Top 10 Expansion Packs I Use In My Builds

Hello Everyone!

Today, I’ll be talking about the expansion packs I use in my Sims 4 house and community builds. Now, for the most part, the style of my build determines the main packs I use. So, for example, I use a lot of items from the Life & Death pack, for a lot of my Victorian or Art Deco builds. I use Realm of Magic for my Art Nouveau builds, and of course, I use Cottage Living, for a lot of my cottages as well, but there are some packs that I use over and over again, because they’re just that good. I may even throw in a bonus item or two, in this article as well. So, read on.

1.   Kitchen Clutter

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I think every kitchen needs clutter, even if you’re going for a minimalistic look, there has to be at least one or two stacks of plates on your shelf, or even a small container for tea bags or coffee. The Kitchen Clutter kit is one of my most beloved and most used kits in The Sims 4, because it gives me plenty of options to clutter my kitchen with, and it doesn’t even have to be a house kitchen, you can use it in restaurants, small businesses and other spaces that have kitchens. It makes the space seem more lived in.

2.   Sleek Bathroom Kit

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The verdict was between the Sleek Bathroom kit or the Bathroom Clutter kit, and honestly, I think the Sleek Bathroom kit won out. I love a good modern bathroom. For the most part, I love the minimalistic styles of bathrooms, especially ones made with stone tiles and stone fixtures. It just feels cleaner. I’m very particular with my bathrooms, and I love modern ones the most, because I don’t actually have a modern bathroom in real life. So, when I see a clean modern bathroom, I can’t help but appreciate it.

3.   Blooming Rooms Kit

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I need plants in all my builds. No home is finished, without potted and decorative plants. I mean, even in real life, I have plants dotted about the house, in every nook and cranny, and sometimes, they’re fake plants. Of course, I’m going to love this kit and use it in every single one of my builds. You might have noticed one plant I use and that’s the Green Goddess Pothos. This is my absolute favourite hanging planter, and I wish we had more. Having plants hanging from the ceiling softens a room dramatically, and I can’t get enough of it. If you ever have the chance to hang a planter from the ceiling, do it!

4.   Cozy Bistro Kit

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I love the Bistro aesthetic, it’s timeless, and it translates well if paired with natural materials, like wood and stone. Now, I don’t always use the main furniture pieces from Cozy Bistro, but I do pluck the wine bottles every time I have a bar area. I just wish it came with more bottle designs, and maybe a wine glass or two. I don’t want to have to use the ones from the Debug menu, because those ones will spoil (in Sims terms), and the room will constantly have a foul smell to it, even though the glasses are meant to be decorative.

5.   Everyday Clutter Kit

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This is just a useful pack, especially when it comes to decorating bedrooms, and sometimes kitchens. The Mug Trio is one of my absolute favourites, especially when I create a coffee station or when I’m setting up a kettle counter. Instead of using a single mug over and over again, I can easily fill the void space with the three mugs and not have to place them individually. Not to mention, when I’m creating vanity tables and cluttered makeup stations, I love the makeup boxes and jewellery stands. They fill the space nicely and provide an organised chaos on the vanity.

6.   Laundry Day Stuff Pack

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I could go on and on about the kits I use all the time, but I have to include some of the other Stuff, Game and Expansion packs as well. So, we’re starting this part with the Laundry Day Stuff Pack. I love this pack, especially for its functionality. It adds a lot of realism to my gameplay, so I include it in all my homes, and yes, the ones that I play with as well. No bedroom is complete without a laundry hamper, and no home is without a form of wash basin or machine for dirty clothes. It just depends on the layout of the house, where the machine lives, or if the people who live there wash their clothes manually, or with the machine. I also love some of the décor it comes with, particularly the rugs and the broom stand. It’s just a shame that the broom isn’t functional. It would have been a great addition to my legacy gameplay.

7.   Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack

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Like with the Kitchen Clutter Kit, I love the Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack. The addition of the mixer, the dish rack, the sink, the sleek oven and fridge, and the spice rack are my favourite things about this stuff pack. I love how modern it makes a kitchen feel, or how it enhances the look of a traditional kitchen. I love this pack, because it has the added appliances. Of course, I wish it came with a toaster, but I’ll take what I can get, the waffle maker can act as a close second. I also love how it comes with a pizza oven, which is actually perfect for some of my community builds, especially if I’m building a pizza restaurant.

8.   Dream Home Decorator Game Pack

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I don’t think I need to say too much about this pack. Whenever I create modern houses, and need clean pieces of furniture, I always jump back to Dream Home Decorator. It’s an architect’s dream, really. The modular furniture pieces, the clutter, the art, the storage boxes, they’re all things I would use and include time and again, in any and all of my houses, because they’re timeless pieces. Maybe not all of the décor items, but most certainly the furniture. Dream Home Decorator screams quietly modern, without being too overt about it.

9.   Life & Death Expansion Pack

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There’s a reason I use the Life & Death Expansion pack a lot. It’s the period pieces that it has. In fact, it’s not just the furniture that draws me into this pack, it’s the actual architectural pieces, like the doors and the wallpapers. Even the roof pieces are beautiful. In fact, my favourite architectural pieces from this pack are the Eerie Elegance Gate & Fence. Of course, if it’s not the architectural pieces, it’s the furniture, like the Modern Grimpressions Counter. I love the heavy marble and wood look to the counter. It’s not quite traditional, but it’s not completely modern. The Life & Death Expansion Pack will forever be one of my favourite expansion packs for The Sims 4.

Honourable Mentions

Now, while I don’t always use these packs, I feel like some of the items they have really help me create a home or venue that’s full of character:

• Grange Mudroom Kit – I love the wardrobe and dressers for their classical look, I just wish there were more colour swatches for them. I also wish there were more snappable positions for the cupboards and shelves, because there are some small items that don’t need to take up a full shelf. More items could fit on there, if the dimensions are right.

• Book Nook Kit – I love the cozy look of this kit, and I love the modular bookcases. I just wish it came with book displays, so we could make more realistic book shops or cafes (I know there are book stands in the debug menu, but it can be tedious to comb through all of that junk)

• Crystal Creations Stuff Pack – This one is purely for my crafting heart. I love crystals, and any chance I get, I make my Sims jewellers, for better or for worse. I just wish their display busts and shelves acted like surfaces for selling, meaning I’d like them to be compatible with the Businesses & Hobbies Expansion pack, so we could sell these creations correctly.

• Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack – This again, is purely for my own love of crafting and crochet. I’m so glad they included this hobby into the game, but I wish they included sewing, so we can create our own clothes, for our Sims, and get them to be actual fashion designers, instead of just style influences.

• Dine Out Game Pack – I often use the olive jars and their ingredients storage boxes for larger kitchens or restaurant kitchens, because it just makes sense. I do, however, wish they made the wine rack functional, or the waiter station functional, so that we could get the kitchen porters to wash the dishes manually, or use the dishwasher properly. It would add to the realism of the game.

• Lovestruck Expansion Pack– Say what you want about the live mode gameplay aspect about this expansion pack, but I do love a lot of the build mode pieces here. The Mother Of Pearl hanging light, the Romance Rendezvous Bar Counter, and the Fireplace Ready Romantic Blanket are probably some of the best items that have come from this kit, and yes, I do use these items a lot, in the appropriate builds.

• Cottage Living Expansion Pack – While I love the cottage look, most of the time, it’s not always appropriate to include some of their items in my builds, although, if I could, I would. I do, however, use some of their clutter pieces to add more character to some of my rooms, like some of the kitchen items, or the blanket storage basket, and even some of the lighting fixtures. I just wish they’d made the stone fences higher. They look too short to keep people out.

10.Horse Ranch Expansion Pack

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The Horse Ranch Expansion Pack is one of my absolute favourites, for build mode. It is my go-to when I can’t think of a good swatch, fence, item, or surface I can fit in a build. Yes, it’s characterised by the American Western, but paired with stone, and a garden, you’ve got a good medieval cottage going. In all honesty, when I first bought the pack, I only used it for the build mode, but as I began to play the Sims, for my own personal enjoyment (after a decade of doing other things), I realised just how much fun owning a horse can be, in The Sims (I don’t actually own a horse - there's a lot of upkeep to that, and I'm not rich enough to do that). The visuals of the pack are so versatile, it can fit in almost any type of build and doesn’t need to be particularly reserved for the American Western aesthetic.

This List Can Change, But This Is The List For Now

Now, as with anything, my opinions can change, and depending on what mood I’m in, or what design aesthetic I’m going for, the list will change. In fact, even now, I’m debating whether or not I should switch out the Horse Ranch shoutout, to the Royalty And Legacy shoutout, because there are some good pieces in there too (I particularly like the standing chandelier that has the ivy vines climbing up it, but that will be on another list, at another time. For now, these are my current favourite 10 expansion packs that I use in many, if not all my builds. What about you guys? What are your favourite expansion packs? Let me know, in the comments below.

Well, that’s it from me today, I’m going to go and continue building my next Sims build. While I do that, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, comment, share and follow me, here on Feather’s Charm, on my YouTube channel, on my other social media channels (Instagram, Twitter/X, TikTok), and on Patreon. Your support really does help me make more content like this, for you guys.

And as always be kind, be creative, and be unique.

I’ll see you later!

Feather, out!