One of the new features that was introduced in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the ability to place furniture outside. Whether it was crafted by the player or purchased from Nook's Cranny, any piece of furniture can now be put outside to ensure that the entire island looks as beautiful as the houses do.
This feature was first introduced to the series in Happy Home Designer in which players were working for the HHA and were tasked with giving villagers the house or yard of their dreams. Now, players are using this feature to decorate their entire island and, specifically, to give their villagers the perfect yards. This can be pretty overwhelming with 10 villagers but luckily, the Internet is full of inspiration.
Updated December 30th, 2020 by Hayley Mullen: Thanks to the many wonderful players who share their gorgeous designs online, there are now more villager yards than ever to peruse over and get inspiration from, not to mention the several updates and new items added by Nintendo. We've updated the article to include more excellent yards that fit each of their residents to a T.
15 Overgrown & Cozy
This villager's yard is perfect for anyone who is trying to give their island a really overgrown, natural appearance. This yard features a ton of flowers, various different custom paths to keep the area from looking too perfect or put together, and a lot of furniture placed all over the place.
The furniture placed everywhere with the flowers and pieces of fencing give this yard a lived-in, natural appearance.
14 Close Neighbors
Although some players give each of their villagers a big yard with a ton of space around their house, that's just not what works for every player's island. For people that have their houses slightly closer together, a small yard can still look really good.
This yard uses different paths to differentiate the two villager's houses and then places some various items of furniture for decor and to show the personality of the villager that lives inside.
13 Marina's Mermaid Oasis
There are only three octopus villagers in Animal Crossing: New Horizons and all three of them have become pretty popular with players. Marina is one of them and her bright pink appearance inspired this player to give her a pink-themed ocean oasis.
With shell furniture, alternating pink bushes, and sand paths placed instead of grass, this beachy house is perfect for an octopus.
12 Some Simple Woodsy Decor
Placing a lot of furniture, custom paths, and flowers can get overwhelming for some people. But this woodsy yard shows that players can create a really cute yard without a ton of items.
This yard simply uses trees, paths, and a few well-placed items to create a yard that is somewhat small but totally cozy and looks like it belongs in a magical forest.
11 Totally Terraformed
The terraforming tools in Animal Crossing: New Horizons allow players to put ponds, rivers, and cliffs anywhere that they want to. Players have gotten seriously creative with the way that they terraform every single inch of their islands and this player is no exception.
They terraformed an entire neighborhood to have small yards that are just decorated with flowers and a couple of small items, but they don't look boring at all because of the rivers breaking up the area.
10 Drago's Zen Garden
Drago is one of the unique villagers in the game because he's an alligator that is designed to look like a dragon. This villager is a fun one that many players love to have in their games and it's definitely nice to see someone give him a cool yard.
This player made his yard look like a zen garden with the stone, the paths, and other items. But, they also brought in some of the dragon's signature fire with the red, orange, and yellow flowers that were carefully placed by his house.
9 Slightly Rustic
This person went with a super rustic, country-inspired theme for the yard of this house. This player used a brick pathway to lead up to the house and presumably to lead villagers through the rest of the island and placed items on either side.
They used items like a wishing well, pieces of fencing, and some creative custom paths to make this super rustic yard.
8 Pink & Ethereal
Some people decide to go with specific colors when they're making their villager's yards. This player went with a lot of pinks and whites to make the most adorable and ethereal yard for their villager.
With one of the lamps from the cherry blossom event, a stall with some custom patterns put on it, and one of Celeste's Nova Lamp DIY items, this yard looks totally ethereal. The pink and white flowers and bushes tie the whole thing together.
7 Small & Natural
This is an example of a smaller yard for a villager that doesn't take up a lot of space or items and keeps the area looking really natural. For people that don't want super developed islands, yards like this are perfect.
This yard uses a few log DIYs and some custom paths to make the area look like nature just took over without getting too crowded by weeds and flowers.
6 A Private Island
This villager's yard is an example of some really creative terraforming. Instead of relying heavily on a ton of items, this yard only has a few items and the main focal point is the fact that the player terraformed a river all the way around the house to put it on its own little island.
If someone is afraid of hitting their eight bridge limit, they can put a single tile of ground in the middle of the river to make a quick-stepping stone across to the rest of the island.
5 Beach Paradise
We've all dreamed of having a home right next to the beach, and this player has made it a reality for their neighbor, Pate. Since she's a duck, it makes sense for her to be within stepping distance of water and have a wading pool for extra fun.
This beach house has everything: a fence for privacy, a boom box for beach tunes, a natural garden set for relaxing, and a birdhouse to encourage other avians to enjoy the view. The Hula Doll from Gulliver is an adorable touch, too.
4 Outdoor Bath
For those who need to relax after a long hard day of yoga, this yard belonging to Coco is the perfect remedy. The custom stone path leads visitors in and pulls the whole yard together, but the Cypress bathtub is clearly the focus of the yard.
The bathtub is surrounded by copious bamboo and other plants to mimic the atmosphere of Japanese hot springs. This is especially fitting since Coco's design and Japanese name (Yayoi) are in reference to Haniwa statues of the Yayoi Period of Japan.
3 Jock Zone
This gorgeous yard is one of many in a row of yards for villagers, all featuring fitting amenities for their resident. While Teddy's neighbors enjoy BBQ and plants, Teddy himself is all about working out, complete with the perfect boom box to get him in the mood.
This yard is big enough to hold multiple larger items such as the Basketball hoop, Punching bag, and the Weight bench, all with enough space for Teddy to use whenever he likes. Finally, the Protein shaker bottle and blender are great for that post-workout smoothie. Even though the yard is all about fitness, the player still added some pretty greenery, custom paths, and lights to help the neighborhood feel more welcoming when it gets dark.
2 Tiny Cottage
Some players enjoy making big and decadent yards for their favorite villagers, but others put more emphasis on the overall environment and island itself. Molly's cozy cottage here has a small front yard, just enough for a Log chair, some delicious tea, and a Tiny library out front.
Even though her yard is small, it works very well with everything else around it, meshing with the rural cabin aesthetic effortlessly. The custom design stone path leading up to the steps is particularly effective and rustic.
1 Waterside Home
This charming yard for Diana is both adorable and funny, thanks to the custom designs made for the several Decoy ducks. The setup is the "no duck-feeding" sign clearly posted, and the punchline is three ducks clearly chowing down on the forbidden bread.
Diana is unperturbed by this situation, checking her phone while lounging in one of her cute Peach chairs and taking in the scents of her rare flowers. Finally, the Sakura Tree standee brings to mind an eternal Spring season, full of afternoon dozing and duck-feeding.