So I've tried doing a nature themed island... and it's just not me.

[Imaginetheday]

I really liked my summer themed island - straight paths, boardwalk, river walk with carnival, drive in movie, putt putt golf, villagers all lined up with fenced yards and decor. I decided I wanted to go more natural for fall. I even used a variation of "the path". I have a couple of areas I really like (my apple orchard, pumpkin patch), but really, I miss my straight lines and orderly style. So, as much as it pains me, I'm changing everything for winter. Once Thanksgiving is over, I'm going back to my former style.

Has anybody else tried a different style and ditched it?

 

[--Maya--]

Yes. I tried a style called "throw a bunch of furniture around and call it art because you suck at decorating."

 

[Your Local Wild Child]

I don’t think I’ve ever had that feeling, but I do want to chime in that I like having a crazy disorderly island. It’s not for everyone, I admit, but I find it fun to have a feral forest where plants are competing for space.

 

[John Wick]

I hate the fake looking in game paths, but I loathe fake paths even more, so I just stick to the in game fakeness.

I really miss my winding, curvy, beautiful, natural NL dirt paths.

 

[.MOON.]

Yea I tried to do the uniform, symmetrical island with straight paths when I first started but it made me sad. So my island is more spread out and natural. I guess for me it felt to structured and I just couldn’t deal. So it’s whimsical with no rhyme or reason but I’m happy with it.

 

[moo_nieu]

I hate the fake looking in game paths, but I loathe fake paths even more, so I just stick to the in game fakeness.

I really miss my winding, curvy, beautiful, natural NL dirt paths.

I miss the NL dirt too, but up-keeping them was a huge pain. I wish we had some option to recreate that look though

 

[lemoncrossing]

I relate to this so much! At the beginning of New Horizons, my island was one of those "basic" cottagecore islands. (No hate to anyone who does it-- it's just not for me!) After spending a lot of time looking at inspiration online, and combining different styles together, my island is still kind of nature themed but with more of a small-town feel. I've also got some elegant/ornate areas (think big statues, rock paths, gold roses... etc), and although the different areas don't go together... the look kind of matches my mismatched style, haha.

 

[squidney]

I really liked my summer themed island - straight paths, boardwalk, river walk with carnival, drive in movie, putt putt golf, villagers all lined up with fenced yards and decor. I decided I wanted to go more natural for fall. I even used a variation of "the path". I have a couple of areas I really like (my apple orchard, pumpkin patch), but really, I miss my straight lines and orderly style. So, as much as it pains me, I'm changing everything for winter. Once Thanksgiving is over, I'm going back to my former style.

Has anybody else tried a different style and ditched it?

I have to have wide, straight paths. I like the game being functional and having too much clutter stresses me out LOL. So my winter theme has just dark dirt paths with this qr code wood border (its simple but cute). All of my paths are 3 wide because I like there being plenty of walking space~

 

[AlyssaAC]

Yes, I tried to do an all natural island, but I just prefer having everything nice and organized. It makes it a lot more easy for me to move around, plus I have more space for other things.

 

[John Wick]

I miss the NL dirt too, but up-keeping them was a huge pain. I wish we had some option to recreate that look though

A tool to feather those angles and straight edges!
Or just make an updated natural path that is part of the designer app.

 

[eseamir]

when I first started I tried to use the in-game paths and set everything out nice and orderly and it drove me crazy within two days, I hated everything about how my island looked and where everything was. I switched over to custom paths and basically re-did everything (still a work in progress haha) but I love the feeling of my island a lot more now even though it's not completely finished. all the 90 degree corners and straight paths just weren't my vibe and I could never get them to look nice, I don't think I could ever go back to them and I'm super jealous of all the people who can make them look natural on their islands

 

[Miss Misty]

I wanted to have a space-themed island, but I just couldn't find a path I wanted to use since I hate the way night sky colors like navy and purple look next to green grass. So I ended up going for more of an overgrown, natural forest feel. I left a few space themed touches, like the moon pond where I go to stargaze, though.

 

[annex]

I had a haunted forest that I worked on since March. It had a haunted retro diner, spiders coming out of a manhole cover. Muddy footprints coming out of a grave and leading to the haunted house, and I also had a spooky jail with Booker and Copper in it. It was fun creating it, but really wasn't me. I recently redecorated and made it more farm and nature themed. It still has some fun, unique areas, but I like it so much better. It also has a garden that I can change with the seasons.

 

[Moonlight.]

tried out the cottagecore style and i wasn't into it at all, just looks very dull to me at this point, especially when you're looking for island inspiration online and it's all cottagecore that looks exactly the same as one another. cool if you're into it, but it's not for me lol

 

[Midoriya]

Honestly, my island doesn’t really have a style (unless you categorize it under cityscape/traditional Japanese village). I can see why having a nature themed island could get frustrating though. The section of my island that has the most nature is my fruit orchard in the southwestern area, otherwise everything else looks more like a city, so it’s kind of a combination of both? I don’t know. All I know is I don’t really pay attention to any of the styles people come up with in the game, and just have fun with it at my own pace.

 

[Xara]

yes! for a while, i thought that i could only have one theme and so i jumped from vapourwave to rustic to colourful and back again. but now, while i’m still not really sure what exactly it is i’m doing, i’ve embraced the fact that my island is basically going to be a bunch of themes compiled into one, which i’m happy with!

there’s no shame at all in trying something new and ultimately not liking it; it’s your island and you can do whatever you’d like with it. good luck!

 

[Cosmic-chan]

I have tried many themes but my current and best one is "ADHD only now it's in acnh"

 

[Korichi]

Yes. I tried a style called "throw a bunch of furniture around and call it art because you suck at decorating."

I tried that style too!! xD

I can’t decorate to save my life. So my island is a messy junk heap of different items strewn around in an effort to do so.

 

[Monokuma73]

My style is quite simply: "Leave enough space to live and enjoy every single day".
I'm not attached in any way to any theme, and for example I still have decorations from Halloween, haven't done anything related to mushrooms, and completely ignoring any leaf themed items.
What really surprise me, I quite easily got 4* and some weeks ago I got 5* so I don't care what is Nook's or Isabelle's opinion at the moment, probably I still have 5* as from time to time another Lilly of the Valley appears on my island.
I never had a goal to finish my island, as it will be "game over" for me.

 

[Imaginetheday]

I'm enjoying all the replies. I love that there are so many ways to decorate your island.