Seeking Paradise

Wanderlust Lagoon

I've gone through a few houses since I last posted and in the process, I learned a few things about myself. The most prevalent lesson is: Sometimes you don't know what you want until you've tried everything else.

I loved my little white cottage, but after fiddling around with different island sizes (I now have a lifetime supply in my inventory,) waves and ginormous cliffs (to block the neighbor's day glow border marker,) I realized I wanted more water, less land. For that, I'd need a smaller house. I bought a boat house and a boat, but it was still just too big. I spend most of my time outside anyway. I didn't need that much house and the thoughts of buying furniture to fill it up made my stomach churn.

I hate buying furniture. That's an entire post in itself.

The bed I'd bought for the cottage wouldn't fit in the tiny attic of the boathouse, and after about a day, the constant use of the same basic texture for EVERY surface started to get on my nerves.

The Boathouse

I set out to find a nice little house, with few rooms. I don't have roommates or a partner. To be honest, I really don't even need a bedroom.

For now.

I wanted something on stilts or a treehouse that wouldn't take up much room.

Just because a builder says a house will fit on a 1024m doesn't mean it will, nor does it mean it's a good fit for what you're trying to do.

Lesson learned.

I found that I kept going back to Tiki huts and little tropical houses. There are three major builders that fit that description. The first I went to, I'd bought my little Gypsy wagon from and knew the animations were screwed up. I went back there, hoping that after time they'd fixed their problems, but nope. I ended up sitting on my head.

The next one had beautiful furnished houses, but their house rezzing area was a clusterfuck. It looked like someone had rezzed every house, some were turned upside down and on their side. Due to past experience, I wasn't buying another furnished house if I couldn't test the animations first. I went back a few times, hoping I'd find it cleared, but to no avail.

The third Tiki house builder had three areas for looking at houses. The first one had a big clump of bushes in the middle of the rez area, so you couldn't really tell what the hell you were looking at. In retrospect, I suppose the smart thing to do would have been to derender the bushes, but by then I was so annoyed, I guess I wasn't thinking straight.

But then? I noticed that the sign in front of the third clearing said "Islands." Some were houses on islands, houses built into caverns. I wouldn't have to keep fiddle farting around with island prims and landscaping. It was all included. I found a small house with a living room and a bedroom, fully furnished, on it's own island AND landscaped.

I was sold.

When I got it set up, I found a bonus cave hidden in one of the rocks on the foundation. The perfect space for my altar. Also, there were little butterflies already flying around the flowers on the rocks.

Setting up a new house meant I'd have to rearrange the landscape a bit. I've discovered that while I DESPISE big, flat privacy screens, I do enjoy my solitude. I didn't want to create an eyesore for my neighbors, yet I wanted a clearly defined border and somewhere to put a few plants.

I started with a cheap pack of rocks that I recolored to match the pitted lava rocks at my house's foundation, but that turned out to be... tacky.

While out looking at different parcels for sale, I happened upon some natural looking cliff faces that weren't too huge. I sought out the designer's store (they weren't on MP) and ended up buying those as well as some more natural looking waterfalls.

I may add more plants or some underwater landscaping, but as you can see by the first picture above, my perfect little 1024m lagoon is complete. There's plenty of outside room, privacy and lots of places for visitors to sit and chat by the fire. I think I'm happy now.

And the cave. I love the cave.

Feel free to drop me an IM for more information on the houses and landscaping in the photos. This isn't a sponsored post, nor do I want to upset anyone by posting negative opinions about their products.

~*~

Looking for your own little island paradise? I currently have a nice little 1024m water parcel for sale. 

The Bramant Island parcel is a quiet, 1024m square water lot. To the east and west are tasteful builds. To the south is a large vacant parcel, with a smaller one to the north. Just beyond the northeastern border is a protected waterway, perfect for boating. This serene, low-lag island is just L$4700. L$3900

See it inworld here:

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Bramant/77/192/21/