Is this blank page syndrome?

[rainadash]

I experience great difficulty trying to decorate my island. I just stare at it and don't know what to do. Even if I find inspiration, I just copy what the person did cause I struggle to make it my own and it's not satisfying to copy other people. Sometimes I manage to create something like the entrance of my island but can never go beyond it cause it's too difficult. I just gave up and felt frustrated. I could just keep the island classic and have it be undecorated but I don't want it that way plus there's not much else for me to do now. Anyone else experience this

 

[AgentBlade]

I very much have experienced this it is annoying.

 

[xxcodexx]

i have this exact same problem!! i do get around it though sometimes. what i do is a take a piece of art or furniture that i Really like and i will set it down where i think it might look good, and then i will build around that item. for instance: i set a capricorn ornament on the ground and thought it looked nice so i built a second one and placed it next to the first one. then i decided to build a walkway in between them, and then put a fountain in the middle and a couple of trees and bushes around them as well. so now i have a pretty walkway with a fountain in the middle accented by the capricorn ornaments.
also, i did have to mess with this design for quite awhile before i got it to look nice.
that being said, have you tried doing what i did by placing one item down and building around it? its helped me quite a bit doing it that way.

 

[azurill]

I have the same problem. It takes me awhile to decorate. I looked at my campsite area for two weeks before I started to figure it how I wanted it. I agree with @xxcodexx it wasn’t until I placed an item I liked that I starting to figure out how I wanted it. Placing one or two items can help.

 

[rainadash]

Thanks for the advice , i've done the trick of placing an item before but in harvs island and I was able to build off it like you say! I hope it helps on my island as well

 

[xxcodexx]

right azurill? and sometimes when you place an item that you Really like it simply does Not go with the idea that you might be thinking about so its back to square one with a different item! i cant tell you how many times thats happened to me; or how many times ive placed an item where i want to build around it and then thought that item would look wayyy better over there *points in any other direction than where the item currently is lol*!
decorating *for some folks like myself lol* takes AGES so dont be discouraged. just mess around with different items A Lot lol! i take tremendous breaks too. right now i havent done anything to my islands decorations for at least 4 days.

 

[Serabee]

I've had that problem in some areas. I decorate area by area, as opposed to the whole island right away, and that saves me A LOT of headache. I'd highly suggest doing that if you're struggling, it takes a lot of the pressure off and, if you change your mind and want to redo something, it's a lot less work to undo. Also, a good place to start is to go with the natural layout for a bit, that's also something I did. I added bridges and ramps to make things convenient. Then I added paths connecting things. Then I started to think "Oh, a bench would look good here. And a lamp there. And this big empty place... maybe I could make a park? Or an outdoor market?" Getting the very basics down first is a big help, because it gives you an idea of where space you'll want to decorate are going to be, and how big they'll be. Then eventually you, like I, might get to the point where you can say, "Way, this area looks good... but I might want it bigger. Maybe I'll terraform a bit." So, basically, just take it one step at a time. Remember, there's absolutely no rush to decorate. And also remember there's no need to "finish" it with the most flawless layout ever. You can absolutely change things up at time, I do regularly because it just makes it more fun!

Another bit of advice, if you don't want to keep copying (not that there's anything wrong with copying, as long as you don't try to take credit, and it can be a great place to start with designing)- try looking up multiple sources of inspiration, and mix and match. Maybe you like a bench area someone put together, but you'd prefer it with a different bench. In a different spot. Or maybe you like someone's mermaid beach, but think it might be cool to mix shell furniture they used into a pirate themed beach instead. But, again, there's nothing wrong with copying unless you're posting pics and saying things like "look at this totally amazing, 100% unique thing I made all on my own NOW SHOWER ME WITH PRAISE"

Post automatically merged: Jul 17, 2021

Thanks for the advice , i've done the trick of placing an item before but in harvs island and I was able to build off it like you say! I hope it helps on my island as well

Harv's island is also an awesome tool! You'd be surprised what items can end up looking really good with each other. You can start by placing a bench you like, then just toss some other furniture around it until you see what sticks! I usually have no issue decorating most areas (I've had YEARS of practice in Sims, lol) but sometimes I struggle, especially with my interior. Harv's island is fantastic to check what items work well together. For instance, I found the Fortune Cookie Cart looks fantastic with the red Festivale Stuff- now it makes up a portion of my summer festival!

 

[azurill]

right azurill? and sometimes when you place an item that you Really like it simply does Not go with the idea that you might be thinking about so its back to square one with a different item! i cant tell you how many times thats happened to me; or how many times ive placed an item where i want to build around it and then thought that item would look wayyy better over there *points in any other direction than where the item currently is lol*!
decorating *for some folks like myself lol* takes AGES so dont be discouraged. just mess around with different items A Lot lol! i take tremendous breaks too. right now i havent done anything to my islands decorations for at least 4 days.

I change my mind often when decorating. Some things just don’t work the way I think they are going to. Or they do look better in a different spot. Like my campsite it’s been an ongoing project. One that I took a break from and just recently went back to. I was trying the beginning of last month to figure it out. When I couldn’t I left it alone and worked on another project my wedding area instead. It’s still not perfect but it will get there just have to be patient with it. I haven’t done anything with my main island in awhile will get back to decorating that one once I figure out how I want the villager houses.

 

[CutsceneLogic]

I only started trying to decorate my island in earnest in the past few nights. I know exactly what you mean, though -- Sometimes it just takes time, that's all. About a year and change, for me.

 

[KittenNoir]

I have this all the time and it’s annoying on my next day off work I plan to completely change my island again and move the islanders houses and add a lot more terraforming to my island as it’s seems to flat to me. I might keep the front entrance as I like it at the moment and have changed it so much

 

[Stikki]

Looks like there's some great advice in here already, so I'll just add to what others have said about placing an item you really like and building round it, cos that's what I personally find inspires my creativity. Good luck!

 

[AgentBlade]

I’ve found out something I like to do is go into a building game like Minecraft and build either something unrelated or plan out what to build and replace everything going by 1 Minecraft block = 1 ACNH tile cuz it’ll look way better than the plan.

 

[Moritz]

I don't even think you need to place things you like. Just throw down any old rubbish so long as it's coherent.

That way you have areas forming.

Also put down paths to know scale of places

 

[Meadows]

I understand and for that reason, I started off my island with simple things (like random placements I liked).

I then went into having different parts of my islands having different themes.

So right now the south and southeast of my island is a town, my entire north is woodland area(with a graveyard of my past villagers)

And the west to southwest of my island is a farming area.

I currently really enjoy it. I don't want to juat have one theme.