How to Get and Make Counters

Go as high or as low as you want with the newest feature available in the Happy Home Paradise DLC of Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH) for the Nintendo Switch!

With counters, you can divide up rooms while still achieving an open atmosphere. Read on to learn more about counters, how to unlock them, where to use them, and more!

How to Unlock Counters

1. Finish work on the fifteenth vacation home request

Continue progressing through the story until you reach the fifteenth vacation home request. After, you'll be forced to take a break by Lottie, who asks you to talk to Niko in the break room on the second floor.

Beginners’ Guide to Happy Home Paradise DLC

2. Talk to Niko about DIY recipes

Find Niko at break room on the second floor. He will ask you about DIY and ask you to teach him everything you know!

How to Build DIY Items

3. Talk to Niko again

Wait for the next day or time travel forward. When you go back to work, Niko will welcome you and take you to school!

Niko will explain how counters and pillars works in a lecture.

How to Design Vacation Homes

4. Unlock counters!

After attending his lecture, you will now be able to use counters! You can now craft low wooden island counters and tall wooden island counters to use for vacation homes, for your own home, and for Harv's Photopia!

5. Optional: Get more counters!

After finishing your nineteenth vacation home request, Lottie and Wardell will ask if you can share some DIY materials with Niko!

You can get other types of Counters from Niko by donating the DIY materials he asks for in his materials box at the second floor of the Paradise Planning office.

List of Counters

DIY Item	Required Materials
Low Brick Island Counter	・Clay (×4)
Tall Brick Island Counter	・Clay (×8)
Low Concrete Island Counter	・Stone (×3) ・Iron Nugget (×1)
Tall Concrete Island Counter	・Stone (×6) ・Iron Nugget (×2)
Low Golden Island Counter	・Gold Nugget (×4)
Tall Golden Island Counter	・Gold Nugget (×8)
Low Marble Island Counter	・Stone (×8)
Tall Marble Island Counter	・Stone (×16)
Low Simple Island Counter	・Stone (×2) ・Clay (×2)
Tall Simple Island Counter	・Stone (×4) ・Clay (×4)
Low Steel Island Counter	・Iron Nugget (×4)
Tall Steel Island Counter	・Iron Nugget (×8)
Low Wooden Island Counter	・Wood (×2) ・Softwood (×2) ・Hardwood (×2)
Tall Wooden Island Counter	・Wood (×3) ・Softwood (×3) ・Hardwood (×3)

Where and How to Use Counters

After you have unlocked and crafted them, you can decorate any indoor room with counters by pressing Down Button to enter decoration mode. Press the Right or Left Button to find them in the Other category!

Where Can You Use Counters

	Where Can Counters Be Placed
	Vacation Homes
	Photopia
	Your Home
No	Outside

Once you've unlocked Counters and learned craft them on your own, you are free to use them to decorate most indoor places, even your own house!

List of Design Skills

Counters are in the Other category

While they can easily be placed at Photopia and in HHP, to add counters in your house you first need to craft them. After that, you can find them in the Other section while decorating.

Related Guides

All Happy Home Paradise DLC Info

All Happy Home Paradise Design Skills
How to Adjust Room Sizes	How to Create Partition Walls
How to Adjust Lighting	How to Polish Furniture
How to Use Soundscapes	How to Get and Make Counters
How to Build Two-Story Homes	How to Get and Make Pillars
How to Make Villagers Share Rooms	How to Unlock Hybrid Flowers in HHP
How to Add Bugs in Vacation Homes