As much as I never wanted to tear down the last build I had in my medium house (because I never wanted to have to build that kitchen again), I was severely tempted when I saw all of the new furnishings that came out in 6.05. I actually spent a good week trying to decide which build I wanted to take down so I could test them out.
It took a while for me to talk myself into it, but well, we’re here now, so you can probably guess how it went.
After a lot of internal weeping as I took down everything I’d built, I started over with grand visions of how I could use the new wooden imitation skylights, heavenly ornamental arrays, and of course, the matching cushions! If you’ve ever seen my Sims 4 builds, you know the dance of pure exuberance I did the moment I saw those cushions. I love me some cushions.
And as I dove in headfirst, I knew there were a few goals I wanted to work on with a new build.
Establishing my own design style
I’ve been spending a lot of time on Reddit perusing other people’s builds in FFXIV lately, and one thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of recognized designers have their own unique styles. Even Ashen Bride, who’s been and continues to be a major influence for me, has a signature look for her own personal builds that has a really rustic, almost shabby chic vibe.
With my last build, my Cali mod x Japandi apartment, I finally was starting to feel like I might know what my own style is. I know I love the Cali mod look because, full transparency, that’s the style I’m planning to use with our living room and kitchen when we renovate.
So with this build, I wanted to work with more of that same feel, just to see if I could get more comfortable with the style and create something that felt all my own.
Using multiple floors
It’s incredibly easy to get locked into a certain amount of space with higher-end builds in FFXIV, because well, if you’re going to build incredibly detailed kitchen cabinets, you’re not going to have enough item slots for the rest of your house.
With this build, I knew I wanted to create a loft look with the new skylights, but there wasn’t going to be enough room on the main floor to do what I wanted because default stairs in medium houses are the worst.
So even though there are a few places where I feel like I could’ve added more detail, I stretched my slots over two floors so I could build the big open loft living room on the second floor of my house.
Making things as functional as possible
One of the biggest complaints I got from visitors to my previous build was that it was impossible to use the door. And well, I do get it; though it’s clear to me that I can click in a given spot and it should be roughly where the door is, that’s not easy to do for PS4/5 players without going into mouse mode. Which, honestly, I didn’t know until I tried it.
So with this build, I wanted to make sure I focused on functionality as well, so visitors wouldn’t end up feeling trapped. Through a painstaking process of trial and error, I managed to build the door in such a way that the “Exit” label still shows up through the furniture, so hopefully that helps!
