Skyrim: Here’s How To Upgrade Your House

Skyrim has gained a massive fanbase over the course of its running, with many players still enjoying all of the mythical adventures this game has to offer. However, many players can still get stuck when trying to upgrade their player home in Skyrim. Below is everything you need to know in order to upgrade your house in Skyrim with and without DLCs, including a detailed step-by-step guide as well as some handy tips.

Here Is How to Upgrade a House in Skyrim

Skyrim is a pretty immersive game, creating a magical and fantastical space for players to enjoy. As such, creating your player house in Skyrim can feel quite personal – after all, every Dragonborn needs a special place to call home after endless battles and heroic deeds.

1. Choosing Player Home Location

Many players want to get the best out of their Skyrim home and customize it to the best of their ability in order to make it feel super comfortable and cozy. To start off, players will first need to acquire the player home that they’d like.

There are many places that players could call home, in theory, such as by sleeping there or storing personal items – which can be really helpful early on in the game. That being said, players won’t have as much freedom with all of these homes.

Skyrim’s vanilla version features 5 pre-built homes that are available for purchase, as detailed above. For the purpose of upgrading, we will be using Breezhome in Whiterun as an example as it is the cheapest – the same general rules will apply to all pre-built homes.

2. Upgrading Your Skyrim Home

Once you buy your Skyrim house, you will be met with an empty and blank shell of a home, which you’ll need to fill with furnishings and decor over time. Upgrading your house will be the best way to progress, as it will turn certain spaces into dedicated areas, each of which involves certain costs as seen below:

The first step for upgrading your house in Skyrim will involve tracking down the very same NPC that you initially purchased the house from, talking to them, and selecting the “I’d like to decorate my home” option. The whereabouts of the NPC will differ here and there, so you may need to go to a few places or potentially check back at a later time in order to find them.

For example, the person you’ll need to speak to for the house in Whiterun (Breezehome) is Proventus Avenicci, who will sell all of the available upgrades and furniture for the home. Proventus Avenicci usually becomes available from 6:00 AM onwards, and he can typically be found with the Jarl, standing nearby while he’s seated on his throne.

But, he may be found elsewhere in some other cases, as he wanders throughout the day. It’s important to note that there may be a few finicky details that could tamper with your ability to actually interact with him and purchase the player home upgrades – such as when he’s inside his quarters (fair enough), when he’s on the Great Porch, or when he isn’t standing on his usual spot near the Jarl, which is in front of the throne.

3. Decorating Your Skyrim House

The upgrades purchased from the Steward are fixed, meaning that these furnishings are not customizable from scratch – although, they are still worth the investment. Players will need to spend some time gathering trinkets to place around their house in order to make it feel more lived-in, and you can find many odd items throughout your various adventures.

Store your unused weapons on stands unless you choose to sell them off, and fill empty shelves with books for a cozy lounge. Classic animal pelts can be used for rugs and decor, while kitchen shelves or surfaces can be filled with bowls, plates, vases, and even food items such as cheese wheels, or wine bottles – there are a surprising number of possibilities!

You can choose to hire a Steward for your home as well, which can be done before or after you’ve finished buying all of the upgrades. Having a Steward in your home can have varying benefits in Skyrim vanilla – at the very least, they can provide some companionship and humor in between missions.

Creating a Custom Skyrim Home (Hearthfire DLC)

If selecting one of the available homes doesn’t make the cut for you, you may want to consider investing in the Hearthfire add-on. The Hearthfire DLC add-on will enable Skyrim players to create custom homes that overshadow any of the existing Skyrim house options, such as marvelous mansions far larger and grander than any of the homes within Skyrim’s cities.

1. Custom Skyrim House Location

After setting up the Hearthfire DLC, players will need to head to either Morthal, Dawnstar, or Falkreath and speak with the Steward. It will cost 5000 gold to purchase a plot of land – it’s also possible to buy all three plots after some time, so you don’t have to stick to one of these plots for the entire game.

You can choose to build your home on the available plots of land in Hjaalmarch, Falkreath, or the Pale after you successfully help the villagers and become a Thane of the respective area. There are quite a few unique features to consider as well, depending on the chosen area, which can impact the player’s overall gameplay experience as well.

In general, Hjaalmarch’s Windstad Manor’s fish hatchery is suited to alchemists, while Falkreath’s Lakeview Manor’s apiary/ beehive is suited to players who adore making potions. The Pale’s Heljarchen Hall comes with a grain mill, which may be a good choice for players who want to utilize the Hearthfire add-on’s cooking features (some of which come with amazing buffs).

2. Obtaining Building Materials

Players will be able to customize these homes as well, allowing a personal and unique touch that’ll match any Skyrim player build or style. Of course, the process of building your dream Skyrim house will still be quite lengthy, even with this add-on, and players will need to spend time acquiring the necessary materials from General Goods Merchants and Lumber Mills or obtain items through mining.

Players will need to use the Drafting Table to create the components of their home. Overall, players will need to gather the following items in order to upgrade their custom Skyrim house:

• Quarried Stone
• Clay
• Iron
• Corundum
• Leather and Animal Pelts
• Glass
• Straw
• Goat Horns
• Lumber

3. Decorating Your Custom Skyrim House

From this point, it’s all about the decorations – there are plenty of options for players to choose from, including shelves, trinkets, tables, chairs, and much more using the Carpenter’s Workbench. You could top it off with outdoor decor as well, such as gardens, animal pens, or even utility items such as a smelter, grindstone, and armorer workbench.

4. Hiring Staff for Your Skyrim Home

Once you’ve got your home to a comfortable and liveable state, it’s time to hire a Steward. Any Housecarl could fill this role or recruitable followers, and players will be able to ask them to help upgrade the home further.

Helpers can do quite a few things for players, such as buy animals or supplies and furnish previously purchased rooms in the home. They can even hire a carriage with a carriage driver or a bard to make your Skyrim home more whimsical.

That’s everything there is to know about setting up your player home in Skyrim as well as upgrading it with and without using an add-on. Upgrading your house in Skyrim will take some time, effort, and solid grinding, but it’ll definitely be worthwhile in the long run – as long as Lydia doesn’t live with you, she can be one messy roommate! Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!