How to get the Simple Fence DIY in Animal Crossing

The simple wooden fence is a staple DIY for most Animal Crossing: New Horizons players due to its one-material crafting requirement and various colorways.

Here’s how you can get the wooden fence DIY for yourself, and how to place it on your island to build your theme! 

What is the simple wooden fence DIY in ACNH? 

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of simple wooden fencing diy customization

This staple DIY in Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a customizable fence that resembles a picket fence.

The customizable color options available for this DIY are: 

  • Natural wood (this is the standard brown color once the fence is initially crafted) 
  • White
  • Brown (deeper brown than that of the natural wood) 
  • Black
  • Green
  • Blue
  • Pink 
  • Purple

Just like the customizable wooden sign DIY, the rich customizations mean this fence can be used to suit various island aesthetics and ideas; cottagecore, tropical and even country western themes can all make use of this versatile fence style.  

Where to get simple wooden fencing

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay of player building fence on island

To get your hands on some simple wooden fencing, you’ll need to speak with our old friend, Tom Nook. At the beginning of your island journey, Tom Nook will provide you with 50x simple fencing after you’ve finished crafting the items needed for your first three neighbors’ development plots. 

At this point, you can choose whether to use the fence pieces for the new houses, or your own house or to section off an entirely different area like an orchard.

Be warned, 50 fence pieces don’t go as far as you would think! 

However, for all Tom Nook’s kindness, don’t be fooled into thinking that you received the simple wooden fence DIY along with the 50 fence pieces – Tom Nook isn’t that generous!

To create more simple fencing, you’ll need to learn the DIY so it becomes part of your recipe list. 

How to get the simple fence DIY recipe in Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of items available to buy at the Nook Stop terminal

As one of the simpler styled fencing options, the simple fence is a great DIY to have in your recipes list, but how can you get it? 

Aside from Tom Nook’s free stack of 50 fence pieces, you can get the simple wooden fence DIY through the Redeem Nook Miles section at the Nook Stop terminal in Resident Services.

If you’ve reached this part of the game, you should see 2 fencing recipes available for purchase. This list of fencing DIYs will change each day, but the price will remain the same: 1,000 Nook Miles Tickets per fencing recipe. 

So if you want to grab the wooden fence DIY, be sure to check your Nook Stop terminal every day as the recipe will come around; it’s just a matter of time! 

If you don’t want the hassle of waiting around for the recipe to become available, you can trade the recipe via Nookazon or ask your friends if they have a duplicate of the DIY they want to part ways with!

How do you make a simple wood fence?

Animal Crossing: New Horizons gameplay screenshot of player holding fence with speech that says " i customized some simple wooden fencing"

For those who are looking to build an island theme but don’t want to spend an age chopping, foraging, and crafting, the simple wooden fence is a great choice; 6x softwood logs will give you 10 fence pieces, so you can quickly add to and build up your island’s aesthetic.

You can sell 10x wooden fence pieces for 720 bells (or 1 piece for 72 bells) to Timmy & Tommy if you don’t have any use for them on your island. 

How do I build a wooden fence in ACNH?

Once you’ve put your softwood logs to good use and crafted your fencing, simply go to your inventory, select the wooden fence, and choose ‘Build fence’ from the dropdown.

Your player will wield a nifty hammer and you’re away. All you have to do is stand in front of the spot you want to build the fence on and press ‘A’ to begin. 

If you accidentally build on a spot you didn’t mean to, simply press ‘Y’ to pick up the fence piece and try again. When you’re done go back into your inventory, select the fencing, and choose ‘Put away’. 

It’s as easy as that! 

Where to get the simple wooden fence in Animal Crossing

So now you know the sneaky tricks of Tom Nook!

By checking your Nook Stop terminal daily, you’ll soon find the fence DIY and get the opportunity to use its color customizations to improve your island’s rating and aesthetic.

And if you’re not in the business of sprucing up your island, you can always sell the fence pieces for a healthy profit from this one-material fencing recipe.


Want to get more rustic-looking DIYs? Check out our guide on getting the log stakes recipe!