4/16 Blog 3: How to Landscape and Decorate Walls

This week, I worked on the exterior of the house (windows, doorways, gardening, and overall aesthetic). However, there were some technical difficulties. I tried to set a timelapse of me building the build, but my timelapse mod was not cooperating with me. However, I will get past this and work on fixing it for my next blog. Going back to building, I tested out a doorway idea I had.

Here, I used trapdoors, logs, and stairs to really accentuate the wall and add more detail to the boring planks. So, I quite liked the design. Because of the criticism I received on the last post about my house, I decided to go back to it and make it seem more "likable". So, I took their comments into consideration and decided to work on it again. Because of the positive comments on the pond in the front, I decided to extend it and add a bridge for easy access.

I also added lilypads in order to add some more greenery, as that was one of the factors I needed to work on this week. In addition, I had seen a good fountain design on instagram that I wanted to recreate in my own world.

I feel like this added more detail to the overall build and it was a cool new feature. Here is the garden I worked on.

Because minecraft doesn't have sakura trees, I decided to make my own as they are my favorite type of tree. So, I used a variety of pink blocks to create it. I like this addition as it adds more color to the landscape and fills in an empty spot. Next, I worked on the walls themselves.

Here, I added logs to the corners of the house to give the walls more depth and definition. Also, I added trapdoors next to both of the windows to add more detail as well. Without further ado, here is the build all together!

Here it is! As I look at this build and then the original "overgrown" build featured in my first blog, I can really see the improvement. It is also an improvement from last week's build. Now I understand why so many people roasted me last week ahhaha. As you can see, I do need to work on my variety of blocks, as 90% of the build is stone bricks and spruce or oak wood. Like last week, I asked some of my fellow classmates for their opinions. "SHEEEEESH. I like the tree, not sure abt the texture pack tho. Very nice setting tho. The pond bridge is nice. If I was a Minecraft person, I would live there."- Best friend from Canada. "Wow the shading really compliments the scenery along with the pink tree!"- Ananyamous. "the depth on the walls today is magnificent, i love the spread of the flowers because it looks super natural and cute, the little window is really nice but it blends with the roof and i feel like it should pop out at me more, but I love what you've done with the place honey great work!"-Hailey. So seeing these three comments, I can conclude that the pink sakura tree was a good idea! Also, people seemed to compliment me on my garden, so I believe I improved in that aspect. So, I can say that this week has been a success! I will keep in mind the designs I have built and continue to incorporate them into my builds. Next week, I will work on interior design so that my houses can be as gorgeous on the inside as they are on the outside!

Like last week, here are some more comments from the judges.

"Overall great build. There are only a few things that I personally would change, but honestly the way it looks right now is very good already. First of all, i would make the leaves of the tree slightly more round to cover almost the entire top. Secondly, again with the tree, I would personally replace the terracotta blocks with another shade of stained glass or something with equal texture. This is all personal preference, and I can see why you used the terracotta. Next, both with the bridge and the roof of the house, mainly the roof of the house, I would add a bit mroe texture in the form of slabs, buttons, trapdoors, etc. I feel like that would add to the overall style of the build. Lastly, at the bottom of the pond/lake I would add another block into the mix with the dirt to give it a bit more texture, although I could see this very easily drawing people's eyes away from the main portion of the build. All in all though, the way it looks right now is good."- Anonymous reject block individual.

"so the bridge is the first thing i would work on, in my opinion it is too straight and narrow with not too many textures inside of the bridge. If i were you i’d rather go for a spruce or oak type curves bridge to bring out the wood like vibe. the statue i feel like should be one block more down but that’s not that bad of a issue more of a minor one. The last thing i noticed was the lampost as that needs a bit more of a rework because the stair then a hanging trap door isn’t the right type of detail in my opinion. Oh and i feel like the pathway should be more course dirt or whatever you do to how it instead of more so cobble because it brings out the wood house type vibe to it."- Anonymous

"statue = good, pond could be more vibrant, less lily pads. the bridge is cool, maybe texture it. i really like the house. only weird part is the sakura tree... i dont like the weird textured blocks in it, doesnt fit with it well, but i like the stump and branches made of fences. overall its really good"- Anonymous

"There are a lot of trees in the back, that is kinda annoying, just seeing all the trees. Also, the pink fake tree doesnt really work with the build, but other than that its pretty good. Also, idk what the thing on the left is" -Anonymous