Final Fantasy XIV's new housing update is right around the corner on October 13th, and I’m still conflicted about which zone our FC should choose for our home. However, Sadie Nanami’s house in the Mists has me starting to look at real estate in La Noscea once again. Situated on a beachfront plot by the markets, this Driftwood Cottage is a charming getaway that manages to make the most of its small space by mixing bright colors and bleached wooden floors.
There’s a special place in my heart for homeowners that plant vibrant gardens on their property. Not only is it a peaceful spot to relax with a good book, but it’s a gorgeous place to take screenshots. I love the pop of color from the flowers against the bright greens and reds. An adorable little chocobo fountain perches quietly just out of frame, and a gorgeous bed of sunflowers welcome visitors to take that first step across the home’s threshold.
The living room is a main focus of the house, with an open layout and combined bar and kitchen. An inviting fireplace has bookshelves on either side of it, with a world of stories ready to take down to the beach. The upper portion of the room makes use of lofts to support a lovely indoor garden and some imitation windows that bring a lot of natural lighting into the space when it’s daytime. Even though it’s a smaller home, the bright colors and natural lighting really open up the space and work extremely well together.
If you turn around in the same room, there’s an adorable kitchen complete with a running “faucet” and dishes. Vegetables are splayed out on the counter, waiting to be thrown into the waiting pot on the stove for a bowl of warm soup on a chilly autumn day.
Down the stairs to the second floor, Sadie has decorated her living quarters and another peaceful nook to relax in. An aquarium livens up the room, with a little fishy friend swimming calmly against the bright blue background. There’s so many places to relax in this quaint cottage and curl up with a good book. There’s a nice synergy with each room in the house; it actually feels like the rooms make sense as you move from one to another and like they’re well-loved and lived in.
The bedroom continues the bright theme, with another cute nook adorned with flowers to lounge in the sun on a warm day. I love the addition of the purse and traveler’s bag beside the bed that, again, add to that feel of the room really being lived in. The structure of all the rooms just feels authentic and makes me wish that I could replicate something like this for my own home IRL.
The bathroom area has such a simple but cozy feel to it. I love the use of wall partitions to box in the bathtub and give it some actual structure. Again, the use of window lighting really helps to eliminate that claustrophobic feeling that sometimes comes with smaller rooms by brightening up the area. There’s also a functioning shower and a cleverly constructed toilet that are also separated by partitions.
The makeup vanity is a wonderful addition to this room, adding another layer of authenticity and evidence of personal use. The makeup palette is actually one of my favorite housing items in game, because of how modern and realistic it looks. At first glance, the centerpiece of the item, the makeup palette, gives me some pretty big Morphe palette vibes, and I really enjoy the hastily discarded brushes and bottles across the vanity. A makeup vanity is organized chaos, as it should be.
Having inspected every room pretty thoroughly, it was time to journey back to the top floor and get ready to leave. Again, I had to stop and admire how beautiful the lighting was during the daytime and wish that I could replicate something similar in my own home. I love how much care and thought Sadie put into her home, and really appreciate how well every item in her home synergizes with those next to it. Not only is it beautiful, but it feels authentic and like you could actually host some small RP events between friends there.
The housing community is primed and ready for next Tuesday, when three new housing wards open up in each of the capital city districts. This time, there won’t be any timers to compete with. It’s first come, first serve, and it’s absolutely going to be a bloodbath. I don’t want to try to get my hopes up, but I’m looking forward to the rush after participating in the chaos that came from the ArcheAge housing event. I’d love to be able to secure a home for our new FC, and have a base of operations to host our own RP events. While there’s plenty of venues that advertise their buildings for events, there’s just nothing like owning your own piece of land that you can decorate how you choose. I doubt that I’ll ever be able to decorate anything as beautifully as Sadie, but touring her house in the Mists has certainly given me tons of inspiration should we come out unscathed from the housing grab.
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