Go New Orleans on a Budget
by Kassadee_Marie, HSM team writer
Close your eyes and think of New Orleans. What do you picture? It’s probably the Mardi Gras and the old French quarter; bright swirls of colors on flags and clothing; people enjoying rides in horse drawn carriages; an abundance of plants; the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchartrain. You may also imagine the sound of jazz music playing and the aroma of spicy Creole food cooking. If you love the South, and especially the warmth and welcome of Louisiana’s treasure city, let’s travel to the “Big Easy” on Home – on a budget, as always!
The Mississippi flows through New Orleans and the homes along it have a great river view. This fact makes the Summer House seem like a great choice for a personal space for this theme. This $4.99 estate is the earliest one offered for sale by Sony and it’s still a favorite. It even comes in a night-time version, if you prefer, called the Xi Party House, which – as the name implies – is ready for partying. While it’s a small estate by today’s standards, it does have a large patio with the gorgeous river view, and with the night time version, you’ll also see a boat on the river. This patio is a great place to set up a barbecue, hot tub and outdoor furniture, or even shade trees in the daytime version.
The interior is two large rooms, on two floors. Both rooms have large fireplaces and can be set up in a variety of ways. A friend of mine has the Xi Party House version set up as a nightclub, and this would fit the New Orleans theme very well. As mentioned, the nighttime version is already decorated for a party, and has some built-in features that are not in the daytime version, such as music. I recommend that you preview both estates before choosing one. A small flaw with the Xi Party House is that there are no wall spaces for frames or other items, but there are three furniture spawning spots, including the patio, so you don’t have to worry about fitting items through the doors. The Summer House has two picture frame spots, both on the upper level.
In keeping with the theme, you’ll want to decorate with furniture that is comfortable looking and colorfully bright, or airy and light, or even white. One colorful choice would be the orange pieces from the Sony Originals Playground theme. There are three items, two of which (the sofa and the chair) are sold for $.25 each, and the footstool is sold for a mere $.05! The white couch and chair reward items from the game at Abstergo labs would look great if you are setting up a living room or lounge area in a club. Be sure to add colorful flowers and lots of greenery such as ferns, whatever motif you choose.
If you already have bathroom furniture, such as one of the bundles from Lockwood, you may want to set up a bathroom and bedroom on the second floor, with strategically placed wall dividers. If not, you might want to pick up a few of the items in one of the two color choices (three, if you count the set in the gift machine). For a nightclub, the use of several of the walls of a restroom stall placed side by side, would make an interesting look for a club restroom. You’ll find this item in Loot’s pack called the “Ghostbusters Locker Room Bundle”. This four piece set costs $1.99, and only the set comes with the “necessary item” for use in a restroom.
When dressing for the New Orleans style, you’ll probably want to dress for Mardi Gras in clothing that is bright, colorful, and stylish. If you ladies don’t already have a floor-length dress, Konami just came out with a line called “Fashionista” that offers a beautiful brocade dress for $1.49 in three colors, and for $1.99 in gold. Just add matching heels, your favorite hairdo, a mask, and perhaps a fan to carry, and you’re all set to party.
You guys would look great in any suit that you already own — or the new white suit from Jam Games, called the Valentines Suit, for $1.49 — with the addition of a mask, such as the ones that were reward items at Winter 2012. If you missed out on these wonderful masks, a few other masks are still offered as reward items or for sale on Home. One of the casino rewards is a mask, for instance. There are also masks under the Assassin’s Creed tab in Threads Originals. These Renaissance bundles are $.99 for three-pieces for ladies, which includes a fan and a hairdo, and $.79 for the two-piece bundle for the guys, which includes a hat. Also, the traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold; you may want to keep this in mind when picking out clothing to buy or wear.
By the way, if you do want to dress casually, there’s always the Saint’s logo t-shirt for $.79 in male and female versions in the “Saint’s Row 2” shop under the Threads tab.
There are more and more dances offered all of the time. If you have any of the new dances, you’ll want to pull them out now and put them to use. If not, the Party dance moves bundle that includes the Macarena and has four dance moves, and the Pulp Star bundle that has five dances, would make great choices if you’re looking to buy some new moves. Both bundles are sold for $3.99 each from Atom Republic.
With all the wonderful locomotion items offered for sale now, it’s hard to strongly recommend a companion any longer, at least not for “public use”. When you’re in a personal estate, alone or with friends visiting, you may want to forgo any locomotions and have a pet instead. In New Orleans, they love their dogs of all shapes, colors, and sizes. So, just go to the Side Kicks store and pick your favorite. You may also want to stop by Loot and pick up a few items for your dog, such as a dog house, pet dish and rubber bone.
Once you’ve dressed up your avatar and decorated your estate to your liking, just set your RadioIO to a jazz station, and then invite some friends over to party, dance and enjoy the feel of “Nawlins” on Home.
March 3rd, 2013 by Kassadee Marie | 1 comment
Home is endlessly entertaining to this California girl. Kassadee has been in Home for about four years, and loves almost everything about it (with a few notable exceptions). She spends way too much money there, and perhaps too much time... Someday she will travel the world and write about the people she meets and the places she sees.
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Nice article Kassadee,
I have both spaces. In the Xi house I have a picture hanging on my fireplace on the first floor. Perhaps the flaw was corrected. Whatever the case they are beautiful spaces, both of them. You paint a very good picture of how to use the spaces.
(If you are a member of X7, there is a discount on the Summer House, if I’m not mistaken.)
Great ideas Kass!