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Designing an Attractive Neohome on a Budget


by jillian3_3

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Your pets have been nagging you to build them a home. The wistful crying for a nice home is starting to make you sad. You may have wanted to do it, but the task seems so large and expensive. You may have tried with one room but can't get it to look nice. Never fear! I am going to give you some advice that can help you achieve the Neohome of your pets' dreams!

Have a plan

Before building, take some time to decide on a floor plan. How many rooms will there be? Do you want your rooms to make a shape? Maybe you would like all the rooms in a square with the gardens in the center. How many floors would you like to build? You also want to consider what theme or themes will be used in your Neohome.

Perhaps, you want a Neohome that looks like a mall. A mall needs many shops and places to eat, preferably close to each other. Maybe, you are opening your own hotel. You would want a room to look like a lobby complete with a front desk for check-ins. You could decide to make your Neohome a castle with secret areas and dungeons. Once you have a theme in mind, build the rooms that would best complement your design.

Buy furnishings for your Neohome (Without breaking your bank)

Each room in your Neohome needs furniture; otherwise it would be a boring home. Your pets would have no place to sit, sleep, eat, or play. They also wouldn't invite friends over. That would make them sad. However, when you look at the prices of furniture you nearly faint. Don't worry, I have some ideas that will help you. Furnishing a Neohome need not cost billions of Neopoints. Let's look at some cheap deals.

1) Igloo Garage Sale

This is one of the best ways to score some really nice pieces for half their normal price. Just keep refreshing and random items will restock with furniture and garden items mixed in. You can grab one item per restock. I have even seen lovely Faerie furniture restock here for cheap!

2) Half Price Day

On the third day of every month, all main Neopian shops restock their items at half price! Simply rotate refreshing between all the various furniture shops. Don't forget things for your Neogarden!

3) Shop Wizard Deals

Do you want an expensive buyable piece that you can't possibly afford? Search for it ten times a day, each day until you find a price you can live with. Often, Neopians cannot sell an item even though it is valuable. They have no choice but to lower the price a bit. Also, sometimes Neopians simply do not know what it is worth. They may price an expensive item for 100 neopoints!

4) Trading Post Lots

Scour the trading post daily looking at newest items. Often, Neopians offer a whole group of furniture in one lot. You can neomail the person an offer or offer directly on their lot. Don't forget to haggle the price down if you can and check the prices against shop wizard. Don't pay more than they are worth!

5) Advertise a Want List

If you want things for your Neohome, advertise! You can write a description for your user lookup. My lookup includes, "I collect anything that can be used to decorate my Neohome to enter the Neohome spotlight." Don't beg Neopians for donations. If someone wants to help you reach your goal, they will simply send you what they see fit. If you are wanting a specific item, you can write, "I'm saving up for a Golden Garden Bench," for example. If you are active on the boards, more people will read your lookup. Who knows? One of those people might have a Golden Garden Bench, and be willing to sell it cheaper to a dedicated decorator.

6) Auction Finds

I often get nice furniture or plants for very cheap on the auctions. Look through the newest auctions that have 30 minutes or less left on them. Many Neopians are simply trying to get rid of unwanted furnishings. I have purchased pieces for thousands off shop wizard prices!

7) Post on the Trading or Shop Boards

Start your own thread. You can title it, "Buying discounted Neohome items with pure." That way, anyone posting on your thread will know you are looking for cheaper items. Don't forget to haggle!

One last bit of advice for you. All the furnishings given out when doing your daily freebies look wonderful in any Neohome. You can buy extras on the Shop Wizard for cheap!

Ready to Decorate

Now that you have purchased a good amount of items, it's time to design your Neohome. The most important thing to know is that when an item is placed in your home it looks much different than what it looks like in your inventory. Rainbow bottles of sand, for example, look like butterflies from above. You will have to experiment to know what your items will look like once they are placed in your Neohome.

Practical Neohome

This is the Neohome laid out in a normal fashion. If it is a living room, it will have couches, tables, wall hangings, and maybe some plants. You can have all of one theme such as blue items or brown. Maybe all the furnishings will be Zen themed. How do you make it stand out from the rest? Have some items placed in unusual ways. You can use various windows on the floor to make mosaic tiles. Hang interesting looking pillows on the walls. Items that move can draw attention to your room. You can use contrasting colors such as sand walls and red furniture. Really spice things up!

Look, it's a Picture!

Instead of a practical room, the furniture is used to make a picture of something. It could be a flower, heart, or star. It could even be a picture of a Poogle! The trick to making a picture is learning how things look like in a top down view. You can make anything imaginable with practice placing certain items together. You could even design a drive-in movie complete with cars! The only limit is your imagination.

Every day is a Holiday

Who wouldn't love Christmas all year long? You can set aside one room for each holiday. A green room for St. Patrick's Day would be so lucky! You can design a brightly colored room complete with Snowbunny chairs for Easter. Halloween would be a spooky good theme using Spyder Furniture pieces mixed with sheet covered items. Maybe you would like to celebrate Hissi Day. There is an entire line of Hissi furniture. Celebrate the holidays everyday!

Recycled Neohome

Perhaps your pets are Neopia minded. They believe in a greener place for everyone. You can create a beautiful Neohome using only found objects.

1) Wheel of Mediocrity

This wheel gives out random Tyrannian furniture on occasion. If you want to stock up extras to decorate with, the price is low on the Shop Wizard.

2) Wheel of Knowledge

It will on occasion give out lovely stained glass windows. They are perfect for any room! These are given out often, making the prices on the Shop Wizard dirt cheap.

3) Crashed Meteor Site

Sometimes if you poke the meteor with a stick, you may find an unusual plant.

There are many other sources for these recycled items. When designing your interiors, think green!

I hope this article was helpful to you. Hopefully, it will inspire your creativity to create the Neohome of your pets' dreams! A big thank you to all my guildmates and especially to the one with the dedication room. You know who you are. You inspired me to put my heart into my Neohome. You girls are the best!

 
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