Presented by EA Game Changers
So you’ve just got your hands on The Sims 4 Tiny Living and you are just itching to build your Sims the tiny home of their dreams, but where do you start? Tiny Living introduces unique build mechanics that haven’t been seen in The Sims series before, so we’re going to walk you through the process of building your first tiny home using the new Tiny Living tools.
How Low Can You Go?
Once you’ve selected your lot of choice and entered Build Mode, you’ll want to decide on what tier home you’d like your new tiny home to be. Do you want some space for a small family to live comfortably or do you want to take things to the extreme and build the tiniest house you possibly can for a single Sim? Well, there are tiers for that.
To get started, make sure the lot type is set to Tiny Home Residential. You’ll notice a new tab that shows up on this lot type in Build Mode. Clicking it will open a panel that will show you the different tiers of tiny home you can build. Each tier offers gameplay benefits to any Sims living on that lot, but the smaller the home, the more benefits your Sims will enjoy from living there.
- Tier 3 – Small Home (max 100 tiles)
- Tier 2 – Tiny Home (max 64 tiles)
- Tier 1 – Micro Home (max 32 tiles)
For a full list of the rewards for each tier, see our article, The Sims 4 Tiny Living: All About Lot Perks!
Laying the Foundation
Now that you’re on a Tiny Home Residential lot and have some idea of what kind of tiny home you want to build, it’s time to get to work. Build whatever your imagination can dream up, but keep an eye on your tile count! As you build, the game will update your tile count for you in real time in a blue bar at the top of the screen.
If you started out building a micro home, then realised you really do need more space after all, you can continue to build past the 32 tile micro home limit without penalty. The game will simply recalculate your tile limit for the next tier up. The only drawbacks to building a Tier 2 or Tier 3 tiny home is less gameplay benefits.
If you try to build past 100 tiles, the blue bar at the top of the screen will turn red and you won’t be able to leave Build Mode until your home is 100 tiles or less. Any home you build on a Tiny Home Residential lot has to be 100 tiles or less before the game will let you play in the home.
What’s In a Name (Or Tile)?
So what counts as a tile when you’re building your tiny home? You should know what kinds of things will eat into your tile count limit so you can budget your space accordingly without frustration.
Most importantly, rooms and foundations count as tiles. A 1×1 room is one tile. Similarly, a 1×1 foundation piece is one tile. The game will factor rooms and foundations into your tile count, so watch your space. You may not have room for that beautiful wraparound deck you want without sacrificing some space inside the home.
Building upwards and downwards will also add to your tile count. No getting away with building a 4-story micro home with 32 tiles on each level. Adding upper floors and basements to the house will eat into the tile limit. You might end up needing to sacrifice that games room down in the basement. Tiny living is all about living with just the essentials in a cozy environment.
Walls in themselves do not eat into the tile-limit; only the area of any rooms they enclose. Once you have the shape of your home in the tier you want, you can draw out the interior layout however you want as long as the shape of the house as a whole does not exceed the tile limit.
What About Everything Else?
The good news is there are still lots of ways to be creative when building a tiny home, despite the lack of building space. Placing down objects from the Buy catalogue will not add to your tile count, so decorate as much as you like! Add interior touches of design, put plants and flowers in the yard, and go to town with giving the outside of your tiny home oodles of curb appeal. Did you have to give up that beautiful deck in favour of a second bedroom for the kids? Why not place a BBQ and patio table in the yard as a compromise?
Stairs don’t count as tiles, either. Don’t worry about the stairs at the edge of your front patio pushing you over the tile limit if your home is exactly 100 tiles. In fact, placing your staircases on the outside of your home can be a great way to save space on the inside of the home!
Okay, but what about pools? Pools definitely count as tiles, right? WRONG! Pools do not count as tiles! Feel free to have a micro home with a giant pool in the backyard! Pools can even be built into decks, but in that case, you will be using up your tile count, as it is part of the foundation which does count towards the tile limit.
Want to place floor tiles down outside? Use terrain paint to make a big patio or long walkway? Create hills and valleys with the terrain tool? Yup. All of those are okay, too!
As you can see, there are numerous ways to still be imaginative while building a tiny home.
The Finishing Touch
You’ve seen me building this basic structure as part of this guide. It functions as a micro home within Tiny Living’s parameters and has what a Sim needs to survive, but it’s a pretty poor excuse for a home, isn’t it?
I’m sure your tiny builds will end up looking a little more like this, instead.
Want this micro home for yourself? Search for SnarkyWitch in the Gallery. This lot is called Micro Living Starter.
Have just loaded tiny Living to my game, but I can’t seem to find the tiny lot type? All I see is residential. The only difference I can see from your screen prints is that the title on my game says “Header” , where yours says “Lot Type” would this be a bug stopping my game load the tiny lot type. All other objects are present.
The same is happening to me I came here to look for help
I removed the turbo careers mod and then it started working
I have the same problem, can’t find it anywhere
I had the same issue! But, I eventually found out that it was my mods. After I disabled my mods, I had access to the tiny home lot type. I haven’t enabled my mods again yet, but that seemed to help. If you’re using mods, that might interfere at the moment. I’m sure it’s a temporary thing until the mods update to that stuff pack and the newest update. I hope that was helpful!
You need to get a rid venue mod such as go to school venue or basemental gangs
Same
Oh My God!! I love this article. I am so fond of tiny houses, since few months I am planning to build my own tiny house and I have rented a property from my friend for it too. This is a great post, I love the graphical representation. Thanks for sharing!!
What if we can’t find the tiny house lot option? It’s not there but when I pick a tiny house in the gallery, there is an option for it and the teir panel only shows up when I put an already made house down.
Nevermind!
What if we can’t find the tiny house lot option? It’s not there but when I pick a tiny house in the gallery, there is an option for it and the teir panel only shows up when I put an already made house down.
Nevermind!
Oh My God!! I love this article. I am so fond of tiny houses, since few months I am planning to build my own tiny house and I have rented a property from my friend for it too. This is a great post, I love the graphical representation. Thanks for sharing!!
Have just loaded tiny Living to my game, but I can’t seem to find the tiny lot type? All I see is residential. The only difference I can see from your screen prints is that the title on my game says “Header” , where yours says “Lot Type” would this be a bug stopping my game load the tiny lot type. All other objects are present.
I had the same issue! But, I eventually found out that it was my mods. After I disabled my mods, I had access to the tiny home lot type. I haven’t enabled my mods again yet, but that seemed to help. If you’re using mods, that might interfere at the moment. I’m sure it’s a temporary thing until the mods update to that stuff pack and the newest update. I hope that was helpful!
I removed the turbo careers mod and then it started working
I have the same problem, can’t find it anywhere
The same is happening to me I came here to look for help
You need to get a rid venue mod such as go to school venue or basemental gangs
Same