Since some people struggle with figuring out what to do with their towns, I thought I'd make a guide on how to design a well-landscaped town without a bunch of open space :3 I'll be starting from the very top (for those of you with brand new towns), so skip to whatever step is appropriate if you're a ways into decorating your town already.
Step 1: Pick a town map you like (with the native fruit you want)
Any town map will work, but some may require a more creative approach when utilizing the available space. Maps that might be a little harder to work with include those with a winding river (like mine) rather than a straight one, ones with lots of rocks or ponds, or ones where Retail, the Town Hall or plaza are in an odd spot. My town map looks like this.
*Note: if you plan on plot resetting and having a more organized town, consider doing Step 5 before moving on to Step 2!*
Step 2: Create any extra characters you plan on having
It's best to do this before you start building pwps, moving dreamies in and landscaping so that you can pick where exactly you want your other characters' houses to be (I made the mistake of moving dreamies in first, and Lolly's house is where I wanted my third character's house to be). If there are any spots in your town that you think will be difficult to landscape or place pwps in, consider putting a character house there. Even if you don't plan on playing on your other characters much, the extra houses are great for filling space. It's also nice to have extra houses to decorate!
My second character's house.
My third character's house. Currently redoing the exterior.
My fourth character's house.
Step 3: Pick the pwps you want, and build them all where you want them
Do this before you move any of your dreamies in, especially if you don't plot reset (which I don't), so that you're guaranteed to have that space available. (Here) is a list of every pwp in New Leaf. If your town is new, you'll probably need to cycle villagers with different personalities in and out of your town to get all the pwp recommendations you need. I recommend time traveling to do this, but if you're against time traveling, just be prepared for this to take longer. I made a guide previously for moving villagers out, which you can find (here) and use for after you've gotten the pwps you need from an unwanted villager.
When picking pwps, you can either choose to stick with a theme and select pwps that fit into that theme, or you can go with whatever you think will look best. I have a combination of fairy tale, zen and random pwps.
*Note: When trying to get bridge pwp recommendations, make sure you have less than 3 bridges. Having 3 bridges will prevent anymore bridge pwp recommendations.*
Step 4: Move all your dreamies in
You want to have all your pwps built by this point, again, so your villagers won't take the spaces you wanted for your pwps. If you plot reset, choose where you want your villagers to move in, and get them there. You can move all your villagers into a certain area of the map (which might require you to landscape more in other areas to prevent parts of your town from feeling empty), or you can choose to space them out across the map, allowing them each to have their own space (which I personally prefer because I can landscape around their houses later to make it seem like they have their own yard/ garden).
If you don't plot reset, simply move your dreamies in and allow them to plot wherever they happen to. When you do this, you might consider moving any flowers you don't want to lose onto your beaches, or to the edges of your town/ along the river, this way your new move-ins won't destroy them.
Step 5: Lay down any path designs you want
If you plan on having a designated walkway through your town, now is the time to make it, before you've done any landscaping. Lay down your path designs, or if you plan on having natural dirt paths, lay down a temporary design anyway, just to mark where you want it to be so you don't accidentally landscape over it.
Step 6: Landscape your town
Here is where your creative side comes in! I personally like to landscape around pwps, villagers' houses, ponds, and anywhere I need to fill space. Like I mentioned above, I like for each of my villagers to look like they have their own yard, so I like to plant flowers, trees, shrubs and bamboo around them, and even use sea shells or coral to accent them. You can also line your walkway or dirt path with sea shells, flowers, shrubs, trees or lucky clovers. I've even done a lot of landscaping around Retail, my Town Hall, and around my plaza.
Some flower combinations I think look good together include...
*Blue and purple pansies
*Blue and red pansies
*Red and blue roses
*Blue and gold roses
*Blue and purple roses
*Black and white roses
*Pink cosmos and blue roses
*Orange pansies and black cosmos
*Jacob's ladder and black lilies
*Pink and purple tulips
*Pink and white carnations
Landscaping around my mayor's house.
To the left of my mayor's house.
Flower arangement between my four wisteria trellises.
Landscaping around Mitzi's house.
Marshal's house.
Geyser in front of Marshal's house.
My hotspring.
Step 7: Decorate your characters' houses
This step can be done at any point. I like for my houses to suit my characters, so I design them with what my character looks like in mind. I also choose a color theme for each room. I'm still working my 3 side characters' houses, so I'll show my mayor's house.
Step 9: Decorate your museum rooms and fill out Main Street
This is entirely optional and only helps make your town look a little more complete (only when someone is visiting, as people can't access your main street or museum in your dream town). I'm eventually going to make my museum rooms into treasure rooms with tons of treasure chests, ore, and money bags c:
*Note: For those of you that are new, be sure to check the Retail board for landscaping materials! You can either post a thread stating what you need, or check out the shops set up there!*
Hope this was helpful, and in the meantime (while I'm taking pictures to add to all this), feel free to take a look at my dream address, which is in my signature :3 And if you want to post pictures of your town as well, please do; I'd love to see them!
Edit: I can only post 15 pictures per post, so I'll post the rest below xD
Step 1: Pick a town map you like (with the native fruit you want)
Any town map will work, but some may require a more creative approach when utilizing the available space. Maps that might be a little harder to work with include those with a winding river (like mine) rather than a straight one, ones with lots of rocks or ponds, or ones where Retail, the Town Hall or plaza are in an odd spot. My town map looks like this.
*Note: if you plan on plot resetting and having a more organized town, consider doing Step 5 before moving on to Step 2!*
Step 2: Create any extra characters you plan on having
It's best to do this before you start building pwps, moving dreamies in and landscaping so that you can pick where exactly you want your other characters' houses to be (I made the mistake of moving dreamies in first, and Lolly's house is where I wanted my third character's house to be). If there are any spots in your town that you think will be difficult to landscape or place pwps in, consider putting a character house there. Even if you don't plan on playing on your other characters much, the extra houses are great for filling space. It's also nice to have extra houses to decorate!
My second character's house.
My third character's house. Currently redoing the exterior.
My fourth character's house.
Step 3: Pick the pwps you want, and build them all where you want them
Do this before you move any of your dreamies in, especially if you don't plot reset (which I don't), so that you're guaranteed to have that space available. (Here) is a list of every pwp in New Leaf. If your town is new, you'll probably need to cycle villagers with different personalities in and out of your town to get all the pwp recommendations you need. I recommend time traveling to do this, but if you're against time traveling, just be prepared for this to take longer. I made a guide previously for moving villagers out, which you can find (here) and use for after you've gotten the pwps you need from an unwanted villager.
When picking pwps, you can either choose to stick with a theme and select pwps that fit into that theme, or you can go with whatever you think will look best. I have a combination of fairy tale, zen and random pwps.
*Note: When trying to get bridge pwp recommendations, make sure you have less than 3 bridges. Having 3 bridges will prevent anymore bridge pwp recommendations.*
Step 4: Move all your dreamies in
You want to have all your pwps built by this point, again, so your villagers won't take the spaces you wanted for your pwps. If you plot reset, choose where you want your villagers to move in, and get them there. You can move all your villagers into a certain area of the map (which might require you to landscape more in other areas to prevent parts of your town from feeling empty), or you can choose to space them out across the map, allowing them each to have their own space (which I personally prefer because I can landscape around their houses later to make it seem like they have their own yard/ garden).
If you don't plot reset, simply move your dreamies in and allow them to plot wherever they happen to. When you do this, you might consider moving any flowers you don't want to lose onto your beaches, or to the edges of your town/ along the river, this way your new move-ins won't destroy them.
Step 5: Lay down any path designs you want
If you plan on having a designated walkway through your town, now is the time to make it, before you've done any landscaping. Lay down your path designs, or if you plan on having natural dirt paths, lay down a temporary design anyway, just to mark where you want it to be so you don't accidentally landscape over it.
Step 6: Landscape your town
Here is where your creative side comes in! I personally like to landscape around pwps, villagers' houses, ponds, and anywhere I need to fill space. Like I mentioned above, I like for each of my villagers to look like they have their own yard, so I like to plant flowers, trees, shrubs and bamboo around them, and even use sea shells or coral to accent them. You can also line your walkway or dirt path with sea shells, flowers, shrubs, trees or lucky clovers. I've even done a lot of landscaping around Retail, my Town Hall, and around my plaza.
Some flower combinations I think look good together include...
*Blue and purple pansies
*Blue and red pansies
*Red and blue roses
*Blue and gold roses
*Blue and purple roses
*Black and white roses
*Pink cosmos and blue roses
*Orange pansies and black cosmos
*Jacob's ladder and black lilies
*Pink and purple tulips
*Pink and white carnations
Landscaping around my mayor's house.
To the left of my mayor's house.
Flower arangement between my four wisteria trellises.
Landscaping around Mitzi's house.
Marshal's house.
Geyser in front of Marshal's house.
My hotspring.
Step 7: Decorate your characters' houses
This step can be done at any point. I like for my houses to suit my characters, so I design them with what my character looks like in mind. I also choose a color theme for each room. I'm still working my 3 side characters' houses, so I'll show my mayor's house.
Step 9: Decorate your museum rooms and fill out Main Street
This is entirely optional and only helps make your town look a little more complete (only when someone is visiting, as people can't access your main street or museum in your dream town). I'm eventually going to make my museum rooms into treasure rooms with tons of treasure chests, ore, and money bags c:
*Note: For those of you that are new, be sure to check the Retail board for landscaping materials! You can either post a thread stating what you need, or check out the shops set up there!*
Hope this was helpful, and in the meantime (while I'm taking pictures to add to all this), feel free to take a look at my dream address, which is in my signature :3 And if you want to post pictures of your town as well, please do; I'd love to see them!
Edit: I can only post 15 pictures per post, so I'll post the rest below xD
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