flutterbyxbutterfly
My home is decorated - please feel free to go and have a look via my profile! 4laugh
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So, where to begin? I found this thread a long time ago but didn't have the time to read it fully and so subscribed to it. I've only now just read all of the first page. eek As I was reading it, I felt so inspired by all the ideas and also glad that I'm not the only one who feels that the houses on Gaia need to be turned into homes! :]
I apologise in advance for what will be quite a lengthy response. I hope you enjoy it and get something out of it.
My thoughts:
I love so many of the ideas people have discussed. Our homes on Gaia really are just too small, even with the maximum upgrade. Many people are attracted to Gaia because they get to personalise their avatars (and cars, aquariums, etc.) - so why not let us have more options in personalising our homes?
I enjoy going into Towns and looking in others' homes and I think Towns would be far more popular if there were more features added to it. It could go from a feature most Gaians only use for carolling once a year to an amazing place for people to really hang out and have fun.
I have always wanted to put a bathroom in my home but have never had the space and there aren't any walls to make it a separate room. Now, it's "okay" to have the kitchen, lounge room, bedroom and leisure space as open-plan but bathrooms simply can't be - they NEED walls. As a result, my house has always been deprived of a bathroom and I don't like it. It always feels incomplete.
I love the thought of multi-storey homes as this would allow us to have more space to divide rooms and would make the living plan far more realistic.
I definitely agree that there needs to be more variety overall and more themes! A lot of the furniture in my home (I believe) doesn't really match. Different pieces are of different themes and it often can't be avoided when we are so limited as to what we can choose from. More interactive items would be great, too.
I would really love a garden, veranda/terrace, jacuzzi, pool and garage. I love the ideas about using the bugs and other trash to really make our home "our home". It's those little, personal touches that really add something special to the overall feel of a home.
As for linking, I actually wondered why we couldn't click our letter boxes and be directed to our inbox. I wondered that back in '05 and still wonder now. rofl
I love the music option idea - that could really help set the mood for your home and there could be different tunes for different events, i.e. birthdays, holidays, different emotions, nature sounds (if your home were jungle-themed, having sounds of frogs croaking could be cool), etc.
A mini version of our aquariums would be so cute and would really bring together the overall feel of Gaia really being our own virtual world, with everything neatly coming together and having its own place. <3 As it is now, we have aquariums and cars but they are just "floating" in cyberspace with no real location. Placing them in our homes would give them the "housing" they deserve. Oh, and the lighting in our aquariums could also light up the room it's in, in the house. :]
I love the idea of the inside and outside matching. When I first had to pick the Home Style, I was concerned that if I picked the smaller home that the inside of the home would also be smaller. lol Windows matching inside/outside would also be great!
Oh, and I love the idea for a fence around my home - even if it's only a little one. Not sure if it'd "ruin" the overall look but I suppose it depends how it's done. xp
The idea of living outside of Barton also really appeals to me, particularly combined with the landmark idea. I would love to situate my house near the beach or a river, jungle, desert, etc. There are so many possibilities!
Alerts for when someone enters home is a fantastic idea! So is having fruit/veggie plants that can be used to make ink for other things, but I also think that perhaps those foods could be used for other things, too. You can make countless bouquets with flowers - why can't we make recipes with the fruits and veggies that we grow? It doesn't need to be too complicated but it could give our avis something cute to hold. :]
I also love the idea of a "disabled-friendly" home where you can have ramps and lifts instead of stairs/steps. The possibilities are endless. <3
On a side note, I just thought I would mention that there are sinks available (you can see mine in my home) but a bit more diversity would be good.
Also, you -can- have a laptop, like in my home, but it'll cost you because it's a G9 Laptop - yes, that's right: an MC from early '06. rofl
One thing I haven't come across as being mentioned yet is completing chores to make gold. It might sound silly but in another way, if maintaining your home earns you gold, then you're more likely to go back and use it more! Plus, friends could help clean and earn gold, too. There would have to be limits set (of course) but it's still something different to do on Gaia. :]
Also, what about having an option similar to Outfits in our Avatar section, where we have a wardrobe option to quickly change into the appropriate attire for any given room or activity? For example, if we want to "go for a swim" we could have preselected outfits that we simply click and change into for what we're doing at the time. I'm not sure if this is possible but it would be cool. ^_^
Anyway, I think that's about all I can think of right now. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
If you have the time, could you please let me know what you think of my ideas? I'd love feedback.
Thank you so much for making this thread. I really do hope Gaia improves this overall feature of the site. heart
Oh yeah, and, I sign! 4laugh heart (I would sign it a million times if it'd help. xp )
I like these ideas! Thank you!
I love that idea about having an option similar to outfits. I redecorated my home several times and I took screenshots but it would be much easier to redecorate them using previous themes.
I also like the chores idea. It would be similar to the quest system in Garage.
Thanks again! I'll be posting this on the first page.
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