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Paralives Field GuideParalives Field Guide

Architecture

Paralives build mode guide

Enter build mode with one key, then bend walls, lay floors and resize every object without a grid. This hub links every build tutorial — curved walls, foundations, floors, porches and build cheats.

architecture

Build mode is the headline feature

Grid-free curved walls, free placement, full colour wheel on every object. Build mode is where Paralives' freedom shows from day one.

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Paralives build mode
📐Curved walls, free placement & half-levels
  1. 01

    Curved walls

    Walls bend along any arc, with no grid snapping. Round towers and curved facades work the same way as rectangles.

  2. 02

    Free placement

    Furniture rotates and resizes at any angle and any dimension. No snap-to-grid forcing a layout it does not want.

  3. 03

    Continuous color

    Every wall, floor and prop accepts a full color picker. The default swatches are a starting point, not a cage.

How to enter and exit build mode

Google's top Paralives build questions all start here. In live mode, press B or click the house icon (bottom-left) to toggle build mode. Press B again — or click the live-mode icon — to return to playing.

  1. 1From live mode, press B or tap the house icon in the bottom toolbar.
  2. 2The build toolbar appears across the top. Pick Walls, Floors, Stairs or any tool from there.
  3. 3When you are done, press B again or click the live-mode icon to exit back to playing.
  4. 4Build mode works on any owned lot. There is no separate free-build sandbox in Early Access — you edit the active household lot.
Build mode tutorial

How to build a porch in Paralives

Porches feel impossible at first in Paralives — there's no grid, no porch-piece menu, no preset wrap-around tool. The trick is two systems working together: the foundation-height slider and the half-level floors. Pick one path or mix both. Either way, you get a porch the Sims 4 grid would never let you make.

Porch tutorial

Essential build mode hotkeys

The eight that carry most of a build session, straight from the same keybinding data as our full controls reference — so they cannot drift out of sync with the game.

TabSwitch between Build and Live mode
BDraw a wall
OOpen the catalogue
GToggle the grid
Alt (hold)Disable snapping
XRotate 90°
KSledgehammer — demolish
Ctrl + ZUndo
All 48 keybindings, Windows and Mac

What sets it apart

Half-levels

Split a single story into mezzanines or sunken living rooms. Stairs route automatically; railings adopt the slope.

Continuous color

Hue, saturation, lightness and a small set of material presets per object. The default swatches are a starting point, not a cage.

Always-daylight mode

Optional toggle that locks lighting at midday so you can judge colors and contrast while building. Workshop ships expanded versions of this.

Workshop integration

Builds upload to Workshop with one click. Downloaders can browse rooms before committing to a whole house, and your color picks ship with the build.

Planner

Build budget calculator & house-needs checklist

Before you place a single wall, size the spend. Pick your layout and finish level for a Paradimes estimate, copy the SETMONEY cheat to fund it, and check the needs list so no Para ends up without a fridge or a toilet.

Open the budget calculator

Build mode tutorials

Deep-dive guides for specific build techniques. Each tutorial walks every step with tips and common mistakes.

Finished Paralives house viewed from above in build mode after the full step-by-step tutorial
Full build mode tutorial

Seventeen illustrated steps from an empty lot to a saved house — settings, walls, foundations, roof and terrain.

Build
Top-down view of a furnished Paralives starter home with dining, bedroom and bathroom zones ready for live mode
Starter home build

Eleven illustrated steps from an empty lot to a move-in-ready house — footprint, roof, openings and the fridge-bed-toilet essentials.

Build
Paralives front porch with steps built using the separator tool and raised floor from the tips guide
15 build mode tips

The tricks that save a rebuild: same-height cloning, resize limits and copying colour codes.

Build
Real floor plan image displayed on a Paralives lot using the customizable carpet Workshop mod
Build from a floor plan

Show a real blueprint on your lot with a Workshop rug and trace the walls straight over it.

Build
A finished Paralives kitchen corner with green cupboards, coffee machine and spice jars grouped by task
Kitchen ideas & design

Sixteen illustrated steps to a kitchen that cooks: cupboard formats, counter sinks, tucked appliances, the induction fix and a tile line that stops at the counters.

Build
A Paralives master bedroom with a half-wall headboard wall flanked by wooden night tables
Decorate a whole house

Room-by-room interiors: built-ins from reshaped shelves, focal walls, a half-wall headboard and a glass roof that drains.

Build
A Paralives cottagecore house with a white picket fence and a glass greenhouse annex built from windows
Cottagecore transformation

A preset house turned cottagecore: greenhouse from windows, arched reading nook, uploaded tile posters and combined furniture.

Build
A finished Paralives skylight window sitting flush in a brown gable roof
Ceilings & skylights

Why Paralives ceilings vanish, how the separator tool restores them, and two skylight builds with every frame verified.

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A Paralives apartment bathroom from above with a glass shower, toilet and sink counter on marble tiles
Bathroom ideas

Shower placement that clears the toilet, towel-rack tricks and the Toiletries clutter that sells the room.

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A red brick accent wall behind a wall-mounted TV in a Paralives living room
Living room ideas

Sofa modules, wood-grain mixing, curtain light control and the interior brick wall that makes a loft.

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Finished Paralives bedroom with a carved wooden four-poster bed, a photo garland strung across the brick wall and a record player on the nightstand
Bedroom ideas

Green walls, a four-poster bed recolored part by part, a photo-garland headboard and a study corner — a full bedroom makeover in 14 steps.

Build
Overhead view of a finished Paralives apartment layout, its separate furnished rooms visible with the roof cut away
Apartment build

Turn a preset single-home lot into a family apartment — open kitchen-living zone, resized cabinets, a compact shower and a nursery with a shapes mural.

Build
Front of a finished Paralives tiny house — white clapboard walls under a steep green roof, climbing ivy and a low picket fence
Tiny house

A micro home on a wedge lot — ghost walls on a curve, a bed in a shelf niche, a one-wall kitchen and a picket-fence garden in the space left over.

Build
A finished modern two-storey house with a cantilevered upper floor beside a stop sign and a wheat field.
Modern house

A compact modern build from a terrain mound up — freeform walls, adjustable roof angles, resized windows and cabinets, an island kitchen and a painted yard.

Build
A Japanese family home with a dark hipped roof, a bicycle against the wall and a blooming sakura tree by the street.
Japanese house

A Japanese family home step by step — hip roof with painted edges, multi-panel windows as sliding doors, a three-room bathroom, LDK zoning and a genkan entry.

Build
A Victorian home with a black corner turret and a wraparound veranda, seen from above at dusk.
Victorian house

A Victorian family home speed build — ornate roofline, bay-window protrusions, period colour palette and a veranda wraparound, every step illustrated.

Build
A finished gothic house converted from a church, seen from the street: gray stone walls, dark red steep roofs and a gold-starred spire.
Gothic house

A gothic renovated church build — raised terrain, grey stone walls, pointed-arch windows, a spire and a candle-lit night interior, every step illustrated.

Build
An ivy-covered witch cottage at night, its windows glowing behind giant fly agaric mushrooms and a lamppost-lit stone path.
Witch house

A witch cottage and potion shop — freeform timber shell, conical tower roof, climbing ivy, a potion corner and a secret cauldron room.

Build
A hobbit house sunk into a green slope with a wide arch door, a round porthole window and a stone wishing well, shown in build mode.
Hobbit house

A cozy hole in a hill — raised terrain, a round-window door trick, a painted rock roof, curved interior walls and a flower-farm garden.

Build
The finished Paralives mansion estate from above: white walls, black steep roofs, terraced garden and a turquoise pool
Mansion build

A walkout-basement mansion build — terrain tools, free-height walls, curved garden walls and a fake pool, in 16 steps.

Build
A finished blue-shingled Paralives beach house behind a white picket fence with a pergola and the ocean beyond
Beach house build

A two-source coastal build — cliff-lot siting, flat roofs, timber screens and a Mediterranean-style kitchen, in 16 steps.

Build
A finished Paralives treehouse library built around a giant trunk with curved walls and shelves
Treehouse build

Build around a living tree — curved walls hugging the trunk, a squashed-staircase ladder and a bush canopy roof.

Build
Sandstone Paralives castle with conical turret roofs and crenellated walls, seen from the foot of its long stone staircase
Castle build

A fortress in sixteen steps — round tower drums and a curtain wall, crenellated battlements, conical tower roofs and a moat cut with the terrain height tools.

Build
Paralives greenhouse built entirely from window pieces, with a fully glazed end wall and sunflowers at the corners
Greenhouse build

All glass without a mod — window pieces for the walls, window rows down both roof pitches, shaped panes for the gable and a glazed sunroom wing.

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British-style Paralives townhouse on a corner lot, with a slate mansard roof, dormers and chimneys
Townhouse build

A terraced home on a narrow lot — shell laid out footprint-first, floors stacked and joined by space-saving stairs, a moulded bay window and a mansard roof.

Build
Cutaway of a finished Paralives loft house showing the mezzanine bedroom and studio above a reading nook and kitchen.
Loft build

A raised half-floor that doubles the floor plan — platform sections, stairs into the mezzanine, a daybed bedroom and studio on top, storage and a reading nook underneath.

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Finished Paralives pool with turquoise water, white loungers and a beach ball beside a pink pool house on a coastal lot
Pool & pond build

Pools and ponds in a game with no water tool — wall-built shells with painted bottoms, the Workshop water-surface object, a terrain-dug pond and no-mod fake water.

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Finished Paralives farmhouse seen from the road: cream siding, dark multi-gable roof, black-railed porch and a stone path
Farmhouse build

A cream country house with a gable roof and dormers, a wraparound porch, picket fences and painted field rows, and a full family interior down to the nursery.

Build
Finished Paralives bungalow with a brown hip roof, brick chimney and covered front porch
Bungalow build

A whole house on one floor: the continuous floor plate, separator walls, and the wide hip roof that has to be broken before it reads as a bungalow.

Build
Finished black Paralives A-frame house with timber-lined balconies and full-height glazing seen from its hillside garden
A-frame build

Let the roof be the walls: wallless gable pieces raised into an A, a floating platform floor, triangular and full-height glazing, a hole-in-the-wall fireplace and a hillside garden, from bare lot to move-in tour.

Build
Finished Paralives log cabin with stacked-pillar porch, arched green door and stone patio by a forest path
Log cabin build

A wilderness cabin from the ground up: a carved riverbed with rock banks, log walls stacked from pillars, an arched door, a gable roof with stone chimney, a plank bridge crossing and a glass sunroom annex on an existing cottage.

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Finished Paralives villa with dark flat roof and glass balustrades above a private beach with a striped sun umbrella
Villa build

A clifftop villa over a private beach in two styles: a modern flat-roof shell with glass balustrades and stone finishes, plus the Mediterranean dialect — angled walls, arched windows, Style Creation recolours, terrace fences and beach landscaping.

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A mid-century Paralives home lifted on a timber platform deck, its metal outdoor staircase zigzagging down a green hillside toward the street.
Platforms & level tricks

Raise floor slabs into platforms, snap stairs to the edge, sink terrain for lower rooms and float furniture on top. 16 steps with the known save bug.

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A finished yellow Paralives attic house with a centered dormer, shuttered windows and a wrap-around veranda, seen from the garden.
Attic rooms & the roof fix

Build the room under the roof without the clipping: walls as the roof's guide, stairs first, the roof parked a floor up and dragged down, dormer centered. 16 steps.

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Finished Paralives shipping container house with a cream corrugated lower storey and a dark green corrugated upper box beside a stone garden path.
Shipping container houses

Stack two corrugated boxes, paint the ripple in wall painting mode, resize a striped awning by drag and zone the rooms around one staircase. 16 steps.

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A Paralives patio deck edged with a low wooden fence beside a garden path, an example of free-drawn fence placement.
Fences & the gate question

Free-drawn fence placement, the wall tool's fence mode, why Early Access has no fence gates, and the creator-tested fence foundation trick — every fact sourced.

Build
A finished skylight window set flush into the maroon shingle slope of a one-story Paralives house.
Skylights, no skylight tool

Cut a separator hole, frame the roof around it and tilt an ordinary window into the slope — the method three builders use, with every gap fix. 14 steps.

Build
A white Paralives kitchen island with a stone countertop dressed with bowls and bottles, shown freestanding as in the build tutorial.
Kitchen islands from scratch

No island prefab exists — build the base from a separator shell, finish the counters in wall painting mode and tuck stools under. 14 steps.

Build
A finished Paralives living room with a brick built-in fireplace, mantel shelf and mounted television.
Built-in fireplaces, no mods

Place the breast, thicken the wall around it, stretch a shelf into a mantel and recolour with Style Creation — 14 steps from three creator demos.

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A dark haunted Victorian mansion with a spire and wrap porch in Paralives.
Haunted houses, no ghosts

Draw a tall, crooked Victorian, roof it in near-black, fake the corners with chimney rooms and let the paint do the haunting — 16 steps.

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A cozy blue Paralives trailer with round windows used as wheels.
Trailer & mobile homes

The platform lift, circular windows as wheels, curved roofs and the small-space rules — two full trailer builds, 15 steps.

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The Lot Library panel open over a Paralives town map.
Copy anything, twice as fast

Duplicate items, copy colour codes, repeat whole floors and clone houses via the Lot Library — every route, honestly labelled.

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DIY Paralives bunk bed with a desk for two underneath in a finished kids room
Bunk beds: status & the DIY build

No bunk bed item yet — what devs confirmed, what beds already do, and the stacked-bed build that works today.

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Finished white Paralives church with twin gothic towers and conical spires seen from the lawn
Church build

A gothic cathedral in sixteen steps — curved apse walls, conical-spire towers, moulding tracery, a letter-tile cross and a pewed nave.

Build
Finished white Paralives cottage with a steep red roof and a black-railed balcony with flower boxes above a walled front garden
Cottage build

A stone cottage in sixteen steps — offset walls, a steep red roof, an oversized chimney, porch and garden, and small rooms put to work.

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Finished Paralives cottage on a wooden deck over a dark garden pond at dusk with rock banks
Pond build

A garden pond in sixteen steps — terrain-dug basin, three ways to fake the water, rock banks, ducks and a deck over the pond.

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Finished Paralives garden book nook with ivy-covered glass walls and a stepping stone path
Reading nook

Two cozy nook builds — a glass garden pavilion and an under-stairs book nook with bookshelf walls, cushions and vines.

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Finished Paralives interior with a sunken lounge beside a purple bedroom and green kitchen
Sunken living room

A conversation pit in fourteen steps — lower the shell, separator, two sledgehammer clicks, circle rules and furnished results.

Build
Official Paralives clip showing the free-form wall tool drawing a curved wall segment inside a room
Diagonal walls

Draw walls at any angle without a grid — and what "slanted walls" really means (attic rooms), plus the 2022 dev-chat word on diagonal flooring and wraparound porches.

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Paralives artist studio loft with an easel, cube side table, brush-stroke feature wall, keyboard and black steel stairs
Art studio

Build an artist loft step by step — separator-tool zones, gallery windows, a brush-stroke feature wall and an easel corner, from one narrated speed build.

Build
Finished Paralives sunroom with white sofa, glass coffee table and floor-to-ceiling windows opening to the garden
Sunroom build

No sunroom prefab exists — one speed build, sixteen frame-checked steps: floor plan to glazed walls, deck edging, then sofa, rug and TV wall inside the glass.

Build
Overhead cutaway of a finished two-story Paralives suburban family house with kids' bedrooms, upstairs bathroom and backyard patio
Suburban house build

A two-story family home in eighteen steps — porch roof, raised foundation, brick-and-siding facade, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a hopscotch backyard.

Build
A black-and-white Paralives houseboat with an awning and flags moored in a cove
Houseboat build

A curved-wall hull in black and white: bookshelf ladder, ceiling-fan propeller, dinner on the bow deck.

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Paralives industrial loft with red brick walls, black window frames and a glass roof seen from the street
Industrial loft: brick, steel & glass

Wistof's two-volume brick loft with a window-built glass roof and garage workshop — 16 steps, plus Geekism's minimalist decor take.

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A Paralives mid-century modern home with a flat roof and glass spine seen across a lawn with a pool and fire pit.
Paralives mid-century modern guide

Two creator builds, frame by frame: sunken conversation pit, stone-and-walnut palette, flat roof, carport and the Palm Springs tricks that sell the era.

Build
Paralives brownstone speed-build result: brown brick corner house with tall flower-box windows, climbing ivy and a rooftop water tower
Brownstone build

New York row house looks with base-game pieces: brown brick, tall windows, cornice and a stoop with railings.

Build
A Par seated on a finished Paralives rooftop terrace at dusk, with a pergola and string lights
Rooftop terrace build

A rooftop apartment on your own build in 16 steps: external stairs, sledgehammered roof slab, deck, half-wall parapets and a pergola.

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A Paralives dark academia porch at dusk with a rust leather sofa, lit lanterns and black-framed arch windows
Dark Academia build

A sixteen-step moody library renovation: stone arch porch, named palette, green library walls and a hidden study.

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Finished Paralives coffee shop on a street corner with cream brick, a green storefront, striped awning and climbing roses
Coffee shop build

A corner café with a pastry counter, upstairs flat and rooftop terrace — plus the workshop mod that lets customers actually buy.

Build
Paralives bookshop at dusk with ivy, flower boxes, a red-and-white striped awning and a teal door next to the pharmacy
Bookshop build

A cosy bookshop in a six-metre gap: shelf walls, book stacks, a striped awning and an apartment above the store.

Build
Roof terrace garden of a Paralives flower shop with cream parasols, bistro tables and flower beds seen from above
Flower shop build

A vintage flower café: a wall of bouquets, a wrapping workbench, a glass conservatory and a parasol roof garden.

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Finished Paralives ALLMART supermarket with dark facade, gold sign, planters and glass entrance on a sunny street corner
Supermarket build

A full ALLMART-style grocery: produce bins, freezers, themed aisles and staff rooms behind one big-box shell.

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Finished Paralives Rolling Dough trailer bakery with mint paint, a striped awning, bread on the roof and a golden-hour sky
Bakery build

A vintage-trailer bakery with a curved shell, full pastry kitchen and espresso bar — built with full walls so downloads never vanish.

Build
Paralives hotel rooftop wedding terrace with a flower arch, red and white heart balloons and white benches facing the ocean
Hotel build

A five-storey seaside hotel with a glass facade, neon front desk, five themed guest rooms and a rooftop wedding terrace.

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Paralives kid's room in live mode with a homework desk, red backpack and confetti wardrobe beside the single bed
Nursery build

A grow-with-them kid's room: size-handle bed, Style Creation bedding, homework desk and a fox rug.

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Finished Paralives restaurant facade at dusk with the kept Chez Maurice sign, navy paint and patio tables on the corner
Restaurant build

A street-corner restaurant with checkered floors, booth seating and a display case guests can order from.

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Paralives camper van at dusk with a striped awning, bunting and twin parasols on a suburban street
Camper van build

A tiny van turned dream home — a static sculpture, since nothing in Paralives drives.

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Paralives Scandinavian-style home with white cladding and a navy roof seen from the garden path
Scandinavian house

A Scandi coastal home in sixteen steps — white cladding, a navy roof, Style Creation palettes and a vine-covered terrace.

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Paralives Mediterranean house with arched windows and climbing vines on the upper balcony
Mediterranean house

A narrow-lot Mediterranean build — arched windows, terracotta roof presets, patterned tile and one palette inside and out.

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Paralives garden build with terraced levels and a glass atrium full of plants
Garden ideas

A plant lover's garden around a glass atrium — terraced levels, disguised soil, mass recolouring and an outdoor dining deck.

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Paralives coastal bungalow with a striped awning and the ocean behind the porch
Coastal house

A sea-view starter bungalow in sixteen steps — platform deck on posts, shingled gable, sage-and-white rooms, pond and Adirondack chairs.

Build
Paralives map view in edit-town mode with For Sale lot labels across Melino's districts
Edit the town

Buy and rebuild the venues Melino already has: the toggle edit town console command, buying For Sale lots, and replacing a default supermarket.

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Finished Paralives supermarket interior with checkout counters and stocked shelves
Community lots

Turn a default venue into your own shop or diner — replace, furnish and set opening hours and staff, following ItsAnitaa's supermarket makeover.

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Paralives farm at dusk with a windmill, gambrel-roof barn and cow statues in the paddock
Farm lot

A farm without animals: the cow statue anchors the barn, partition walls make the stalls, and a gardening mod handles plantable crops.

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Paralives catalogue search for a trailer showing the hidden debug item with its internal Item_ShopOdditiesCamper tooltip
Hidden build items

Zerbu's Debug Objects Category mod opens a catalogue of hidden items — venue props, market carts, signs — and this guide builds a book nook with them.

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Stained-glass style window in Paralives made by sinking a transparent poster behind the glass with the advanced move tool
Build hacks

Fifteen advanced techniques: two finishes on one wall, stained glass, skylights from a roof gap, and a full attic conversion.

Build
Paralives color wheel open over a furniture item with its color code ready to copy
Color wheel & color codes

Recolor anything with the wheel — hex codes, custom swatches, color zones and filters, plus what to check when it will not open.

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Finished Paralives renovation terrace with loungers, string lights and a small table overlooking the street
Renovate a community house

zoibean rebuilds a community-made wreck room by room — new walls, working stairs, kitchen, reading nook, terrace and front yard.

Build
Curved salmon-coloured sofa with colourful pillows and poufs built from individual seats in a Paralives window nook
Custom furniture (no mods)

Curved sofas, kitchen islands and built-in cabinet walls from vanilla parts — advanced transform tool recipes that stay functional in live mode.

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Paralives gaming room at night with dual monitors, LED glow and a neon sign above a white sofa
Gaming room build

A cozy whole-house tour that ends in a neon-lit gaming room — cat-face tiles, a stair nook, a library wall and a dual-monitor night desk.

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Finished Paralives walk-in closet with white wardrobe units, open shelving and a hanging rail below a slanted ceiling
Walk-in closet build

Turn a bedroom alcove into a working walk-in closet — wardrobe units, shelves and columns, a clothes rail stretched across the top and a vanity corner, proven with a real outfit change in live mode.

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A Paralives floating wizard library at dusk with an open book hovering beside a green bookshelf
Floating objects build

Make books, furniture, even a whole glass dome hover in mid-air with Paralives' own placement tools — the no-snap and vertical-move tricks behind a floating wizard library, no mods required for the levitation itself.

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A finished Paralives concrete hill house cantilevered over a grassy slope at sunset
Hill house build

A concrete house strung over a slope: flat slabs spanning the grade, walls drawn on top, a slab edge pulled out into a cantilever on pillars, terrain stepped down at the entry and a sunken roof terrace facing the valley — fourteen frame-verified steps from a no-narration build.

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A finished Paralives custom-city waterfront at dusk with a wooden dock, moored boat, benches, lanterns and floating leaves
Custom city build

Season a self-built city for autumn: mix deciduous trees into the pines, lift tree lines with Shift, wall-and-paint a working dock with Para-tested stairs, buy the waterfront lot through city editing, then bridge, stock and light it — a 40-minute narrated build distilled to fifteen frame-verified steps.

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A finished Paralives elven island city with white marble terraces, autumn willows, a pointed turret and a fountain by the sea
Fantasy island: an elven city

Raise an elven island city from a blank custom world — freehand platforms, one arch layered into every bridge and gate, rooftop planters and an autumn market.

Build
Aerial view of a finished Paralives custom world terrain with painted roads, a tree-ringed lake and green hills built from a blank map
Custom world from scratch

Start from the empty terrain map: water over the void, beaches and mountains layered, rock and sand painted, roads planned on screenshots.

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A turquoise Paralives beach house on wooden stilts above the sand with the plant catalogue open, a white hydrangea placed beside a palm tree
Coastal town build

Platform roads where streets cannot go, a beach district drawn with the lot perimeter, a moved-in beach house and a mural facade.

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Paralives house exterior with a front porch and steps leading up to the entry door
How to build a porch

Two methods, curved walls, four variants. 9-step tutorial with common pitfalls.

Build
Paralives build mode showing curved exterior walls forming a rounded tower facade
Curved walls guide

Draw arcs, round towers, and curved facades. 7-step walkthrough with precision tips.

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Paralives household home on a Melino lot before using the phone move-house workflow
How to move house

Phone-driven 7-step move workflow. Whole-family moves, Para split-offs and legacy-safe heirlooms.

Build
Separator tool preview in Paralives used to outline a room before raising a foundation platform
Foundations & half-levels

Raise and lower foundations, add half-levels, and fix the 'cannot raise platform' error. 6 steps.

Build
Staircase snapping to the raised platform edge of a Paralives porch in build mode
How to build stairs

Straight, L-shaped, spiral and curved stairs. Connect half-levels without a floating step. 6 steps.

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Paralives build mode interior showing a multi-level staircase layout
Spiral staircase guide

Paralives has no native spiral or curved stairs yet — here's how to fake a winding, spiral-like look with short runs and landings.

Build
Paralives backyard deck with outdoor furniture and railing overlooking the garden
Decks, patios & balconies

Lay a patio, raise a deck with railings, add an upstairs balcony. 6 steps with outdoor-floor fixes.

Build
Paralives floor paint mode showing plank direction controls on a hardwood interior floor
How to build a floor

Paint interior floors, outdoor patios and split-level sections. 5-step HowTo with common mistakes.

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A finished Paralives roofline from above with a dormer, a wrap-around porch roof and mitered corner pieces
Roofs

A step-by-step roof tutorial: colour every part, stop clipping, corner roofs, skylights and dormers — plus the classic fixes.

Build
Two Paralives rooms at different floor heights with the blue arrow used to raise the lower level
Walls

Fix walls that won't connect, the 'different heights' error, height and visibility.

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Paralives object context menu listing Sell, No Snap, Move Vertically and Rotate shortcuts on a placed item
Move objects

Resize, rotate and freely place objects, plus the moveobjects cheat.

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Street-facing Paralives garage bay with wide wall openings and a driveway approach
How to build a garage

Street-facing bay, wide openings and garage-door workarounds when EA has no shutter prop.

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Finished Paralives split-level house with a gabled roof and stacked half-stories on one side
Split-level house

Lower the lot, cut wall height six clicks, delete half-floors and route stairs through a shaft. Eleven illustrated steps.

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Paralives half-wall railing closing the open edge beside a split-level staircase on quarter-tile grid
Half walls & railings

Pick a half-wall height before placing, ring sunken lounges, fence split-level gaps and build platform stairs. Nine illustrated steps.

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Paralives window nook with brick Alt-painted frame and thick wall depth on a finished house facade
Windows & doors

Catalogue placement, the curved-wall straight-segment fix, resize sliders, thick-wall nooks and Alt-paint trim. Ten illustrated steps.

Build
Winding dirt path painted through wildflowers and long grass beside a Paralives house
Terrain tools

Sculpt hills, paint grass and gravel, brush wildflower paths and cluster shrubs. Nine illustrated steps.

Build
Dragging one wall of a Paralives room to resize it when rooms cannot be moved on the lot
Rooms explained

No foundation button, no room stamp — walls, height and paint in that order. Sims habits to unlearn.

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Empty buildable lot selected on the Paralives map before subdividing terrain into multiple lots
Create a world

Split the empty terrain into lots with TOGGLEEDITTOWN. What works without a world editor.

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Paralives Terrain Height Lower Mode open over a brick house so the ground under part of the build can be carved down into a basement
Basement build

Carve the ground down with the terrain height tools, then light, furnish and walk the below-grade floor.

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Retro Paralives kitchen with a mint-green fridge, red tile backsplash and wood worktops, shown as one of the house style ideas
House ideas

Every house type the site covers in one place — styles, layouts and the step-by-step build behind each one.

Build

Build mode cheats

TOGGLEEDITTOWN, REPAIRALLITEMS and other console commands that help while you build.

Open build cheats

Paralives build mode FAQ

How do I enter build mode in Paralives?
From live mode, press B or click the house icon in the bottom-left toolbar. The build toolbar opens across the top with Walls, Floors, Stairs and object tools. Press B again to return to playing.
How do I rotate or turn objects in build mode?
Select the object and press X to rotate it in 90-degree steps, or press , and . for 45-degree turns. Hold the rotate handle and drag for a free, off-grid angle — Paralives places objects at any rotation, not just the four cardinal directions.
Is there a free build mode in Paralives?
Yes — building is grid-free by design: walls draw at any angle, objects land where you drop them, and while moving an item you can hold Alt (Option on Mac) to disable snapping entirely. Resize almost anything by dragging its handles. There is no separate sandbox: you edit the active household's lot directly.
Can I use Workshop content and mods while building?
Yes. Builds and individual rooms upload to the in-game Workshop with one click, and you can download community content to drop straight into build mode. See the install-mods guide for Workshop and Nexus setup.
Does Paralives use a grid for walls and floors?
There is an optional grid overlay (toggle with G) to help align rooms, but you are never forced onto it. Curved walls, half-levels and free placement all work whether the grid is showing or hidden.