It's always good to try something new so I decided to have a go at creating a lot. I must say I was amazed how much there is to it and how much work is involved! I have gained a new found respect for lot builders. It took me days. I found cyclonesue's Prepare and submit clean lots tutorial invaluable and would heartily recommend this to anyone contemplating starting to create and submit lots.

My first lot started out as a simple traditional Scottish country cottage and got rather out of hand, metamorphosing into something of a luxury mansion - it's hard to resist installing a sauna, games room, music room, large romantic en suite bathroom, etc, etc when you find you have the space! So I now view this lot as a luxury holiday let more than an everyday residence. Wish I lived there!

The cottage costs §118,496. The garden is compact and easily maintained (the way I like them!). The ground floor comprises entrance porch, hallway, open plan kitchen/utility room/dining room, principal bathroom with sauna and separate shower room, and sitting room with adjacent games room accessible via an archway. Upstairs you will find a sizeable master bedroom with romantic en suite bathroom and balcony, a nursery/child's bedroom, a guest bedroom and a study/library/music room.

Most of the furnishings I've used are standard Maxis pieces from the base game and expansion packs. I've made heavy use of the gorgeous country furniture from Seasons. I have also used items from three stuff packs. The kitchen and bathrooms use items from the wonderful Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff Pack. The nursery uses some of the fantastic pink castle items from Family Fun Stuff and there are a few candles and flowers from Celebration! Stuff included to add to the romantic ambience.

As far as custom content goes, I used Windkeeper's Coloratura wall which matches the tiling in the Maxis shower, my own Caledonia recolours of Shtinky's fabulous Arizona sofas, Spaik's grey Country Modular Stairs recolour of Chrissy6930's recolourable modular stairs and matching round corners (brilliant idea!).

N.B. The Country 2 Stairs Mesh required some editing of the script file when I installed this item, but I'm hoping the stairs may work when installed as part of a lot without any editing being required. Just in case they don't work, I have included a link to the stairs mesh to allow this to be downloaded and installed separately if required (be sure to read the installation instructions!). Your feedback regarding this issue would be very useful.

The lot has been fully tested and cleaned using Sims2Pack Clean Installer.

Some screenshots:

For the unfurnished version, I simply removed all items that would be removed in real life when moving house and left all fixtures and fittings in situ e.g. kitchen units, bathroom suites, etc.

As I said, this is my first lot, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.