When it comes to my designs in Final Fantasy XIV, I do not split up my time and attention very well. I always get stuck on one, dabble with another, and then forget about everything else completely!
For years, the one I’ve consistently forgotten about completely has always been our FC house. I had it all designed when we had a small house in the Goblet, and I did that one brownstone-style build as soon as we got a medium, but from then on I’ve only made it halfway through a couple builds before getting completely distracted by who even knows what now.
Recently, though, I’ve taken another go at it.
Mostly because I refuse to touch my Mist build after the whole debacle where I decided to record a timelapse of the build, got about 50 GB of footage, and then my computer crashed so it all got corrupted and I lost it. Not that I’m bitter.
For the most part, the new FC build is focused on entertaining, with a few different areas for members to hang out. Though it’s still not completely finished, I wanted to share my favourite room so far: the second-storey bar.
Form and function
With all of my builds, I try to find a balance between making it aesthetically pleasing and making sure it’s still functional. After all, I still want people to be able to use it comfortably!
For this build especially, I was trying to be mindful of the fact that typically, FC houses are where you’d see crafting stations to help fellow members who are leveling up. I usually keep a workshop of them in one place, but decided that since I was building a bar, which would presumably have a kitchen, it would be a perfect spot for the cooking stove.
Though the stove is cumbersome and not exactly the prettiest, I was happy to come up with a design that framed it without drawing attention to the fact that it was a crafting station.
Adding some flair
Possibly my favourite part of this build is the aquarium feature wall, which you might recognize from my tutorial on floating partitions. I’m a lazy builder, and if I can work around features I’ve already built that I like, I’m going to!
I like to think it makes for a nice restaurant atmosphere to have a fancy wall aquarium, and it fits rather nicely with the seating area.
Lighting it all up
Lighting is one of those things that you really don’t need in FFXIV house builds, but it makes your design more comfortable and realistic. These pendant lights are a particular favourite of mine because they’re just so easy to make!
For the record, I didn’t come up with the design—I just don’t remember now where I saw it. If I find it again though, I’ll link it here.
Though it can take a bit of time to get them all lined up properly, it’s just a series of manor candelabras floated up into a white half partition with metal work lanterns floated just below the base of the candelabras.
