Room Reno #75: Warm Wintry Living Room

Welcome back to Room Reno #75 here at The Sims Resource! Today we’re helping a family of Sims who want their living room to be as holly and jolly as they are. Let’s meet the Sims we’re helping!

Meet the Oakes!

The Oakes are a family living in Glimmerbrook. Their house is very typical for the town–very fairy-like and magical, with whimsical little details to be found all over. While they love the look of their home, they desperately need a makeover for their living room. Right now, it’s a got a lot of empty space, which makes the room feel sort of barren and sad with how big it is. Not to worry, though! Room Reno is here to make their dreams come true. Since it’s the holiday season, the Oakes really want the space to be perfectly cozy and ready to curl up in when it’s snowy outside. This means planning for pieces that feel sweet and homey, along with lots of warm woods to help the space have a natural feel as well. Got all that? Let’s see what we’re working with!

The Before

This space has a ton of potential. I know I say that every build, but this one has an insane amount of potential. It’s huge, for one, which means there’s enough space for far more than just a living area. I know I’ve said in the past that I don’t always like working on larger rooms, because they can be intimidating and harder to fill up in a way that makes sense. This room was a challenge I was ready to take on, though, because of the amazing round windows and wooden walls. I really love how the walls bring the whole space together and make the room feel cozy, even with all that extra empty space. With furniture added, there’s no way this room will feel sad or empty anymore!

I have a few notes when looking at the room, though. For one, the windows and archway are made of a wood that doesn’t match the walls and floors. Normally, I would be against that–if a wood is contrasting, I like it to be painted white or black. Here, though, since I want everything to feel very cozy, I’ve decided to allow the contrasting woods to coexist. I just have to make sure to add lots of woods of different colors to the room in the form of furniture to make sure the theme works. On top of that, I think I’ll just have to add another of those round windows if it’s possible. I love natural light, and also–those windows are so darn cool! Let’s get planning!

The Planning

This room didn’t take so long to plan, actually. I kept the sitting area in the same spot it was originally because it felt like a natural place to have it. I considered flipping it to the wall with two windows, but I thought that entering and seeing the cozy area right from the entrance (as opposed to looking at it sideways from the same vantage point) was more ideal. I added a desk area next to the entrance, as any family can use an extra space to sit and get work done or even just chill out and play games, and I liked being able to add a communal aspect to that by putting it in the living area. I moved the bookshelves from near the fireplace over to the right wall in order to make a little book and reading area, including a built in table for extra storage and display.

I decided to put an accent table up against the couch for a few reasons. The couch I wanted to work with has a low back on one side, and leaving it out and exposed felt a little strange. An accent table with some lamps and knick knacks felt like a good way to visually divide the space and also keep the couch feeling sort of secure and cozy for the people sitting on it. Plus, more space to display knick knacks! Who doesn’t like that? Let’s get building!

The After

This build turned out SO cute! I definitely had some trouble putting together all the different shades of wood, but I think it actually created a sort of cool hodge podge of woods, all in differing shades of brown. It sort of adds to the cozy vibes of the space, and I’m happy I went through with adding stuff I liked instead of playing it really safe and only using furniture that matched everything perfectly. I’m also glad I didn’t go full on red and green everything, and instead used the colors as accents. I did an entire house of Christmas rooms last year, and by the end of it I didn’t want to see the colors together for a WHILE. Even this year, so long from that build, I like them better as subtle additions instead of the main parts of the color palette.

I really love the CC tree I used, as well as the varying sizes and shapes of presents I found from a few different sets. They make the space feel a little more realistic (there aren’t usually a bunch of presents of the exact same size!). I think I’ve used the tree trunk coffee table before, but I really like it and I stand by using it multiple times–I just love how it looks. It could totally fit in a super modern space, or a really cozy/homey one like this build. Also, can we talk about that green couch? I love it so much, it’s so chic! The CC pieces in this build really stand out.

Thanks for checking out this edition of Room Reno #75! If you liked this blog, check out Room Reno #73: Modern Bohemian Kitchen or our Gilmore Girls inspired lookbook. Looking for something else? Read about my thoughts on the Pastel Pop Kit or about the latest game updates! Have a great day 😎