How to Get a Gold HHA Trophy in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

The Happy Home Academy or the HHA is a group that critiques homes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, kind of like an HOA. However, this academy exclusively rates the indoor style of a home. There are plenty of things that can get players docked scores, and sometimes it can feel like a bit of a guessing game. Here are some things to try to score an S rank and gain a gold trophy!

Try out Feng Shui

Feng Shui is a Chinese system of spatial organization. It is a geomantic practice through decoration that is meant to create a flow of energy through a room. It can be a bit abstract at times, but there are tons of different ways it can be used.

Things that promote Feng Shui:

• Symmetry
• Neutral/Calming Colors
• Spacious areas
• Balanced Ying and Yang

These things can vary a bit from person to person and room to room. For instance, in a bedroom, the bed shouldn't line up directly with the doorway. Instead, it should be slightly off to one side or the other of the path from the door into the room. For other rooms, it will be whatever the main object is, but in general, having a clear path for rooms from one doorway to the next is highly sought after.

Related: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Toy Day Gift Guide

Add Lucky Items to Rooms

If Feng Shui still isn't enough to boost a player's score, they can add lucky items to all of the rooms in their home. Each lucky item will add 777 points to the overall score a home receives. Some lucky items are lucky all year long, while others are specific to a certain season. These are all of the lucky items and their time of year:

Always Lucky Items:

• ACNH Nintendo Switch
• Crescent-Moon Chair
• Gold Bug Trophy
• Gold Fish Trophy
• Gold HHA Trophy
• Gold Rose Wreath
• Golden Candlestick
• Jingle's Photo
• Kanji Tee
• Katana
• Koi
• Left Lucky Cat
• Lucky Black Cat
• Lucky Cat
• Lucky Clover
• Lucky Gold Cat
• Picture of Villagers
• Pop-Eyed Goldfish
• Ring
• Robot Hero

Seasonal Lucky Items:

• Spring Items
  • Bamboo Shelf
  • Blanca's Pic (April)
  • Blue Feather (March)
  • Cherry-Blossom Bonsai
  • Common Butterfly
  • Loach
  • Pink Carnations (May)
  • Pink Feather (March)
  • Purple Feather (March)
  • Rainbow Feather (March)
  • Red Feather (March)
  • Tiger Butterfly
  • White Feather (March)
  • Wobbling Zipper Toy
  • Yellow Butterfly
  • Yellow Feather (March)
• Summer Items
  • Anchor Statue
  • Artisanal Bug Cage
  • Brown Cicada
  • Cicada Shell
  • Evening Cicada
  • Fountain Firework (August)
  • Giant Cicada
  • Giant Snakehead
  • Horned Hercules
  • Napoleonfish
  • Red Carnations (June)
  • Robust Cicada
  • Roman Candle (August)
  • Palm-Tree Lamp
  • Scorpion
  • Shell Wreath
  • Sparkler (August)
  • Sweetfish
  • Walker Cicada
• Fall Items
  • Bug Mask (October)
  • Cricket
  • Elegant Mushroom (November)
  • Ghost Mask (October)
  • King Salmon
  • Monster Mask (October)
  • Mummy Mask (October)
  • Mush Parasol
  • Rare Mushroom (November)
  • Red Dragonfly
  • Salmon
  • Skeleton Hood (October)
  • Werewolf Hood (October)
• Winter Items
  • Bagworm
  • Big Festive Tree
  • Bitterling
  • Chocolate Heart (February)
  • Dung Beetle
  • Football Fish
  • Frozen Tree
  • Mole Cricket
  • Pond Smelt
  • Santa Beard (December)
  • Santa Boots (December)
  • Santa Coat (December)
  • Santa Hat (December)
  • Santa Pants (December)
  • Sea Butterfly
  • Stringfish
  • Tarantula
  • Tuna

Birthday Month Lucky Items:

• Birthday Cake
• Birthday Candles
• Birthday Hat
• Birthday Shades
• Birthday Sign
• Birthday Table

Create Themes or Concepts for Rooms

Another thing to think about across the entirety of the home is themes and concepts. Concepts like having the standard rooms that a normal house might have, like a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, study, etc. will help tremendously. On top of this, if players can stick to a theme with each room, this will add to their score. Themes can be anything from an idea to a color scheme. Matching flooring and wallpapers along with the colors of the furniture will help players score higher.

Related: Where to get a Pro Decorating License in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Using Matching Furniture Sets

This may or may not be obvious, as things within the game can easily be mixed and matched, but to get a better score, players should stick to one furniture set per room. This is only really necessary for the furniture portion of the rooms, otherwise, decor can all be mixed and matched for what makes sense with the theme/concept for the room. Having the full set also helps. Here is a list of different furniture sets within the game:

All ACNH Furniture Set Series:

• Antique
• Bamboo
• Bunny Day
• Cardboard
• Cherry Blossom
• Cinnamoroll
• Cute
• Diner
• Festive
• Frozen
• Fruits
• Golden
• Gulliver's Treasury
• Hello Kitty
• Ice
• Imperial
• Kerokerokeroppi
• Kiki and Lala
• Mario
• Mermaid
• Mushroom
• My Melody
• Pompompurin
• Spooky
• Star

The last thing to consider is what players shouldn't put in their homes. Dropped items and non-furniture/decor items will deduct points from the final score. DIYs, cockroaches, and items facing the walls will also reduce the player's score.

For more Animal Crossing content, be sure to check out Animal Crossing: New Horizons Toy Day (Christmas) Event: What to do, Gift Exchange, Rewards on Pro Game Guides.