Wigwag's Scottish-inspired Palace

While I was in the Americas, I thought I'd have a look around a few more houses.

I met Wigwag at her Razorwind Shores property. She invited me in and once I walked through the door, I found myself in a lovely courtyard-style space.

Wigwag tells me the house is inspired by a Scottish castle, with a few rooms taking clear inspiration from The Traitors (a show I never really watched - don't judge me).

While she's talking I can't help but be distracted by the two guard gnomes - I want to take a closer look but she politely asks me not to mess with her guards.

Before entering the palace proper, we're standing in a courtyard, with a fountain. It's decorated with vegetation, custom pillars, arches - it makes it ooze with grandeur.

A grand entry hall

The first room Wigwag shows me is the one she started with.

My jaw dropped. Literally! I need to get that sewn up.

Upon picking it up I start inspecting the details that give it a very palatial feel: the rugs, the vases and, especially, the gold-framed windows with strong lighting (courtesy of …).

It has the sort of atmosphere that makes you expect a noble to stand dramatically by the window and meditate about... whatever rich people think about. Inheritance taxes or something.

The cat gets their own room!

Then we move to what Wigwag calls "the worst room" - or rather, the cat room.

Originally made for a toilet competition, the feral-druid-sized room includes a litterbox, a cardboard box (of course), a cat bed, and a little birdhouse outside. This is exactly the sort of experimentation that makes housing fun.

Wigwag says it could use more love, but all builders say the same.

From my standpoint, it only adds to the rich feel of this palace. It's not every house that has a room for the pet!

The library

The library is one of the rooms most clearly inspired by the show.

The library also has Leonard. A gnome who's just trying to read.

He has little glasses and probably hates that I'm standing a little too close, studying him. I know I'm undead but I only cannibalise dead corpses - there's nothing to fear, Leonard.

Wigwag draws my attention to the details and construction of the room: She built the bookcases to look properly built-in, back before that was something people were regularly doing. Housing has evolved so quickly that a technique that is less than a year old feels ancient.

The kitchen

The kitchen is a very good example of how Wigwag structures a room.

There is a clear focal point: the stove and shelving area. The hanging pans pull your attention straight towards it, and the darker wall behind it makes the lighter stone pop.

Wigwag talks a lot about conscious interior design. She is a web designer in real life, and you can feel that deliberate composition in the way the rooms are laid out.

There are lots of tiny touches here too: a dessert cloche, a cookie jar, built-in shelves, and a backsplash made from the edge of a … - I had to ask her to pull it out because I just couldn't figure out how it looked so straight! It was just the edge - Of course!

This is why I love sneaking a peak at the backstage. From the front, everything looks clean and intentional. Behind the wall, it's a nightmare of clipped objects, rotated furniture and impossible shapes that defy all reason.

The floor is also a great example of item trickery. I assumed I was looking at rugs, but Wigwag revealed it was a … flipped upside down and dyed white (with some flipped … to make the squares).

They can scale to huge dimensions, so it's cheaper and cleaner than using many … (or the new …).

This room was also inspired by the show. Wigwag has her own take but you can clearly see the inspiration. It's amazing what you can re-create here.

A moody bedroom

The room feels properly stormy and castle-like.

Again, Wigwag built the entire space around one object she wanted to showcase.

In this case, the room was created around the windows. She saw the animated thunder effect from a flipped … and had to use it. The room is just an excuse.

The bed is made from what I think are …, using their pattern to create something that feels royal and ornate. It reminds me of the beds you see in palaces that are open to visitors: dramatic, fancy, and probably not comfortable for anyone who sleeps like a normal person. I remember a tour-guide saying people used to sleep in a partial sitting position in a palace tour I went on years ago.

One of the best things in this room are the fuzzy slippers! Inspecting them, I can see the're mostly made out of … and a couple of ….

I haven't seen anyone do this before, and they are brilliant.

The room even has a wine and cheese stash, which Wigwag says needs ice cream. I agree. Every bedroom should have emergency cheese and ice cream.

Finally, the room is guarded by yet another gnome. This one's a mage and he's got a pretty menacing staff - but then again he doesn't look too mean to me.

I'd feel kind of weird to have this guy watching me sleep - but I haven't slept since waking up in my grave in Deathknell.

Building backwards

When I ask Wigwag a little more about her process. As she's been hinting, she explains that her design process is a little backwards.

Wigwag: I usually find a focal point in a room, make that and then build the rest of the room around it.

It makes for a slow process, but it works for me.

For the library, it was the bookshelf wall. For the kitchen, it was the stove area. For the bedroom, it was the windows.

This gives each room a clear identity.

Her advice is to start with one small room, choose a centrepiece, build around it, and then move on to the next room. For anyone who finds a blank house intimidating, that is probably a very good place to start.

She brings me back to the kitchen:

Wigwag: You have your statement piece: the stove/shelves are in front of us

Dosaki: Yes. The stove and hanging pans draw my attention straight away

Wigwag: one thing I ended up not doing was putting any art on the walls next to it.

Dosaki: Smart - like you said: don't distract from the centre piece.

Wigwag: Yes. I also make use of high contrast to draw focus too: the white on the dark red catches the eye.

She recommends thinking carefully about lines of sight.

When someone walks into the room, what do they see first?

What is supposed to draw their attention?

Do the surrounding details support the focal point, or compete with it?

The cost of good taste

Wigwag estimates she has spent over a 1,500,000 , maybe more, with most of it going into this house.

Even so, neighbourhood decor is one of the backbones of her builds. It is cheaper, dyable, and flexible enough to become all sorts of custom pieces. For example:

• The windows in the hall are almost entirely neighbourhood decor, with that Mechagon light and an endeavour item
• A fancy stool uses a chandelier for claw feet

Beautiful builds are not about expensive items - A lot of the value comes from seeing ordinary pieces in new ways.

Wigwag: For me, this house me RPing as a rich person. Getting the fancy stuff I'll never have.

(I don't actually rp)

This is the thing about WoW Housing - you can let your wildest dreams run free and materialise them in game: You can have castle bedrooms, beautiful libraries, stormy balconies, a small army of gnomes... an actual house. No physics or market economics to stop you.

Shoutouts

Before I leave, Wigwag shouts out a few other creators:

• Morii as a major inspiration, especially for her unconventional item use
• SaltyCandy and LalaCrafts as fantastic detail builders
• Her friend Svet, who helped with Leonard’s glasses

Thank you, Svet.

-Leonard, probably.

Wrapping up

I came for a Scottish palace and I left thinking about colour contrast, focus areas and whether I need a Leonard of my own.

If you want to see more of Wigwag's creations, check out her Instagram.

I'll see you on the next house!