Unlocking Things

Nook Phone Unlocks
Villager Plot Unlocks
Building Unlocks
House Unlocks
DIY Unlocks
Golden Tool Unlocks (Note: Spoilers!)
Misc Unlocks
Nook Miles Redemption Unlocks
Hair

Nook Phone Unlocks

Item	Unlock Criteria
Camera	Unlocked by default. • Pro Camera - 1,500 Unlocks the first person, tripod, and bird’s eye view camera views. Also unlocks several new camera filters.
Critterpedia	Donate a critter to Tom Nook.
DIY Recipes	Complete Tom Nook’s DIY workshop. • DIY Recipes+ - 2,000 Allows you to receive cooking DIY recipes and cook.
Nook Shopping	After purchasing 100 items from “Nook Shopping” in the Nook Stop, you will get a prompt that you unlocked the app. You can track your progress with the “Shop to it” Nook Miles achievement.
Island Designer	Complete Project K and redeem the purchases from the Nook Stop (“Redeem Nook Miles”). Preset path permits cost 2,000 , the Custom Path permit costs 2,300 , and the waterscaping and cliff-construction permits cost 6,000 each.
Custom Designs	Unlocked by default. • Pro Editor - 800 Unlocks the use of Pro Designs. • Pro Editor+ - 2,000 Unlocks 50 additional custom design slots for both normal and pro designs. Also unlocks new pro custom design types. • Patterns+ - 1,800 Allows the use of Sable patterns as custom designs. • Portal - 300 Allows remote access to the Custom Design Kiosk.
Map	Unlocked by default. This app shows the map of the island. Only works on main island.
Happy Home Network	DLC Only Unlocked by building your second vacation home on Paradise Planning. • Showroom - Complete 13 vacation homes. Unlocks online features, including sharing home showcases and following online profiles.
Room Sketch	DLC Only Unlocked by visiting Paradise Planning on 11 different days and learn all Soundscapes. This app allows you to pre-design homes for clients.
Passport	Unlocked by default. This app displays Resident information.
Best Friends List	Talk to Orville about playing with others. This app displays the list of friends and best friends.
Chat Log	Unlocked by default. This app provides a log of recent chats.
Call Resident	Unlocked by having a secondary resident on your island. This app allows party play.
Rescue Service	Unlocked by default. This app allows the player to teleport to pre-determined locations in exchange for miles if they are ever stuck.
Island Life 101	Unlocked by redeeming 400 . Periodically provides tips and tricks on the loading screen.

Villager Plot Unlocks

Plot Number	Unlock Criteria
1 and 2	Create your island!
3 to 5	Unlock the Museum Tent, build Nook’s Cranny, build your first bridge.
6	Unlock and build the Campsite.
7 to 10	Speak to Tom Nook about purchasing land.

Building Unlocks

As of Ver. 2.0.0 the Museum Art Wing is automatically unlocked once you upgrade it from a tent. Those without the Art wing will still have to meet the requirements to upgrade.

Building	Unlock Criteria
Museum Tent	Donate 5 bugs or fish to Tom Nook. It will open the day after you place the plot marker.
Museum	Donate 15 bugs, fish, or fossils to Blathers.
Museum Art Wing	Total 60 donations to Blathers (40 on top of the 20 donated to unlock the previous two stages).
The Roost	Donate at least one of each category of museum collection (insects, fish, fossils, art and sea creatures).
Nook’s Cranny (Stage 1)	Pay off your initial Nook Miles debt and upgrade your tent into a house.
Nook’s Cranny (Stage 2)	30 days must have passed since Nook’s Cranny was built. You must have made 200,000 worth of transactions (buying and/or selling) at the shop, and Mabel must have visited! Once all three requirements are fulfilled, the upgrade is unlocked.
Able Sisters	Buy at least one item from Mabel’s stand in front of Residents Services on two different visits. She will ask to set up her shop on the third visit.
Resident Services Building	Pay your Nook Miles debt, give 5 critters to Tom Nook, build Blather’s tent, build the first bridge, build Nook’s Cranny, and complete furnishing the 3 plots.
Campsite	Upgrade Resident Services into a building and talk to Tom Nook, who will have you craft and place the Campground Construction Kit.

House Unlocks

Upgrade	Fee	Unlocks
Moving To The Island	5,000	• A tent and a mailbox
Tent-to-house upgrade	98,000	• 80 storage slots
House size upgrade	198,000	• 8×8 grid • 40 additional storage slots (120 total)
Back Room Addition	348,000	• Back Room (6×6 grid) • 120 additional storage slots (240 total)
Left Room Addition	548,000	• Left Room (6×6 grid) • 120 additional storage slots (360 total) • Mailbox and roof customizations • Ability to move mailbox
Right Room Addition	758,000	• Right Room (6×6 grid) • 40 additional storage slots (400 total) • Door customization
Second Floor Addition	1,248,000	• Second Floor (10×6 grid) • 400 additional storage slots (800 total) • Home siding customization • Home shape customization
Basement Addition	2,498,000	• Basement (10×6 grid) • 800 additional storage slots (1600 total) • Free exterior renovations (once per day)
Storage Upgrade	500,000 700,000 900,000 1,200,000	• 800 additional storage slots (2400 total) • 800 additional storage slots (3200 total) • 800 additional storage slots (4000 total) • 1000 additional storage slots (5000 total)

In total, a fully upgraded home will cost you 5,696,000 and 5,000 . A fully upgraded home with all additional storage upgrades will cost you 8,996,000 and 5,000 .

Paying off the previous fee unlocks each subsequent house upgrade.

Free exterior renovations are only unlocked after paying the final loan in full.

DIY Unlocks

DIY	Unlock Criteria
Flimsy Fishing Rod	Talk to Tom Nook about the DIY workshop and participate in it.
Flimsy Net	Finish DIY workshop.
Flimsy Axe	Donate 2 creatures to Tom Nook (“I found a creature!”).
Flimsy Watering Can	Donate 2 more creatures to Tom Nook for a total of 4.
Flimsy Shovel	Talk to Blathers for the first time.
Vaulting Pole	Talk to Blathers for the first time.
Ladder	Start the quest to furnish 3 houses — it should start after Nook’s Cranny is built.
Slingshot	Purchase from the cabinet at Nook’s Cranny.
Upgraded Tools	To unlock upgrades for the Fishing Rod, Net, Axe, Watering Can, & Shovel, you must redeem the Pretty Good Tools Recipes DIY pack from the Nook Stop after paying off your initial 5,000 loan.

The Slingshot, Vaulting Pole, and Ladder cannot be upgraded - the pole and ladder cannot break, but the slingshot still can, so you will need to craft more.

For players other than the Island Representative, the flimsy tools, Ladder and Vaulting Pole DIYs can be bought from Nook’s Cranny.

Golden Tool Unlocks (Note: Spoilers!)

Golden DIY	Unlock Criteria
Golden Axe	Break 100 axes. Your character will be struck by inspiration and learn the DIY by themselves.
Golden Shovel	Help Gulliver 30 times (Gullivarrr does not count towards this). Gulliver will mail you the DIY the next day instead of the usual reward.
Golden Net	Complete the bug portion of the Critterpedia. The DIY will be mailed the next day by the museum.
Golden Rod	Complete the fish portion of the Critterpedia. The DIY will be mailed the next day by the museum.
Golden Watering Can	Receive a 5-star rating from Isabelle’s evaluations. She will directly add the DIY to your NookPhone.
Golden Slingshot	Shoot 300 balloons. The DIY will be carried in a golden balloon. This golden ballon will appear every 20 balloons until you learn the DIY, making it the only farmable golden tool recipe.

Golden tools can still break, but have a considerably higher durability. Visit https://cestislife.github.io/img/tools.png for tool durability.

Misc Unlocks

Item	Unlock Criteria
Nook Miles Redemption	• Pay off 5k Nook Miles house loan.
Furniture Customization Workshop	• Complete furnishing the plots from the 3 plots quest.
Nook Miles+	• Upgrade your tent into a house.
Dodo Airport	• Happens automatically on day 2 of playing the game once you sync into real time.
Bedhead Hair	• Do not log in for a month. *Time travel is a great way to do this quickly.
Project K	• Upgrade Resident Services to a building. • Build the campsite. • Invite and fully move in your first campsite visitor.
Pocket Organization Guide	• Pay off 5k Nook Miles house loan.
Ultimate Pocket Stuffer	• Complete the 3 plots quest. • Upgrade Resident Services into a building.

Nook Miles Redemption Unlocks

Item	Unlock Criteria	Cost
Pro Construction License	• Must be playing as the Island Representative • Have 8 inclines and/or 8 bridges	3,000
New Reactions Notebook	• Upgraded Resident Services • Redeemed ‘Hip Reaction Collection’	3,300
Top 4 Fab Hairstyles	• Upgraded Resident Services • Bought ‘Top 8 Pop Hairstyles’ • Bought ‘Top 8 Cool Hairstyles’ • Bought ‘Top 6 Stylish Hairstyles’	1,200
Pro Decorating License	• Has seen explanation for normal interior decoration.¹	2,500
Be a Chef! DIY Recipes+	• Upgraded Resident Services • K.K. Slider has visited • Completed DIY Customization Workshop NOTE: This DIY pack appears the day AFTER K.K. Slider has performed his first concert.	3,000
Custom Fencing in a Flash	• Completed DIY Customization Workshop • Crafted at least two types of fences	2,500

This can also be received from a phone call from Lottie (HHP), and if you have already bought the license before the call, the cost will be refunded by mail instead.

Item	Unlock Criteria
Outdoor Storage Sheds	Have a total of 2,400 house storage
ABD	Player must have fully paid off basement loan.

A kind thank you to asteriation#6884 on Discord for datamining this information. Please see here for the full source of the information for this section.

Hair

Hairstyles are unlocked by various methods, the table below shows these methods and the associated unlocked hairsyles.

Unlocked by	Hairstyles
Default
Interacting with any vanity/mirror
Top 8 Pop Hairstyles
Top 8 Cool Hairstyles
Top 6 Stylish Hairstyles
Top 4 Fab Hairstyles
Harriet for each unlocked Co-op
Being inactive for a month