dark version, a blend of the somber
Gothic literature and the beautiful Gothic architecture.
Exchange Link for Mom2Elias' Gargoyle's Perch:
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4446454
Kitchen Design Styles
8 Ways to Maximize Kitchen Space
Open it up. Do not build a wall to separate your kitchen from your
living and dining rooms. If you want to create a distinction between the
areas, use a couple of columns, a kitchen island, or those great new
glass panels from the Store's Spa Set.
Combine the Dining and Kitchen Areas. If you are running short on
room, use the kitchen island and pull up a stool or two.
Remember the Work Triangle Rule. The “work triangle” is defined
by the National Kitchen and Bath Association [United States] as an
imaginary straight line drawn from the center of the sink, to the center
of the stove, to the center of the refrigerator and finally back to the
sink. Having these items close together increases the efficiency of food
preparation, as long as nothing interferes with the path such as
counters, decorations or high traffic.
Keep it clear. Counter space is needed beside the refrigerator for either
handcrafted meals or for a food processor. You will also need a space
near the sink for washing your dishes. Depending on how much
counter space remains, you may want also to place a microwave or
coffee pot.
Keep it clean. Decorations can create interest, but if you use too many,
your kitchen will look cluttered and small. This also applies to patterns;
a little bit will go a long way in a small area. Instead of using a pattern
for the entire kitchen, try an accent wall.
Let the light in. Windows give the illusion of more space because you
can see beyond the walls, but if you are limited, imitation lighting
works just as well. A combination of decorative lighting and recessed
lighting is a great way to illuminate without clutter.
Use reflective materials. Reflection is your friend in small spaces. Use
mirrors, glass, and stainless steel and the room will feel larger.
Use cool colors. If you have ever looked at a landscape painting, you'll
notice warm colors are used in the foreground to give the appearance
of closeness, but as you look further into the "distance", the colors turn
cooler. Use the same approach to colors when designing your kitchen
space. Cool colors include blue, green, gray and some variations of
purple. Warm colors are red, orange, and yellow.
I have never really liked the EA
version of the Catania Cafe.
Although, the architecture was
perfect for the area, the interior left a
lot to be desired. It was cold and
sterile and underused. The exact
opposite of what a quaint French cafe
should be. The decoration was dull
and boring, with very little character.
There were also huge amounts of
unused space, such as the upper floor
and an entire building to the rear of
the cafe. As part of the renovation my
goal was not only make it more
inviting but to make use of all that
wasted space.
The main cafe is now a warm
and inviting space, with fresh flowers
on the tables and a new kitchen in the
back. There is also a quiet space
upstairs to play chess, or read a good
book by the cozy fire. There is also a
small bar and a TV room. To make
use of the large building to the rear, I
thought what could be more perfect in
France then a small wedding hall.
Complete with a reception room. I
also spruced up the courtyard with a
fountain and romantic rose bushes.
The result is a multipurpose
community lot nestled in a French
village full of warmth, romance and
character. I hope you enjoy it.
Habbiba and Amir Esfandi, run a small
mom and pop cafe in the Al Simhara
Market Place. “Business is very slow." says
Amir. "Everyone takes their food and goes.
The most contact we have with our
customers is when we say How may we
help you and thank you for doing business
with us. That was not what we had in mind
when we started this cafe. We envisioned
families, laughter, and customers stopping
back to chat."
"Please," pleads Habbiba. “Can you
renovate this restaurant to be a place that is
not only traditional but inviting and fun.
Oh, and a nice table setting before a mirror
to celebrate Nu Ruz (persian New Year.)"
Habbiba and her
husband Amir are happy to
announce that the renovations
to their cafe, in Al Simhara
Market place are finally
complete. “We can finally
provide travelers with an
authentic Middle Eastern
Dining experience, including
non-traditional "belly
dancing". She exclaims. "Now
if only the rest of the vendors
would come onboard we could
increase tourism."
Mr. Lau requested his
Cafe be renovated. He felt that
tourist turnout was low do to
its primitive and lackluster
appearance.
"Business is booming" he
said "and we are standing room
only. I have money now to
marry!"
He is now urging the
other shop owners to beautify
their establishments, too. But,
that is yet to be seen.
Have you ever been to a
restaurant that had the worst
decor? So bad that it made you
cancel your outing with your
friends? Well that's what
happened to me the first time I
went to Han's Tavern and Cafe in
Hidden Springs. I thought, how
could a town this beautiful be the
home of such a tacky building?
Immediately I knew I had to fix
this place up. So with the help of
some friends and the owner I
began my quest to give life to this
dead place.
Finally after grueling hours of
tossing ideas back a forth, an idea
was born. Rock N' Roll! That's
what this place needed to spice it up
a little. A nice stage for a band,
some bars, a TV, leather and zebra
print. The perfect combinations for a
Rock N' Roll bar. I was quite happy
to see more people show up on
opening night of the new bar. We
even had a live performer. So next
time you're in Hidden Springs, make
sure you stop by Han's Rock N'
Roll Bar. Who knows, you might
even catch me there!
Credits
Builds
-Adventasia Castle,
Basement Bar, Beach
Restaurant [ tutorial ] –Jonny
-The Catania Café - KyliesS21
-Mei Mai’s Lobster Shack
and Distillery, Al Simhara
Market, Shang Simla Café,
Ahulani – gngrsnp
-Han’s Rock n Roll Bar –
Rawr2019
-The Lone Star Texas Bar
and Grill – cathystrof
-Beach Party Venue –
BakingNerd
-Goth Family Park [
Playhouse tutorial ] –
pepper090889
Kitchen Styles
-Boxcar Terrace – originalsim
-Norwegian Summer House – chemicalwibs
-Wooden Christmas Cabin 2 – yoda65
Kitchen Styles [continued]
-French Normandy Home –
petalbot
-Santa Fe Splendor – itguyinsc
-Gargoyle’s Perch – Mom2Elias
Contests
-Barnacle Bill’s – okester
-Caeruleum Aqua Marinus –
Elvaerwyn
-Cabanes d’ Arcachon –
yoda65
-Under the Sea – cipheruzmad
Quiz
-Romantic Dining Room [
Quiz ] - PEACHES327
-Vintage Dining Room,
Traveler’s Dream Dining
Room [ Quiz ] – KylieS21
-Modern Dining Room,
Elegant Dining Room [ Quiz] – pepper090889
Thank you for reading our first issue
and we hope you enjoyed it. Please
visit our site for links to all
downloads of builds featured in this
issue.
http://abcmagazine.webs.com/
We would love to hear your feedback
and ideas or requests.