Announcement! Seeking homeonwers!

Do you have a beautifully furnished home in Second Life that you'd like to show off? Have you done something unique with your 512? Do you have the best lawn in your sim? Does your living room belong on the cover of a magazine? Let me know! I'd like to feature some of the most interesting and well-designed homes in Second Life Decor. Comment here or message me in-world so I can interview you and take snapshots of your home. Think of this as "Better Homes and Gardens," but for Second Life. :-)

Studio Le Modern

When I walked into Studio Le Modern, my jaw dropped. I wanted to buy everything in the shop. Then, I looked at the prim count and I couldn't believe that such nice stuff was so low in prims. The nifty desk pictured above? 7 prims. The animated boss chair is 15 prims, but there are other matching chairs available for 5 prims each. The computer and keyboard are 5 prims. The lamp is 8 prims. So, you can have the whole set for a well-spent 40 prims, or you can pare down it down to as low as 20 prims. Not too shabby. The whole set is 700L and includes everything shown in the picture above plus a few desk accessories (post its!), a modular shelf and a small file cabinet.

Studio Le Modern also features a beautiful 8-prim fireplace for 100L and my favorite part of the house, the bathroom. The shower, bath and sink are all animated, rounding out a really nifty bathroom set.

Incidentally, the shop is located on creator Le Leinhardt's Rodeo Drive themed build, which is minimalist, classy and filled with neat goodies to spend your Lindens on.

Le's Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills, Howlin Wolf (27, 58, 22)

Hidden Victorian Treasures

Buried deep in the Linden classified ads is a little Victorian furniture shop that packs a big punch. Almost everything is animated - the rolltop desk featured above has drawers and cabinets that open and close along with the rolltop feature. The face of the grandfather clock opens and closes as does the compartment below. There's a need little end table also pictured that has animated drawers and a folding leaf.

Most of the furniture is under 20 prims; the desk is only 14 prims, which is surprising. The prices are in the 175L-400L range.

There are also a bunch of neat little accents such as an umbrella stand and vintage wallpaper textures. The shop is still under construction, but definitely worth a look-see. I promise I'll be keeping tabs on this one!

Yongnam (67, 242, 32)

Free diner!

I'll take the special and a chocolate egg cream.

There are poseballs for customers and diner employees, lots of space, a ton of furniture included, a working vintage jukebox, and steaming hot pancakes on the griddle.

There's not much more to say about this except it's a free diner, no strings attached. There's a freebie box inside the diner - you can't miss it. How cool is that? The designer only requests that folks give her feedback on her creations so that she can improve her art since she's new.

Kitty's All-Nite Diner, SINNIQ SIM 01 (23, 15, 24)

Thanks!

Thanks to everybody who came out to my launch party this weekend (all three of you :-)). Here I am dancing like an idiot, very much like the way I dance in real life.

Irreversible

Finding the perfect prefab is the quest for the holy grail in Second Life. If it looks good, it's probably too high in prims. If it's low in prims, it probable doesn't look good. Once in a while a designer really "gets it," but those designers are hard to find (believe me, I've looked).

Iva Geesink's Irreversible Designer Houses is one of the few prefab shops in Second Life that's creating quality, original prefab homes. The shop is still rather new, so the selection is limited to five designs, but all the homes are copyable and modifiable, so the range of options is nearly limitless with each home. Iva designs her prefabs to be easily customizable, so even the most discerning landowner can tweak her designs to his or her liking.

Among some of the features that come standard are tintable windows, lockable doors, and spacious rooms. The smallest home has a footprint of 20x20, so these aren't first land homes, but if you've invested in a larger plot of land you might as invest in a high-quality prefab. Other features include balconies, high ceilings, and real stairs! Homes start at 2999L and 115 prims.

By the way, I think these homes will also make great commercial and office spaces. The designs are sleek, detailed, professional and unique. As a bonus, the location of the shop has very little lag.

The design featured in the photos is "Magnolia." It's 263 prims with a 31x30 footprint.

Irreversible Designer Houses, Zarathud (66, 30, 22)

Native American Art and Decor

There is a deficit of ethnic furnishings on Second Life, so I'm always excited when I find items that are as diverse as the folks behind the avatars on SL. If you're looking for hand painted Native American pottery, there's a pretty good selection in Shelby Gregg's shop. The framed artwork will knock your socks off; I wouldn't mind hanging some of it in my RL home. Avery Habsburg also created a nifty tipi complete with traditional baskets and an open flame for outdoor cooking.

African, Native American & Nomad, Plush Alpha (67, 234, 26)