The Sims 4 Guides

The Sims 4 Greenhouses: Transform a Lawn into Paradise!

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Everything you need to know to build your dream greenhouse in The Sims 4!

Curious about The Sims 4 greenhouses? You’re not alone! A question that still pops up from time to time in our social groups is “Where are the greenhouses?!” Players who have recently purchased the Seasons expansion pack are confused when they look through the Build/Buy catalogue and don’t see any greenhouse pieces to build with. It’s not a silly question; after all, all previous installments in the series that had greenhouses came with specific greenhouse pieces to put together.

The truth is, The Sims 4 does have greenhouses; they’re just integrated into the regular Build/Buy tools. While this makes them more work to build, it also gives you a lot more freedom to design the greenhouse of your dreams.

How to Build The Sims 4 Greenhouses

The Sims 4 greenhouses are just regular rooms! In fact, you don’t even need the Seasons expansion pack to build one. Any enclosed space protected from the elements in the game can function as a greenhouse for your plants but of course, you can make your greenhouses look more like greenhouses with windows and glass roofing. So let’s get into making a very basic greenhouse using just the base game!

The Sims 4 Greenhouses

First, build a simple rectangular room and pop some lights in just to be able to see what we’re doing. You can delete them and replace them with better lights later so don’t worry about what type of light. The plain saucer lights will do fine for now. Your The Sims 4 greenhouses are already comin together!

Building Greenhouses in The Sims 4

Next put the roof on. You can use any type of roof you want. Get as creative as you like but for this tutorial, I’ll just pop on a quick and easy gabled roof.

Now that you have the basic structure in place, you can start making things look like real The Sims 4 greenhouses. Start by picking out a nice glass texture for the roof. There are six different glass textures for roofs. My personal favourite is the ornate one but you can select any of the glass options that you like.

With your roof all glassy, it’s time to select some windows to let in light from the sides. Try to find a nice pair of windows to match the full length of your walls. If you plan to grow trees indoors, you’ll need at least medium wall height. Put the windows all around the building leaving space on one side for a door. To give the greenhouse a seamless look, it’s best to use a matching glass door that is as tall as the windows, like shown below.

After a paint job, your The Sims 4 greenhouses are almost finished. You just need to handle the inside. Get rid of the saucer lights we put in earlier as they’ll be floating in the air under the glass roof and it’ll look strange. We have enough light coming in through the windows now. You can either demolish the floor and use terrain paints to put dirt and paths in your greenhouse or you can use floor tiles, it’s up to you.

The Sims 4 Greenhouses

Now you can do whatever you want! All The Sims 4 greenhouses need are some planter boxes in them. Otherwise, you’re free to get as elaborate and creative as you want. Make a tiny simple greenhouse with a few décor pieces like I’ve done here or create an elaborate sprawling estate with platforms and fountains and different sections for different species of plants. The great thing about The Sims 4 greenhouses is that they really don’t have any limits. You could turn your entire home into a giant greenhouse if you wanted to.

The Benefits of Greenhouses with Seasons

Of course, greenhouses are mostly just for looks if you don’t have the Seasons expansion pack. With no weather, plants don’t need protection from anything but if you do have Seasons, greenhouses are incredibly useful.

With Seasons installed, your plants will only grow during certain seasons. The rest of the year when they are not in season, they go dormant and stop producing flowers or food. This can be frustrating for Simmers with outdoor gardens, especially if their Sims family relies on their garden to put food on the table or to make a living off of. But there is a solution! Grow your plants indoors in a greenhouse!

Plants inside The Sims 4 greenhouses are protected from the changing seasons and won’t go dormant when the seasons change. They’ll stay in season all year long! So your Sims can keep harvesting their flowers and food in all four seasons no matter what the weather is like outside. The only downside to this is that your Sims will need to hire a gardener or water their plants themselves; since the plants are indoors, they can’t get watered naturally when it rains.

The Sims 4 Greenhouses
The only thing plants need to be sheltered is a roof over them. No walls required!

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a greenhouse. Since the game considers any room a “greenhouse,” you can also just keep your plants in your living room, your bedroom, anywhere you want indoors, really. As long as they have a roof over them, they are considered sheltered and won’t go dormant when out of season. You don’t even need walls! A roof piece outdoors with some pillars to hold it up like a gazebo will work just fine as well. Realistic? Perhaps not, but definitely handy for the gardener on a budget.


And that’s all there is to it! You know the basics of building The Sims 4 greenhouses now but like we mentioned before, there’s no limit to how elaborate and creative you can get with your greenhouses. Show us your favourite greenhouse you’ve ever built on any of our social media channels! We’d love to see them!

And if you’re looking for more greenhouse inspiration, learn how to build a greenhouse with Moschino Stuff!

About the author

SnarkyWitch

A cranky old lady who prefers the company of cats and Sims over people. Occasionally peeks out from her lair long enough to chuck Sims articles at innocent bystanders.

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