Introduction
Overview
Ground floor
A closer look at the rooms
Rooms that inspired me
Useful links
Practical tips
Thank yous


This is the general outline of my new neohome design. The screenie of the ground floor is that of the current and final situation, while on the screenies of the other two floors the roomtypes don't match. They are just there to give you an idea of what it's going to look like. When I first started on this neohome project, it looked completely different from now. However, the old house had a few (read: a lot) of downsides. Firstly, I had made all the rooms out of bamboo. When I started looking around a bit, I found it was much nicer to have different room types, so you can play with flooring and colours. Secondly, it didn't have enough gardens to my liking and the ones that were there were oddly placed. And lastly, it was not very practical. This meant lots and lots of stairs and walking through walls in order to reach certain rooms. I was very unhappy with the way it looked, and drew a new plan. This was much more to my liking, but in order to reach my goal I had to demolish most of what was already there (including an entire first floor with a few transparishield rooms - ouch). It was a tough decision - and one that left some of my friends in a state of half-shock - but I am glad I made it. Since then I have rebuilt the ground floor. Still have to furnish a few rooms and work on the gardens, but I am where I wanted to be now. On the rest of this page you can find screenies of the rooms that are finished, along with the stories of the rooms. I hope you enjoy the read, and feel free to visit us anytime you like! Tea is always ready, and our biscuit jar never goes empty.

Ground floor
1. Garden shed
2. Petpet bedroom
3. Petpet kitchen
4. Petpet bathroom
5. Gnome dining hall
6. Petpet playroom (the maze!)
7. Dingsebom's bedroom
8. Dingsebom's playroom
9. Fonfuzzled's piratey gym
10. Bathroom
11. Patcheeh's nutty room
12. Patcheeh's tea room
13. Entrance
14. Fonfuzzled's funky bedroom
15. Spa/sauna/massage
 1. Veggies galore
2. Petpet playground
3. Petpet hideout
4. Last days of summer
5. Patcheeh's maze
6. Winter wonderland
7. Colourful world
8. Thar be pirates!
9. Kougra lake
10. Welcome

First floor
1. Furniture storage
2. 147
3. Game mania!
4. Swimmin' in the pool
5. Gnome bedroom
6. North hallway
7. Library
8. TV-room
9. Lounge with stairwells
10. Museum
11. Theatre
12. Classroom
13. South hallway
14. Bar
15. Zen meditation
16. Jazzy sitting room
17. Dining hall
18. Kitchen
19. Dancehall

Second floor
1. Star gazers
2. Themed guestroom
3. Themed guestroom
4. Guest lounge
5. Themed guestroom
6. Themed guestroom
7. Gandalf's den

Pssst... click the images!







I will tell you the story of the rooms I have finished here, hope you enjoy the read. I won't dwell on most of the gardens here since there's not much to tell about them.


Petpet bedroom
My whole idea with this neohome was to build a place for my pets and petpets to come home to. Pets AND petpets, so both needed their private quarters. I thought it best to keep them separated, not only because it would give them more space of their own, but also because it meant more designing fun for me. I started with the petpet rooms because I had already designed those completely in my head. In the bedroom I wanted soft and dreamy colours, and pink seemed ideal for the little petpets. Since there were no pink cots available, I made my own beds and I think they worked out nicely. At least the little critters can't climb or fall out now, and even though the beds look a bit hard, my pets assure me their petpets have never slept more soundly. The yellow Faellie rugs I used on the floor were a bit of a pain, since they were rather expensive at the time and I needed a lot of them. They go purrfect with the room however, so I am glad I used them. At first I had covered the entire floor with the rugs, but when I demolished the original bamboo room and built this stone one, I found the floor would look better with less rugs, so I took out four. There are no windows in the east wall, since they would look out into the kitchen.


Petpet kitchen
I wasn't sure about this at first, but then petpets do have to eat too, and you can't have them messing up your formal candle-light dinner with friends, do you? The litter trays at the back are a controversial issue, but they will stay. My real-life pet (a cute little cat) also has his tray in the kitchen and I never heard him complain, nor anyone else for that matter. Besides, the litter area is firmly separated from the rest of kitchen and cleaned twice a day (or more if necessary). In my original plan the petpet quarters would be separated entirely from the pets' and only accessible from the gardens on the ground floor. I therefore had to add some stairs, and in this new design they turned out to be very useful still (saves you from walking across the gardens to go upstairs). And the stairs happen to have the perfect colour, too. When I was working on this room, I had not yet heard of the great aerial views of neohome furniture webpage (see links section at the bottom of this page), and I wanted a nice purple rug as a doormat. The one that would look best, was the fancy rug. It was expensive (around 40k at the time), but I went ahead and bought it anyway. Needless to say I was pretty shocked and very disappointed when it turned out to be teeny tiny. I ended up selling it again (for much less of course) and bought a Faellie doormat instead. After this incident I was determined not to let it happen again and thanks to the aerial views page, it never did. Well, maybe just the once then. But that's not the point, is it?


Petpet bathroom
Plain, but practical. Me likes symmetry. ;) When I relocated it I wanted the room itself to have rather dark colours, because otherwise the brick furniture and star windows would not stand out. The marble worked out just fine, also because the floor would have to be able to cope with all the water (petpets make a mess of bathing). The flowers in the middle of the floor are basically just there to fill things up a little. I had totally run out of ideas at the time, and when my good friend Tussi suggested flowers, flowers were there to stay. Since then I have made good use of the flowers and plants available, and have even discovered how useful pottery can be.


Gnome dining hall
Ah! The gnomes. They are a story of their own. At some point during the build I realised that this was going to be a MASSIVE house. When someone mentioned window-cleaning, gardening and housekeeping, I quickly came to the conclusion I was not going to do this myself. My pets came to the same conclusion for themselves almost simultaneously, so something had to be arranged. This is when the gnomes were brought into vision. There are about twelve of them, who do their work in shifts. They do not ask for more than free food, lodgings, and use of all the accommodations of the house in return of all the work they do. Needless to say, we are all very pleased, since they do their job excellently and never get in the way. (They move in mysterious ways and don't seem to need stairs or doorways. Don't ask, I don't know how they do it either.) They needed their own quarters as well, so I designed a dining hall and bedroom. The dining hall first had merry go round statues, but I thought the meowclops ones looked more formidable. The dining hall is supposed to remind of a castle. Again, plain but practical. Gnomes don't like a fuss. I know the windows on the west wall look out into the petpet bathroom, but they are staying. The room doesn't look half as good without them, and besides - the gnomes don't mind. They see whatever they want to see.


Petpet play room - the maze!
This is actually the first room I decorated when I began my neohome project. I wanted something fun and challenging to start with, and this room was ideal. At the time a good friend of mine (who sadly let me down massively later and with whom I do not have contact anymore now) was also working on her neohome, and she gave me the idea of creating a sort of maze for the petpets to run through, with lots of hurdles on the way. And so this room was born. It wasn't always easy to design new hurdles, because not every idea was constructable, but in the end it worked out quite nicely. The petpets are having a really great time in there, and I can tell some of my pets would like to be able to join in the fun too. At first the room didn't have any music, but when I came across the phonograph my mind was made up - the room would not be complete without one. However, I had recently bought a Darigan brush for my Lupe, and had just begun saving again. Needless to say that as soon as I reached my target I spent it all on the phonograph.


Kougra lake
There are a few gardens I would like to dwell on after all. All my pets love the great outdoors, which is why they insisted on gardens. I am not a great gardener, but they all volunteered to help and so we agreed on building more gardens. In order to satisfy their needs to the fullest (and reward them for the hard work and great help) I gave them all a patch of land of their own. Each pet was free to do as they pleased, and my little baby Kougra decided he wanted a lake. It turned out to be a real pain to construct due to massive item quantities and colours that wouldn't work out, but after a lot of shifting, moving, buying re-selling and buying other items, trying, cursing, trying again and moving stuff around a bit more, this is the result. We both like it a lot, and Dings just loves to spend hours there fishing. The small "monster" under the bridge is our private little joke.


Thar be pirates!
Previously called "Fon's collection of holes". Another of the three pet gardens, this one belongs to my blue Bori Fonfuzzled. He longs to be a pirate, and deep down, in his heart of hearts he already is, even though it doesn't show on the outside. Like all Boris, Fon likes to dig holes, so that is what he does on his patch of land. It really is his private spot, because no one ever ventures there, except a few petpets who also enjoy a dig from time to time.


Patcheeh's maze
The last of the three pet gardens. In case you are wondering what it says, you should be able to read "PATCHEEH" in mossy rock letters. Patch is my plushie Scorchio, who likes to read books and solve riddles. He therefore wanted to create a kind of maze which spelled out his name. It wasn't too easy, but again it worked out splendidly. He enjoys going for a stroll there from time to time, or just stands by the gate admiring his work. It really does look wonderful, I must admit.


Dingsebom's dreamland
The bedroom of my baby Kougra. It had to be something special. This is one of those rooms I was excited about from the start. I started off with the platform of snowmuncher sidetables, because I had had the idea in my head for so long that now I simply had to use it. I still had the stairs in my SDB from a room in the old design, and what could be better for a little baby boy than cloud stairs? The pie plates made a great railing, also an essential part if you want to keep your kids safe. The rainbow bed and wardrobe were purchased not much later, and I added a plushie Kougra pillow to the bed. It was Cloveapple who told me I might want to make it look as though the Kougra is actually sleeping in the bed, tucked under the rainbow blanket of the bed. She also provided me with the idea of the rubber duck toybox - thanks ever so much, it looks really good now! Next I wanted a TV for my little boy, so I made one according to the idea on Timidojoe's petpage (see links section). At first I put in tiger couches, but they clashed bigtime with the soft colours of the platform - so out they went. After much searching I decided on ultranova sofas and a rug. At that point the TV was still in the top right corner, and the dice a roo table with chairs was in the bottom right corner. I asked for opinions on the board, and brennehilda rightly told me the colour scheme was not quite right, and the sofas looked perhaps too adult for a baby. She advised me to switch the positions of the TV and the game table, and remove a sofa and rug to reduce the effect. As it turns out, this was exactly what the room needed - so thank you very much! The cloud play pen serving as a toy box went into the bottom left corner, I added a few windows and then there had to be lots of toys all over the room (including my favourite - fluffy dice). The idea of the toy train is courtesy of ronnie5454 - thank you very much for letting me use it! The train runs through the doorway into the room nextdoor, which is dings' play room. To add some action to the room I added some zytches and a wind up toy. One advice before you enter - don't trip over the toys!


Fon's piratey gym
Fonfuzzled, my blue Bori (we all call him Fon), is a special kind of creature. He needed a room to do his exercises in, so I built him a gym. The house would not be complete without one anyway. The basketball hoop was the first thing I added. It is very easy and inexpensive to arrange, and looks nice too. While browsing neohomes for inspiration I came across a trampoline and built my own in the gym. The walking exercise machine is an adapted idea that worked out very nicely too. Then I wanted to have windows, so you can look out onto the garden while working out. The disco curtains are a bit of an issue (they are pink after all), but they are the only ones that go with the gym colours, so they stay. The weights and workout bench I had decided on long before I even built the gym, so they were added next. After that it was a matter of saving long and hard to buy the wrestling ring and balthazar and the pirate accessories. I added a little seating area (and thus snuck in a few more pirate items) where you can sit down and relax while watching the boxing/wrestling. After all this was done, the room remained unfinished for a while - I could not decide what to do with the upper right corner. Then TNT released some spiffeh piratey stuff (like the indoor cannon), but these items were (and still are) rather too expensive for my budget. So I started working on the sauna instead. After a few weeks I returned to the gym and gave it some thought. I came across the hat stand on secret's page, and realised it looks like a bunch of basketballs, so I went on to add it. The ladder is a very cheap but very nice solution too. I had thought of many (expensive) options before, but this one worked out satisfactorily. And so the gym was finally done!


Bathroom
In my original plan the bathroom was located where Fon's bedroom is now, and the only door was in the west wall. Therefore the design looked a bit different from the current one - and in my opinion it looked better before. This is the only room I regret demolishing and relocating. And I can still kick myself for deleting the screenie of the original room. However, it can't be helped, so on with the story. My pets, family-minded though they are, are very keen on having their private space, and that included a private bathroom. I could have given them one in their own rooms, but decided against it. A family bathroom had lots of advantages: only one wet room (it can get splashy with pets), choice of bathtubs for everyone and they could all bath together while still enjoying their privacy. It was the ideal solution, and works like a charm. The disco sink has a small story of its own. When I bought it, it was still broken and could not be placed into the neohome. So I stuffed it in my SDB hoping it would be fixed by the time I finished the bathroom. Of course that was not the case so I was left with a bathroom that was completely decorated except for one sink. I had been working on that room for almost two months and was very keen to move on, so that is what I did. The item remained broken, and my annoyance grew. Then I discovered the letters project (see links section), and I joined in to nag TNT about the broken sink. Miraculously, the sink got fixed about ten letters and two weeks later. Muha.


Patcheeh's nutty room
Since my plushie Scorchio was the first one of the pets I built this home for to be born and morphed, I started with his rooms. At first I wanted a coconutty bedroom and a plushie style living room, but that didn't really work out. The name "nutty room" has stayed, even though the room is more bamboo than nutty. It was only after I finished this room that I decided to give my pets more character and let this be reflected in their rooms, so this room was (and is) rather neutral. However, the room had to undergo heavy changes after my home-remodel. Patch is my reading pet, he devours books, so there had to be bookshelves. Thanks to Bee's wonderful guide (see link section at the bottom) I was able to make one that suited his needs and goes with the room style. It was a real pain to construct, and I had to move it around several times. When I look at it now, I see it was definitely worth the effort though. The studying annex computer table sort of came along with the bookshelves. I also inserted a few windows, they make reading books so much easier and more comfortable. Patch is a big fan of Judge Hog, from the days when he was my fighting pet and beat Meuka for me, so the rug and poster seemed appropriate. After adding a bed, a table and chairs, and the telephone set (the idea comes from benvolio_dude, see links section also), the middle of the room remained quite empty, so I improvised with a pillow and petpet.


Patcheeh's tea room
Patch's second room started out as a living room, with lots of entertaining centers, posters, beanbags and a staircase. All that had to go after the remodel, because Patch was supposed to be a sophisticated, clean pet, who knows how to look after himself. The table and chairs did stay, because the colours are so nice (and they cost me rather too much to just throw them out). The Meowclops rug was added later, though I had intended it to go in the middle of the room - forgot about the size again. It worked out quite nicely on the table, so it stayed. The fireplace was part of the original room too, but stood there rather bare and lonely, so now I added a rug and chairs, as well as lights and posters, to cheer the room up. It's in this room that I started to use pinatas and other items to resemble characters - it makes the house more lively imho. They are also ideal to fill in blank spots, as you can see with the Zomutt ball "walking" towards the door. The Raindorf rug is a little extra touch to show what a sweet character Patch actually is. He'd be the kind to collect plushies and cuddle up with them in his bed while reading an exciting new book. He has to look mature and take on responsibilities, but deep down he's really still a little boy, and in this house he can be himself. I added the piano later, because I felt his personality was rather bare and dull. So I figured he would be the musical pet of the family, it does fit his character, and it adds up to the room. The Moehawk posters had to go, Jazzmosis is far more his style.


Entrance
This room was rather simple to construct. I had a firm idea set in my mind on how I wanted it to look. The straw made a cheap but nice floor, but I had problems deciding on the stairs. First I bought country staircases, but later I decided on straw ones, because of the way the room was developing. The landing is an idea I had seen in several homes before, so I simply had to have it too. The original room only had three exits, but in the new design it had to have four. This caused a problem for my aquarium. It used to be in the middle of the southern wall, but there was a doorway in the way! So I moved it to the bottom left corner and rearranged the seating area on the right. There is no table because you are not supposed to drink coffee or play games in an entrance. The seats are just there for your comfort while you wait to be greeted by one of the residents.


Fon's funky bedroom
Fonfuzzled is a clean, neat pet who doesn't like a mess, so his room is very tidy. The first thing he wanted was a computer, a real one, so I built him one. The funky desk was something I had been wanting to use since room 1, so now there was no escape possible - the room was to be funky. The bed is another must-have - very groovy. Once the bed was in place, I thought orange ball lamps would be a neat idea to circle it. So I saved long and hard, but managed to get them all there. In case you are wondering how Fon is able to reach his bed through all these lights, I can tell you that we have embedded them in the floor so they don't hinder him. And in case you are wondering how he can sleep with all those flickering lights surrounding him, I can tell you another something - he simply pulls his blanket over his head and closes his eyes. Boris are funny like that. Ah well. Fon is also very fond of his Spardel petpet friend, and since the colours of the Spardel items go very nicely with the blue and orange of the funky ones, I made a Spardel corner in his room and hung up some posters and photos. Notice that there are no toys lying idly around the room - no mess, remember? I also bought Fon the Gallion clock almost immediately after it came out (thus costing me way too much, but let's not go there), another thing that has the exact right colour scheme and filled up a blank on the wall that wasn't supposed to be there.


Spa/sauna/massage/shower
A multifunctional relaxation area. A bathroom wasn't enough, my pets demanded luxury, and well they could have it. I started off with the sauna area, an idea I had seen during my neohome browsings and decided to tweak. The photos worked out nicely for the indoor walls, so later I used them throughout the room. The benches and stone heating area were easily fixed, and since a door didn't really work, I decided on curtains. The floor had to be covered as well, and one bamboo mat did the trick. Then I moved on to the shower area. I had a plan of the room in my head before I started to work on it, so I knew where everything had to go. The floor pattern with the table lamps was not too hard, since the area to use it on was very small. The idea of tiling an entire room with those would be a real nightmare! Later Brennehilda advised me to add a drain, and so I did (they are quite handy things, after all - where else would the water go?). When I saw the two-ended water pot I knew I had to use it as a tap. Almost too good to be true. Then I decided there would have to be a hot water tub. This particular one I had seen in a spotlight winner's home and loved it immediately. The user (mysteryshadow) was kind enough to allow me to copy their idea, so that corner was finished. Then the massaging area. It needed a table and some storage cupboards for towels etc, so I put those in. I also found a potion cupboard lounging unused in my SDB, so in it went. The floor was the hardest part here. At first I was thinking of making a pattern with fresh and dried bamboo tables, but then I came across the stamp doormat in secret's home. That would work too, and the colours would match more nicely. I tried to create a complicated pattern, but... well... it didn't work. So this is it!

Back to ground floor


A few rooms that inspired me to start building my home, or simply stun me because of their beauty/originality.

Beenerz
Biak43
Brennehilda
Frekkles
Inara_sara
Mysteryshadow
Nakoumay
Ronnie5454
Sarahkriva
Senseivan
Weidenf
Ithy3
Candyjunky79

For ideas you can also browse the Neohome spotlight winners or the homes of these master builders:
Cybraria
Brennehilda
Beenerz
Lady_eleanore
Netjeru
Mutantanaconda
Cloveapple
Ithingy
Wingingkestral
And of course many many more which I simply cannot list here.


These are links to some useful petpages that will help you on your way if you decide to build a neohome too!

Neohoming
Great starter's guide with lots of helpful tips. You can see what the different room types look like too!

Aerial views
Through this petpage you can get aerial views of most furniture items available in Neopian shops. This way you will know exactly what you buy. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! You can also see what furniture is broken or being repaired.

How to construct certain items
One very useful page that was recently put up again. Here you can see how to build a microwave, aquarium, phone, washing machine, etc. Very good and easy to follow instructions, so I do recommend it!

Neopian street of dreams
Addicted to neohomes, but don't have the time to tour entire homes to find creative inspiration? Look no further!

Letters campaign
Tired of all the broken furniture that you can't use? Join in the Neohome Letters Project!

Book shelf tutorial
How to make bookshelves and books. Great guide!

Other than these links, you can always visit the Neohome thread on the spotlight board. Folks there are friendly and always ready to lend a hand, give advice or just chat. Look for a thread with NEOHOME in the title.



Some practical tips for when you get started on building a neohome:
1. Make a plan of your home either in your head or on paper or on your PC (whatever works for you). This will save a lot of demolishing and rebuilding later on (though sometimes it's inevitable).
2. I found working on one room at a time helps me stay organized, but others work on several rooms and just keep track of things they still have to do. This is a matter of finding out what works for you. When you have finished a room, don't go back there too soon. You will always see things you would like to change. That way you get stuck on a room and end up spending way too much. Move on to other rooms/projects and go back there later. If something is still bugging you then, you can always change it.
3. Face the facts: building and decorating is expensive. Don't do it unless you are willing to spend. Sometimes cheaper items work excellently, but not always.
4. Be creative. Work with different room types and items. Try out floorings, doors, windows, and create spiffeh new items of your own. Or work with things you saw in other homes. But don't just copy things you saw elsewhere without the permission of the creator. This will be considered stealing by the neohomers, and it will not make you very popular. Usually when you ask, people don't mind, but sometimes they do. Try to understand it and adapt the idea, make a few adjustments to make it your own. Help, advice, support, opinions, comments - you can always find it on the neohome thread at the spotlight board.
5. When you are going for the spotlight, don't submit too early. Once you have submitted your home and are taken into consideration, you are on a list of possible future winners. After that you cannot make any more adjustments to your home. When you do that, you will end up on the bottom of the list and the judges will have to review your home again. So don't submit until you are fully and utterly ready.



A very warm thank you to all my friends and all the people at the neohome thread for their support, advice and kind words. I would like to mention these people in particular: Tussi, bats, Emm, Van, Seraph, Mu, Brenne, Cy, Clove and K@.
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