Decorating the Challenge Spaces – Castle Durrant
by Kassadee Marie, HSM team writer
Castles were built for about nine-hundred years during the Middle Ages, well into the 16th century in Europe and the Middle East. They were built as fortified strongholds and as residences of the nobility. So, in addition to being well-fortified, they were centers of administration and symbols of a noble’s power and wealth. In addition, women often had input into the construction and design of these homes, adding a more feminine and “refined” touch. Of course, women also were responsible for over-seeing domestic matters such as the making of tapestries, rugs, bed curtains and coverings, and other household linens, which added to the beauty of the interiors.
The first personal estate offered to those people who earned the required number of points in Sony’s Seasonal Challenges was Castle Durrant. This space consists of a small stone courtyard with a covered well and a two-level room with a blue and white marble-tiled floor, mullioned windows, cathedral height ceiling, two ceiling-hung candelabra, and a large fireplace, complete with burning logs. The details of this space are very well done and it’s worthwhile to peruse such components as the ceiling, wall details, and chevrons hanging on them. Smaller spaces, such as this one, allow for a completed look even with a 100-slot furniture limit. What you choose to make of these rooms is left to your imagination. Perhaps you envision a throne room with a throne and suitable accoutrements on the higher area and a waiting area for the nobility in the lower area or a general gathering/seating space in the lower area and a screened bedroom in the higher area. Perhaps you see a flowery chapel, with the pulpit in the upper area and seating for the congregation in the lower area. (Home weddings, anyone?) Or perhaps you envision, as I did, a large eating hall, where the Duke and Duchess ate with the nobility in the raised area and the retainers ate below.
Several third-party developers offer furnishings that are fitting additions to this space. First, Lockwood’s awesome, but flawed Mercia game offered many rewards, such as the “Mercian Goods Chest”, the “Traveler’s Bench”, the “Mercian Fire Pit” and more that would look great here. Don’t forget to check your storage for Heavy Water’s items from Avalon Keep. If you own this space you received a full set of furniture that you might want to use here. And as an owner, or if you were a guest here, you should have rewards that fit with the theme, such as the “braced table”, “simple stool” or “wooden wheelbarrow”. These furnishings would look good here, also. You may have other rewards, large or small, that you may have forgotten about until you go through your storage and double-check with this theme in mind.
Sony has just a few items in their “Originals” store that you might consider picking up, such as the “Medieval Sword Rack”. Lockwood also has products in their Fool Throttle store, called Roguish Charm that would suit this space and theme, although some of them are fantasy items. They do have some things, such as an archery target, training dummy, and stocks that fit. (It’s too bad their armor is in a glass display case.) Don’t forget to add the black Lockwood stallion in the courtyard! Juggernaut also has several items in their store in the free MiniBots Training Facility’s space that would look great in the courtyard, such as the wooden platform and wooden bridge, which can be used as a ramp. nDreams’ Castle Greywold furniture is very suitable to Castle Durrant and their House Alliker furnishings fit especially well, do to their blue and white theme, matching the castle’s marble floor tiles. They even have stand-alone banners which look very good here, too.
Some of the best items are probably those from VEEMEE which they call the “Age of Swords” and not surprisingly, these are the most expensive. If decorating on Home is your passion and you don’t have any of these things, you should take the time to look them over. There are several packs in this extensive collection and it has everything from a nine-piece Medieval banquet food pack to a six-piece banquet furniture pack to a five-piece throne set. There are also queen, princess, king, prince, and knight outfits and a wolfhound companion.
As always, dressing to suit the theme can be very enjoyable too. Look through your wardrobe for anything fitting or check out the stores for clothing you may have passed by previously. Long dresses for the ladies and medieval outfits for the gentlemen can be found from several developers, such as VEEMEE and nDreams. Even Sony offers medieval knight outfits, for males and females in the Costume Shop.
Everyone can and does choose how to decorate their spaces in Home (or in the real world, for that matter), but I’ve never understood those who choose to go against the theme of the space – it’s jarring to me. I’m not sure, at all, why people do this. For example, why buy the Pharaoh’s Tomb and add a modern dance floor? If they chose a themed space because they liked it, why not stick with what they liked? You may want something entirely different, of course, but my suggestions follow the idea of “sticking to the theme” of the estate. I hope you find them useful.
August 12th, 2014 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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I have not decorated it yet but I’ll post my pics when I do.