You've slowly eased into a life of slack and chill at the end of your basic island development. Now it's time to make decisions on how to make island life more fun—your way!
For example, you could try cooking with crops you grew yourself or find every last item the museum could possibly exhibit. Go ahead and enjoy this beautiful island you've worked hard to build.

Your island is well-received by residents and visitors alike. You deserve to pursue the dreams and ambitions you've always had for the ideal island life as a reward. Check out my personal list of island life inspirations and see if you agree!

Renovation revelations

Your house has served you well throughout your time living in this island, but now it's ready for greater things. Change things up a little (or a lot!) to make it more livable than ever before.
Add rooms and furnish them according to themes to make them extraordinarily fun to spend time in.

A bigger house means more storage space. With a bigger house, you will also get more storage space for your collection of treasures and trinkets!

Don't forget to renovate the exterior of your home as well. The ideal home should look good both inside and out.
Even details such as the color of your door and mailbox can be tweaked to satisfaction. Go ahead, take your pick! Your design choices can be based on your island's atmosphere, preferences, or whatever your creative juices are pointing you towards that day.

Major livability makeover

After you've earned three stars for your island evaluation, Tom Nook will hand over the reins of future island construction to you, which will allow you to remodel the island on a larger scale. This is done via the Island Designer app on your NookPhone. Tap on the app and you'll automatically don a work helmet before getting down to business. Always work with safety in mind! If you want to, you can also change to your favorite work outfit.

Paving new paths is one of the first things you can do. A road that connects houses and facilities will make it easier for you to show first-time visitors around. By purchasing the permits for cliff construction and waterscaping with your miles, you'll even be able to perform construction work on cliffs and rivers.

After the concert, the museum director, Blathers will talk to you about wanting to expand the museum to include a nice little café. To do that, you'll have to help him find an old friend of his by the name of Brewster.

According to Blathers, Brewster is a huge fan of gyroids.
You'll also receive information that new types of gyroids have been found on remote islands that can only be reached via boat tours. Pack your bags and book a tour now!

In search of Brewster on remote islands

Kapp'n, your boat tour guide, will be waiting at your island's pier.
This tour is only available once a day, but it brings you to islands that can't be reached by airplane. Give Kapp'n a chance to pleasantly surprise you.

Open that café!

You'll find Brewster on the remote island you travel to, just like Blathers said you would. Once you tell him about the purpose of your visit, he gives a short but firm affirmative reply.

Once you're back on the island, pass along Brewster's message to Blathers and he'll get started on the café expansion right away. Two days later, the museum's snazzy new café, called The Roost, will be open for business.
Like the museum, The Roost is open to customers 24 hours a day so all can enjoy Brewster's exquisite coffee brews at any time. Not only this, but regulars will receive special gifts! And with such great-tasting coffee, there's no down side to making this café one of your frequent stops as you go about your day.

Word soon reaches other islands about your thriving island and Harvey, who lives in a nearby island, will drop in for a visit to see what he can learn.
He invites you to Harv's Island, where he runs a photography studio called Photopia. With the tools and props available, you can take pictures of scenes that can't be taken easily elsewhere on your island.

After K.K. Slider's concert, Harvey and the hairdresser, Harriet, approach you to discuss opening new shops on Harv's Island. Don't pass up this chance to add to the variety of your town facilities!
Still, it looks like it will cost 100,000 Bells for each new shop. You can pay this amount in full or in installments over a period of time.

You can also set up shops for other vendors such as Saharah the travelling merchant, with it being up to you to decide whose shop to open first.
Alas! So many shops, so little Bells! Can't decide on a good sequence to set up shops for the vendors? Consider focusing on the most novel ones first.

Professional furniture customization

Reese and Cyrus' shop is all about giving that familiar set of furniture a fresh new look or coat of paint. Let the professionals handle the difficult part while you enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Fortunes and friendships

It is said that all of the mysterious fortune-teller Katrina's predictions come true… From your luck of the day to how compatible you are with a particular island resident, Katrina knows it all, and you're welcome to ask her about it!
If Katrina says you have good luck today, your chances of landing on a rare island while traveling on the boat tour is much higher. You'll also be approached by more residents than usual, and they may have something good to share with you.

Katrina can also tell you how strong your bond is with another resident of the island. You can pay her to offer a special prayer to increase the strength of your bond with that particular resident. Well, what's there to lose besides some Bells?

Building and crafting isn't all there is to island living. Some days you either don't know what to do or don't want to do anything. If you've ever had such a day, fret not, because we've all been there before. Here's a list of other things to try in the meantime as you wait for inspiration to hit again.

Participating in seasonal events

Your island is subject to the changing of seasons and all sorts of events unique to that particular season will be held with each change.
For example, special items will be available in shops, and you may also get some seasonal DIY recipes for furniture and cooking. Take advantage of these special activities—no matter how seemingly minor—to have a taste of a different but equally pleasant kind of island living.

Cherishing every encounter

When you go about your day in the island, you'll naturally bump into residents, vendors, and visitors. Someone among them may be in a bit of a pickle, so don't hesitate to offer some help if you can!

Since you're all living on the same island, why not take a minute or two to get to know your fellow residents even better than before? They may reveal information about themselves only shared with the closest of friends. What a cherished privilege that would be!

Gaming on chance and turnips

The reality of the situation is that we need money (Bells) to fulfill our dreams sometimes. And when we need it, we need it quickly!
That's why you should look out for Daisy Mae who visits your island every Sunday to hawk her turnips. Buying them for an opportunity to feel the daily heart-thumping excitement of possibly making a quick Bell…or losing it all. Here's how it works.

You see, turnip prices fluctuate every week. Nook's Cranny will even buy turnips from you at a different price every day. However, any unsold turnips turn rotten every coming Sunday, so you can't hold on to them indefinitely. If you do manage to sell them for a higher price than what you paid for, then it's free money for very little effort. However, delay too long and you may suffer financial losses.
While it is not certain, it can be quite exciting, so give it a try!

Island life is likely as chill as can be for you now, but it's time to make use of everything you've learned so far to begin a new project—designing vacation homes!
This section covers content from the Happy Home Paradise* DLC where you help make your client's dream vacation come true!

How about a vacation home at a resort?

The new expansion starts with Lottie, one of Tom Nook's acquaintances inviting you to work with her creating vacation homes perfectly tailored to her clients' requests. You agree, and this marks the beginning of the new phase of your island living as a staff member of Paradise Planning!

Don't fret over what to bring to your new office. Paradise Planning will provide all the furniture and exterior finishings you need to fulfill client requirements. All you need to bring is all the know-how you've gained from developing your own island and applying it to building your client's dream vacation home and garden.

You can change the season or weather conditions of the location you've chosen. Having this sort of absolute control over nature itself is one of the best parts of your new job, that's for sure!

New job, new way to enjoy life

You're paid in Poki after completing a vacation home, which can be used to buy furniture not available on your home island. These items will add even more charm and appeal to your already magnificent island life.
You can apply all those advanced interior designing techniques learned at your new job to your home island too!

Work hard enough and you'll receive requests to design a school, a restaurant, and other major facilities before long, where you'll continue to learn new techniques for future use back home.

Invite your island residents to the resort archipelago and they may be inspired to order a vacation home there too. Even if they decide to eventually leave your island to live on another island, you can always visit them at their new vacation home whenever you like.

Being able to quickly and easily create different types of vacation homes while spending time with visitors that you can only encounter at the campsite or on remote islands makes this job very worthwhile indeed. I encourage you to try it out even if you may not be able to take too much time off your own island to do this.

We've discussed how to explore different avenues of activities on the island after having settled down, as well as how you can use the Happy Home Paradise paid DLC to expand your play style.

Now you will enjoy greater freedom in creating your island paradise, have more fun things to do outside of your own island, and keep living that island life you've always wanted.
Even if you're a veteran with a fully developed island, consider dropping by again if you haven't seen it for a while. There are always new things to see, do, and discover here, and there's no better time to try than now.

Whether you've only just signed up for the package or are returning after a long hiatus, your residents are eagerly looking forward to their next interaction with you. But don't just take my word for it—head over to your island now and see for yourself!