What are furnishing plans?
Some furnishings in ESO are obtained through quests, the Antiquities system, events, the Crown Store, or loot found in the open world – but the majority are craftable and come in the form of furnishing plans. These plans are divided into seven types, one for each crafting profession:
- Diagram – Blacksmithing
- Pattern – Clothing
- Blueprint – Woodworking
- Formula – Alchemy
- Praxis – Enchanting
- Sketch – Jewelry Crafting
- Design – Provisioning
While they go by different names, they all serve the same purpose: letting you craft specific furnishing items. Whether you want to design your own cozy tavern, a grand castle, or just make some gold on the side, these plans are your ticket.
Some say that housing is the true endgame of ESO – and for many players, that’s absolutely true. The game has a passionate housing community, which is why certain furnishing plans can be incredibly valuable.
How to get furnishing plans in ESO?
There are several ways to get your hands on furnishing plans in ESO. Some methods are time-consuming, others can be expensive—but all of them have their charm.
Here are the most common ways to find them:
- Looting containers – Dressers, desks, nightstands, crates, and more
- Stealing – Pickpocketing or looting owned containers (just don’t get caught!)
- Mob drops – Certain enemies can drop plans as part of their loot
- Fishing – Especially useful during specific events or in new zones
- Quests & Events – Rewarding you for your time and participation
- Guild traders – Fastest way if you’ve got the gold to spare
The use: Housing, Crafting, Selling
So, you’ve got your hands on some furnishing plans in The Elder Scrolls Online and now you’re wondering – what can I actually do with these? Well, pull up a chair, grab a mug of mead, and let me walk you through your options.
Option one: decorate your own home.
Furnishing plans allow you to learn how to craft specific furniture items, which you can then use to spruce up your personal housing in ESO. Whether you’re designing a cozy cabin or a grand estate, these plans are essential.
Now, housing in ESO is a pretty deep rabbit hole – trust me, it’s a whole adventure of its own! I won’t dive into all the details here, but stay tuned: I’m working on a full housing guide that’ll be posted soon.
Option two: craft and sell the furniture.
Once you’ve learned a furnishing plan, you can craft the item and sell it to other players through guild traders. This method won’t make you filthy rich, but it’s a steady and reliable way to earn some gold.
Option three: sell the furnishing plans directly.
Here’s where things get interesting. Instead of crafting the item, you can sell the furnishing plan itself. Some of these are incredibly valuable –worth thousands or even millions of gold. You’ll sell fewer items this way, but the profit can be massive.
Easy way to reset loot containers
Looking to speed up your furnishing plan farming? Then listen closely, traveler – I’ve got a neat little trick for you!
There are plenty of containers scattered across the open world in The Elder Scrolls Online – dressers, desks, nightstands, crates, and more. As I mentioned earlier, these containers have a chance to drop furnishing plans. If you’re just casually looting while adventuring, you won’t run into any issues.
But if you’re on a dedicated furnishing plan farm run, you might notice that containers don’t refill right away. You loot a few, then suddenly… nothing but dust and cobwebs. Annoying, right?
Well, here’s a simple and comfortable workaround to reset loot containers quickly: all you need is a loading screen. And the easiest way to trigger one? Teleport to a house via the Crown Store.
Here’s how to reset containers, step by step:
- Loot all containers in your current farming spot (inside a house for example).
- Open the Crown Store.
- Navigate to the “Houses” section.
- Select any house that allows a preview and teleport there.
- Once inside, exit the house – you’ll be teleported back to your original location.
- Voilà! The containers are reset and ready to be looted again.
Drop cooldowns for furnishing plans
Now, this is a question that splits the ESO farming community right down the middle! Do furnishing plans in The Elder Scrolls Online have some kind of hidden drop cooldown?
Well… no one knows for sure. Why? Because ZeniMax has never officially confirmed or denied any of the rumors lurking in the shadows of Tamriel’s message boards. And honestly? I kind of enjoy the mystery. It gives the whole thing a bit of that old-school RPG charm.
But let’s get to the point.
Short answer: I can’t give you a definitive answer. What I can do is share my personal experience and what I’ve gathered from other seasoned plan farmers out there.
Most players – including myself – would say: yes, cooldowns exist. Especially when it comes to those rar purple furnishing plans. In my experience, once you manage to loot a green, a blue, and a purple plan in a short timeframe, the drops seem to dry up. After that, it’s usually just white-quality plans for a while.
The exact cooldown timing? Nobody knows. Could be 30 minutes, could be two hours. It’s all guesswork.
Dvalin’s Tip: Rotate Between Characters
Here’s a handy trick I use to avoid running into possible cooldowns:
- Rotate between three or four characters.
- Choose a good farming location for furnishing plans.
- Park a character there and loot until you’ve found a blue and a purple plan.
- Then switch to another character and start fresh.
This method keeps things moving and reduces the impact of any cooldown – whether it exists or not. It also ups your chances of snagging a rare plan without sitting around waiting. With multiple characters in rotation, you’re far more likely to keep the purple drops coming!
Champion point node to increase drop rate
If you’re serious about farming furnishing plans in The Elder Scrolls Online, there’s one champion point node you absolutely shouldn’t skip – and that’s Homemaker.
Sure, you’ll need to invest some champion points to unlock it, but trust me, once you’ve got it, it’s a game-changer for furnishing farmers.
As you can see in the screenshot below, Homemaker gives you a 10% chance to find a second furnishing plan whenever you loot one. That may not sound like much on paper – but in practice, it can lead to some serious gold gains.
Just today, I got lucky: I looted a dresser and bam – two blue furnishing plans at once. Both were freshly added with Update 46 and the new Solstice zone, making them highly sought-after. Each was worth somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 gold on the guild traders. Not bad for one piece of furniture, eh?
So if you haven’t slotted Homemaker yet – do yourself a favor and give it a try. It might just pay for your next mansion.
Preview of the “Homemaker” champion point node
This companion passive increases your drop chance for furnishing plans
Companions have been a fantastic addition to The Elder Scrolls Online – especially for those brave souls who prefer to adventure solo. Whether you need a healer, a tank, or a bit of extra damage, these trusty NPCs have your back.
But here’s something not everyone knows:
Each companion provides a unique passive buff when they’re active.
And guess what? There’s one companion in particular who can help you increase your drop chance for furnishing plans and boost your overall gold income. I’m talking about none other than Azandar.
Preview of the companion Azandar and his passive skill: Azandar’s inquisitiveness.
Final thoughts
Well, there we have it! You’re now equipped with all the essential knowledge to start (or improve) your furnishing plan farming adventures in The Elder Scrolls Online. I hope this guide answered your questions and gave you a few useful tricks to try out.
If anything’s still unclear – or if you just want to chat about housing, plans, or tavern tales – feel free to reach out to me on Instagram: @dvalinstavern
Safe travels out there, and may your next dresser hold a purple plan worth a fortune!