Here’s a bit of backstory that nobody asked for: I didn’t enjoy Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer that much. Despite loving to design the rooms in my house in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, designing houses and facilities in Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer didn’t really click with me. It had half to do with the entire premise not being made that interesting to me, and half to do with the fact that I was just…bad at designing. So I found myself surprised when I really wanted to play the Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons when it was first revealed. And I was even more surprised when I found myself thoroughly enjoying its contents upon playing it.
I still consider myself not very good at designing, but I’ve made some creations that I’m very proud of, which you’ll see throughout this post. If I can make something that I’m proud of, I’m sure anyone reading this can not only make creations they’re proud of, but ones that are also great. So for all the people that consider themselves terrible at designing as well, these few tips here will hopefully help you get the most out of your designing endeavors at the Happy Home Paradise island.
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Tip 1: Remember your unlocked abilities.
Alright, this is an easy one, but it’s worth saying still. As you progress in designing houses, you’ll unlock more capabilities, such as polishing furniture, changing the house size, customizing the lighting, and more. It gets to be a lot, and you’ll probably have moments where you could’ve used one of them to make something amazing, but you…forget it exists. It’s happened to me more times than I can remember (which isn’t a lot in itself, but that’s besides the point). Don’t let it be you; keep track of everything you can do as you progress, and keep them in mind as you’re designing.
Tip 2: Consider the location of the vacation home.
After you’re told the villager’s vacation home request, you’re gonna have to choose a location on the many available islands for the vacation home to be placed on. In the sense of space and limitations, it doesn’t matter where you place them since you can place multiple vacation homes in the same spot. However, in the sense of getting the most out of what your villager wants, especially when the request involves outdoor furniture, you’re gonna want to think about where you’re placing the home. There are just some requests that can’t be fully realized on certain plots. So look at them carefully and ask yourself this question when you come across one you like: can I meet the request to the best of my ability here?
Tip 3: Use sets/pieces of furniture that work together.
When designing a vacation home, you’re given a variety of furniture that you can use from the menu. As long as you use the three items the villager wants, you can use as much or as little of these as you want and the villager should be satisfied. However, there’s usually way too many options to justify just going with the three and calling it a day, even in the recommended order section alone. What I suggest is choosing furniture that’s either a part of the same set as some of the required furniture, or have similarities with them. Personally, along with the three furniture sets, I like to use furniture that matches whichever wallpaper and flooring I use. You can either do this same thing, or find your own way to go about it.
Tip 4: Don’t leave too much open space.
This may seem like a weird tip, but it’s something that can go a long way, and it’s probably the most important one in my opinion. As I got further into designing vacation homes, I found a trend in all of the homes that I was unsatisfied with: a lot of the spaces (especially on the walls) felt too empty and lifeless. When I eventually unlocked the ability to view other players’ creations with the Happy Home Network app, I found that a lot of the great ones had lots of furniture, items and plants placed around. Of course, there will be times where you can only use so much furniture that’s recommended for the request. But when met with that hurdle, try to think of it as a puzzle going forward. The furniture are the puzzle pieces and the house or facility is the border in which they fit.
Tip 5: Don’t be afraid to take inspiration.
The Animal Crossing community has always been full of very creative people. Heck, there was an island somewhere made to look like the entire Kingdom of Hyrule from the Legend of Zelda series. You can definitely bet that there’s a lot of amazing vacation homes and facilities that came from this DLC. Unfortunately, viewing them in the game is something you’ll have to unlock after designing 13 houses (and having a Nintendo Switch Online subscription), but you should be able to search up some inspiration online if you need it. You can learn how to make something wonderful from the work of others.
That’s all there is to it. Hopefully these tips help you make great vacation homes and facilities for your villagers. Feel free to drop your Happy Home Network ID below so others can check out your creations. And tell me what you think of mine, as well as the tips. Also, share some tips of your own if you think they’d be useful to anyone playing the DLC. I’d love to hear your thoughts.