When it comes to designing homes in FFXIV, one important consideration any aspiring designer should think about is lighting. By default, homes can get pretty bright, especially if you have the lighting turned up all the way—but as soon as you start building walls or ceilings that block your central light fixture, a lot of that brightness will disappear.
So today, let’s go over a few techniques for bringing the light back into your build.
Make the most of natural lighting.
Though you don’t always get the most natural lighting through a house’s default windows, it’s pretty easy to add additional windows to your home and let the sun shine in!
Windows and skylights will always light up between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. in Eorzea time, and can be an amazing source of lighting in your home—especially if you’ve built walls or ceilings that block your default light.
It’s worth noting that sunlight rays will come in from every direction except the north. So if you want those lovely beams, you’ll want to make sure your windows are aimed to light up from the south, east, or west!
Use hidden lighting for an ambient glow.
One of the decorating tricks I’ve learned more recently is that some lights will glow through false ceilings—which means that by tucking them just above your ceiling, you can give rooms and even specific architectural features a nice little glow that makes the room feel brighter, even when your windows are dark.
For this technique, all you’ll need to do is take a tabletop light, like a metal work lantern, and float it just up into your ceiling. And don’t be afraid to play around with the type of lantern; different lights have different tones, and that can change up your room’s feel.
Design your own fixtures for a more finished feel.
One thing that sets a lot of designs apart is how they use existing furnishings to create lighting fixtures more like what you’d see in a real home. For example, it’s not uncommon to see potlights made out of the bottoms of evercold starlight snowmen, a technique I used in my Cali mod loft build. You could also try creating pendant lights out of metal work lanterns and manor candelabras or dance poles!
Another popular design since the advent of the pendant wall light is to float it into the ceiling either as a series of hanging lights or another technique for potlights, depending on the height.
And of course, let’s not forget about creating your own string lights! You may have seen this technique in my Chocobucks design; as long as you have plenty of slots, then the ends of heavenly ornamental arrays can make beautiful hanging light arrangements.
