I think I'm in a very small minority here, but I've actually loved the game so far and found it completely engaging. After owning the game for two months, I've designed over 80 villagers' houses and six of the public buildings. I build a house every morning while I eat breakfast – it's a really nice way to relax before going to work.
I'm also an outlier in that I actually never cared for decorating in the main series games. It always felt awkward and clunky, and no matter what I tried, my house always ended up looking dumb. I love designing in HHD for all the reasons that I never had patience for designing in AC:NL. Drag and drop placement, instant item customization, easy rotating, no pockets, etc. It's also really fun for me because I get to be so creative. The villagers all ask for a very specific theme, and I try to match it as closely as possible while making the whole thing look coherent. and not overwhelming. Working within those constraints has caused me to explore all sorts of types of decorating that i never would have had the patience to try on my own house in NL. I've made a jungle house, an old-timey doctor's office, a fossil museum, a pink-and-yellow birthday party, an arcade, and so on. And I've ended up getting attached to a lot of villagers that I never would have given a chance otherwise, just because I've had so much fun with their houses. (Gaston, Harry, O'Hare, Cally, Blanche...)
I should probably just stop myself there. It's definitely not a game for everyone (it's a fair critique to say that it gets pretty repetitive in terms of general gameplay concept), but I have a ton of patience for repetition when I'm repeating something I actually enjoy, and I've found that there's a wide enough variety in villager requests and in available furniture that I don't get bored.