Advanced Neohoming

This article is targeted for the users who are willing to become obsessed with their neohomes, who have already read the basics and wonder “what’s next?” It’s for those who are suffering from an overwhelming feeling of ennui when they look at their current neohome and (most especially) for those who have a couple of million neopoints burning a hole in their pockets. (It’s also for those who are going after the spotlight.)

My target audience probably already has a neohome that is at least partially furnished—you may even believe you are close to being “done” (don’t worry; this feeling will pass soon enough). You probably have already determined what your house is going to be, whether it is a cozy retreat, a posh mansion or a concept neohome such as a luxury resort or a museum.

You’ve also already probably figured out that you can arrange furniture at angles by holding down the SHIFT key when you’re clicking the rotate button (but if you hadn’t, I’ve just told you) and you might have even learned the hard way to remove items from your room before you demolish it.

If this describes you (or if it doesn’t but I haven’t frightened you away yet) then lend me your ear. Thanks to my complete obsession with all things neohome-related, and my own trial-and-error while I constructed my neohome, I can provide you with the latest neohome design fashions and the inside information on how to give your house that extra something to make it stand out from all the others.

1. THINKING LIKE A NEOHOMER

This is the most important skill to acquire. In general, it all comes down to perspective. Real, honest-to-goodness (obsessed) neohomers have a different perspective than the everyday Neopian. They have learned to see beyond the list of items in the room to what we create from them. Put simply, they don’t see the ubiquitous blue broom as a blue broom (possibly because it doesn’t really look like one). Instead, they use it to create door handles, tableware, rope, game controllers, railings and many other items.

Yes, this is the expensive part of neohoming—even straw desks can set you back a few NP when you have fifty of them in your room—but it’s also what sets apart the best neohomes.

Once you can see a room as much more than the sum of the items in it, you’re then ready to get into the advanced neohoming.

2. TILING:

    Tired of the flooring options available? Sick of the cream rug? Well, one day some insane neohomer (we haven’t quite pinned down the culprit yet) decided to create flooring tiles out of furniture items other than your average rug. Any item can be tiled. Neohomers have tiled everything from classic dining tables and straw desks to functional grey chairs and checkered sofas. (Some tiling projects are considered more insane than others.)

    There are four basic typed of tiling: classic tiling, alternating tiling and overlapping tiling.

Classis Tiling – This is what you get when you arrange a bunch of square or rectangular items edge-to-edge and use them as flooring. Imagine an area rug constructed out of nine dried bamboo mats, for instance.

Alternating Tiling – Instead of using nine dried bamboo mats, as in the above example, use half fresh and half dried bamboo mats in an alternating pattern. In its simplest form, this can look like a checkerboard.

Overlapping Tiling – Basically, what it sounds like. This is a different effect that you can get by overlapping the items so only part (like ten pixels) of each row is showing. You can create a wood floor with this effect. The effectiveness of this project is going to rely almost entirely on your ability to work with depths. I would highly recommend removing every item from the room then adding the flooring in small groups. The first item you enter will be the lowest in depth. If you add the items in small groups and save between the groups, you don’t need to deal with locking depths.

Alternating-Overlapping Tiling – A twist on overlapping tiles where you alternate different tiling materials. I made a wood floor with the occasional colorful plank out of overlapping straw desks and every so often another item such as a violet shelf unit or an entertainment center. Like the Overlapping Tile, this requires careful planning so you don’t have to fuss too much with depths.

3. COMPILING:

Like tiling, compiling new items out of existing items requires a keen imagination and an ability to visualize something other than the items you have in front of you. Are your pets crabby in the morning? Compile them a coffee maker out of a blue glazed jug between two zen drawers. Fellow neohomers and I have made easels, blenders, shelves filled with books, pirate ships, tree forts, palm trees, night skies and even a pipe organ!

4. EDGING:

The most adventurous (or downright nutty) neohomers out there will use edging in order to make items stand out. Somewhat similar to compiling, it involves overlapping items with just the edge of the lower item showing. Things with unique edges like the shell mirror or large plain window look really great when placed underneath other items like counters, tables or even tiling projects. You can also edge such items with contrasting colors to add pizzazz.

    Well, that’s all for this lesson, folks! I hope I’ve managed to spark your neohoming imagination just a little.

Special thanks go out to the ever-running Neohome topic over at the spotlight/gallery chat board and Glospencer for allowing me to reference DeDesari’s amazing pet page.