So I've been playing Minecraft for sometime, and I've never done a truly epic build. That though is not what I'm asking about today. What I was hoping for is some advice on building an aesthetically pleasing starting house.
So this is what I used to do to build a starting house:
1) Clear out a 7x7 area of ground (mainly through cutting down trees so I have building material.)
2) Build walls within that area (So the outside is 7x7 and the inside is 5x5.
3) Put a door smack dab in the middle of one of those walls.
4) Put a roof on so I have an inside area of 3 high.
5) Toss a crafting bench, a couple of chests, a furnace, and a bed inside.
6) Put in some torches so it's nice and cozy.
YAY starting house done.
Ugly starting house really. I hate it. I mean, sure I can make it look a touch better by breaking out holes for windows but that doesn't improve things all that much. So every time I create a new world I try to adjust things a bit so my very basic starting house is just a bit more visually appealing.
For instance, instead of putting the door in the middle of one of the walls, I shift it over one square. The corners of the house I replace with tree trunks. Now with panes of glass being in the game, I try to get a sand a bit earlier than I would otherwise, just so I can put in some windows.
So now I end up with a house looking a touch better, but still fairly ugly.
I've tried to do experiments with the roof to try to make my roofs more interesting, but for a first night I am content with a flat ugly roof. I am not content with an overall ugly house though.
I recently learned that the VoxelBox uses the Golden Ratio in many of their builds, so I've been trying to figure out how to use that in regards to a starter home. Problem with that, is that if I build a house that has an outside size of 5x8, I feel that the inside is a bit to small at 3x6. It feels more like a hallway than a room. If on the other hand I try to build a simple building that is 8x13 (inside 6x11), I feel this is stretching my resources a touch to thin for my first night.
The other problem is the height of the building. While my 5x5 building might look ugly, at least it looks the right height at 4 blocks tall (3 blocks inside). The Voxel guys suggest though a height that matches the golden ratio and demonstrate how much that helps the inside for decorating. But my problem is, because I haven't really figured out how to make a good starting roof, from the outside my starting buildings just look off.
So that's pretty much where I'm at right now in trying to get a starting house that looks good. admittedly, these three images are a touch misleading, as I do try things like putting a cobblestone ceiling on my buildings to try to break up the oddness that I feel from looking at the building as it is now.
So I'm wondering what others do to get their starting houses to look good? Keep in mind that resources are limited. While it might look nice to have some kind of colored wool roof with a slope, you aren't likely to have enough wool (let alone the colors you want) on your first few nights. And I know you could live in a cave while you gather resources so you can make a nice home instead of building a home you are unhappy with, but that's hardly appealing.
We are talking basics here. You've got access to wood, cobblestone, and perhaps some sand to make some windows. We aren't talking about making a mansion, but a basic home that would be pleasing to look at. Also keep in mind that as it's the start of a new world you need to either go get some coal or use wood to make charcoal. So things like smooth stone (and lots of windows) would be in limited supply.
I'm also fully willing to build one thing, and then pull down part of it to improve upon it. What I'm looking for though, is that at the end of any given day that it look at least decent (or else I may as well be living in a cave), and still functional to keep monsters out. The goal is not to make a house that is improved to perfection, but to a point where you can still say it's a starter home but now it's time to move out so you can work on more interesting projects. (So yes, while I'm willing to spend a day gathering resources so that I can improve the house, I'm not likely to use colored wool to make a fancy carpet for the inside of my starter home, as 1) colored wool really isn't a starter material, and 2) I would want to save that stuff for a more interesting project)
I should also mention, that even though I only show shots of the outside of my ugly starter homes, I need help with the insides also. At the very least, I put in every starter home I create a double chest, crafting table and a furnace. If I can find sheep then I put in a bed also. However, now that I'm starting to experiment with that golden ratio stuff, I'm not sure where to position things, because if I go with the smaller ratio of 5x8 then things seem cramped inside (because as I say, it feels more like a hallways to me than a room), and with 8x13 I feel like my "room" is a touch large and needs to be divided up somehow, but I'm not sure how.
Also I understand it's important to make a house look less like a box, and more like something interesting. As I say, I'm not good with this whole, make things look good so any advice you might have really is welcome.
My standard design is a 5x5 area, made of cobblestone or smoothstone if I so desire, with the second row glass panes (except next to the door, for security) and a second story, ladder is usually right next to the door inside to go up and down. First floor contains bed, a chest and crafting table. Second floor contains 6 furnaces, basement contains chests, and as I expand a second basement level becomes a minecart hub.
This one is actually 6x6, but hey, whatever. The ladders are spiderproofing as there is access to the roof, and there is a wheat farm out back.
make some stairs for roofing. Kinda hard to put it in words for the exact procedure without pics..D:
BAM
Stairs for a ceiling. Specifically out of cobblestone, as I consider smooth stone not a good material for a starter house. If I'm baking up smooth stone, then I should be using that to make a cooler project. Don't mind using cobblestone to make stairs though.
Also, I figure if one is lucky enough to start at the corner of a couple of biomes, that using logs from two different tree types is fair game for a starter home.
As for the advice to use cobblestone where I put the dark logs, that's a fair suggestion, but only if I didn't use cobblestone steps for the roof. I think it would mess things up if I had cobblestone above and below.
Also in regards to the advice to use a higher rez texture pack... Clearly I'm willing to use texture packs, but I'm also using a number of mods, so a texture pack that would require me to reinstall all my mods so that I can use hi-rez textures is not a good option right now.
My standard design is a 5x5 area, made of cobblestone or smoothstone if I so desire, with the second row glass panes (except next to the door, for security) and a second story, ladder is usually right next to the door inside to go up and down. First floor contains bed, a chest and crafting table. Second floor contains 6 furnaces, basement contains chests, and as I expand a second basement level becomes a minecart hub.
This one is actually 6x6, but hey, whatever. The ladders are spiderproofing as there is access to the roof, and there is a wheat farm out back.
While it is impressive for it's ability to have a 360 view of the landscape, and is nice that it has multiple levels, and only uses materials that are easy enough to get in the start... it really doesn't do much for the breaking the box or visually impressive for me. Don't get me wrong, here I'm fully aware that the current state of my starter house design is "Box with stairs for roof" but that's what I'm trying to get advice on how to get away from for my starter home.
Also something that's bothering me visually about your design is that either your first floor has a low roof and you can't jump at all, or your second floor has low windows and you can't look out them easily.
Normally I just mine straight into the side of a hill and set up shop there. Of course, I put a little effort into making the entrance nice (a hole in the landscape kinda mars the look of it all). It's not exactly a starter house, but it's starter shelter. I find it useful because once nightfall comes I'm able to just go into the shelter and directly to mining, and I've already got shop set up near the entrance.
Like I said, it's not really an idea for a starter house, but it's something to go with. If nothing else it buys you time to get situated at set up an actual house, without needing to worry about rushing construction.
One issue that you or others may have is that the glass panes are too far set into the house. They don't really look like windows but inlays (though I use panes too simply because they are cheaper). Just a thought.
Since you have, by the sounds of, 2 layerings in your wall, the inside wall could be any number of things. I've seen some people use their sand for an inner wall. I personally enjoy using my sand to turn into glass to make a glass roof - it looks cool from the inside at least. Tiling your floors can help create some aesthetic value inside the house, and don't forget the value of clay (it's fairly common on some worlds). In addition, laying out some flowers along the sides of the house would draw attention away from how tall it is (creating the illusion of the golden-ratio, if you will).
It looks like your issue may come fro the texture pack though.
So this is what I used to do to build a starting house:
1) Clear out a 7x7 area of ground (mainly through cutting down trees so I have building material.)
2) Build walls within that area (So the outside is 7x7 and the inside is 5x5.
3) Put a door smack dab in the middle of one of those walls.
4) Put a roof on so I have an inside area of 3 high.
5) Toss a crafting bench, a couple of chests, a furnace, and a bed inside.
6) Put in some torches so it's nice and cozy.
YAY starting house done.
Ugly starting house really. I hate it. I mean, sure I can make it look a touch better by breaking out holes for windows but that doesn't improve things all that much. So every time I create a new world I try to adjust things a bit so my very basic starting house is just a bit more visually appealing.
For instance, instead of putting the door in the middle of one of the walls, I shift it over one square. The corners of the house I replace with tree trunks. Now with panes of glass being in the game, I try to get a sand a bit earlier than I would otherwise, just so I can put in some windows.
So now I end up with a house looking a touch better, but still fairly ugly.
I've tried to do experiments with the roof to try to make my roofs more interesting, but for a first night I am content with a flat ugly roof. I am not content with an overall ugly house though.
I recently learned that the VoxelBox uses the Golden Ratio in many of their builds, so I've been trying to figure out how to use that in regards to a starter home. Problem with that, is that if I build a house that has an outside size of 5x8, I feel that the inside is a bit to small at 3x6. It feels more like a hallway than a room. If on the other hand I try to build a simple building that is 8x13 (inside 6x11), I feel this is stretching my resources a touch to thin for my first night.
The other problem is the height of the building. While my 5x5 building might look ugly, at least it looks the right height at 4 blocks tall (3 blocks inside). The Voxel guys suggest though a height that matches the golden ratio and demonstrate how much that helps the inside for decorating. But my problem is, because I haven't really figured out how to make a good starting roof, from the outside my starting buildings just look off.
So that's pretty much where I'm at right now in trying to get a starting house that looks good. admittedly, these three images are a touch misleading, as I do try things like putting a cobblestone ceiling on my buildings to try to break up the oddness that I feel from looking at the building as it is now.
So I'm wondering what others do to get their starting houses to look good? Keep in mind that resources are limited. While it might look nice to have some kind of colored wool roof with a slope, you aren't likely to have enough wool (let alone the colors you want) on your first few nights. And I know you could live in a cave while you gather resources so you can make a nice home instead of building a home you are unhappy with, but that's hardly appealing.
We are talking basics here. You've got access to wood, cobblestone, and perhaps some sand to make some windows. We aren't talking about making a mansion, but a basic home that would be pleasing to look at. Also keep in mind that as it's the start of a new world you need to either go get some coal or use wood to make charcoal. So things like smooth stone (and lots of windows) would be in limited supply.
I'm also fully willing to build one thing, and then pull down part of it to improve upon it. What I'm looking for though, is that at the end of any given day that it look at least decent (or else I may as well be living in a cave), and still functional to keep monsters out. The goal is not to make a house that is improved to perfection, but to a point where you can still say it's a starter home but now it's time to move out so you can work on more interesting projects. (So yes, while I'm willing to spend a day gathering resources so that I can improve the house, I'm not likely to use colored wool to make a fancy carpet for the inside of my starter home, as 1) colored wool really isn't a starter material, and 2) I would want to save that stuff for a more interesting project)
Also I understand it's important to make a house look less like a box, and more like something interesting. As I say, I'm not good with this whole, make things look good so any advice you might have really is welcome.
This one is actually 6x6, but hey, whatever. The ladders are spiderproofing as there is access to the roof, and there is a wheat farm out back.
If you set a man on fire he will be warm for the rest of his life.
BAM
Stairs for a ceiling. Specifically out of cobblestone, as I consider smooth stone not a good material for a starter house. If I'm baking up smooth stone, then I should be using that to make a cooler project. Don't mind using cobblestone to make stairs though.
Also, I figure if one is lucky enough to start at the corner of a couple of biomes, that using logs from two different tree types is fair game for a starter home.
As for the advice to use cobblestone where I put the dark logs, that's a fair suggestion, but only if I didn't use cobblestone steps for the roof. I think it would mess things up if I had cobblestone above and below.
Also in regards to the advice to use a higher rez texture pack... Clearly I'm willing to use texture packs, but I'm also using a number of mods, so a texture pack that would require me to reinstall all my mods so that I can use hi-rez textures is not a good option right now.
While it is impressive for it's ability to have a 360 view of the landscape, and is nice that it has multiple levels, and only uses materials that are easy enough to get in the start... it really doesn't do much for the breaking the box or visually impressive for me. Don't get me wrong, here I'm fully aware that the current state of my starter house design is "Box with stairs for roof" but that's what I'm trying to get advice on how to get away from for my starter home.
Also something that's bothering me visually about your design is that either your first floor has a low roof and you can't jump at all, or your second floor has low windows and you can't look out them easily.
Like I said, it's not really an idea for a starter house, but it's something to go with. If nothing else it buys you time to get situated at set up an actual house, without needing to worry about rushing construction.
Since you have, by the sounds of, 2 layerings in your wall, the inside wall could be any number of things. I've seen some people use their sand for an inner wall. I personally enjoy using my sand to turn into glass to make a glass roof - it looks cool from the inside at least. Tiling your floors can help create some aesthetic value inside the house, and don't forget the value of clay (it's fairly common on some worlds). In addition, laying out some flowers along the sides of the house would draw attention away from how tall it is (creating the illusion of the golden-ratio, if you will).
It looks like your issue may come fro the texture pack though.