Modular interiors

[Off the wall]

Maybe it's just me, or at best I'm in the minority, but I couldn't care less about the interior of my buildings. Nothing against all of you who seem to really focus on the interior, but the CC has all the interior that I need. I'm building enlarged versions of modulars and most of the interior parts wind up in a five gallon storage bin. Anyone else feel the same way?

[Itsasecret581]

It all depends on your style of use for the modulars. For displays, often times the interiors of the buildings are not seen very clearly. However, if you want that sense of realism, to be able to open them up and use them not merely as pretty shells but practical buildings, then the interiors become important.

There's no right or wrong answer. I personally prefer exteriors over interiors but I still make an effort to make good interiors.

[AFOLguy1970]

My MOC is designed to provide an interior in addition to the exterior. However, the priority of the design goes to the exterior. Once this is finished, I would like to "furnish"? the interior with microbuilds to provide some nice detail.

[eurotrash]

I'm putting the finishing touches on the facade of my latest MOC and this time around I'm not going to do an interior.

My other MOCs have all had their insides gutted for spares and I found that I was reusing the same bits and pieces over and over. In fact there's the same bathroom in the Tractor Supply Co/Miss Fiona's Dance Studio http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=88656, Blue Octopus Bar http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=92167, Abandoned Factory http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=93734, and the Traditional Bus Stationhttp://www.eurobrick...showtopic=96121 I've used the same basic kitchen components in multiple builds as well.

I admire those who can do amazing interiors and come up with new and exciting ways of doing things, but - for a while at least - I'm going to focus on facades.

Edit: I've just checked and I used the bathroom in the Flop house/Soup kitchen as well http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=85890

Edited July 10, 2014 by eurotrash

[TheLegoDr]

I'm at a crossroads with this. I tend to just have mine on display on a shelf, but sometimes I do get them down to look at them. And I do like looking at the interiors (whether official or my creation). There are other instances when I let my daughter play with them. She of course, likes interiors. Granted she usually builds her own for them, so that works out.

I built a sand blue grocer (which I still need to take pictures of) and I built an interior for the top two floors in that. If I ever get around to finishing the bottom level, then it should have a complete interior.

[VintageLegoEra]

Well, i will definitely use some furniture in my cafe corner, cos it looks not good to be empty....but i will go soo classic and not loading it !!,,maybe sofas, chairs..tables,....etc.

After all it depends how you want it to look like! :)

Well, mine will be in shelf but also will have it down to look at it ;)...so little of interior design will be fun....

Edited July 10, 2014 by VintageLegoEra

[Off the wall]

I'm putting the finishing touches on the facade of my latest MOC and this time around I'm not going to do an interior.

Can't wait to see it. Your MOCs are some of the best in the hobby.

[grum64]

No, I don't feel the same as you do.

I like to design interiors for my Wife's modulars, I think it adds to the buildings appeal but hey, each to their own.

[L@go]

I tend to care more about the interiors than the exteriors, really - mainly because I'm better at building them and therefore I enjoy them more. It also somehow feels like 'cheating' to build a modular without an interior, because the exterior is so detailed and seems to promise that there's an equally well-made interior in there. At events, I display my modulars, and 95% of all the people there will only ever see the exterior, they'll never know there even is an interior. But I do. And that matters :)

That said, I'm totally with grum64 above: To each their own.

[cgarison]

For me, it depends upon the amount of time I want to spend with the MOC. My modular buildings are built primarily for the "DelVaLUG City" layout so the interiors are not as important when I display at shows, but some interior details (like curtains and store counters) are visible so it is nice to complete those for the people walking by with a discerning eye that notices those things. One thing to note is that the purpose of the building is to be solely for out city layout and not for other smaller displays, I purposely make those building much more robust to survive the miles and miles of road travel between events with minimal "re-construction" at the event so those do not have interiors that are accessible, but I try to add additional detail to the exterior to make up for the solid construction. I have seen some guys have to almost rebuild their MOCs from scratch after traveling to an event.

My latest build will have a completed first floor interior because it is quite visible through the store front and a partially completed upstairs for my own satisfaction. If this thing does not travel well in a few weeks when I go to BrickFair VA, I will go back to solid building for the layouts.

So I guess that means I am with the rest in the thread that say to each their own.

[Off the wall]

Of course to each his own. I'm not being judgmental. I was just curious if anyone was like me and didn't value/was interested in the interiors all that much. Question wasn't about right or wrong or which is better.

[LegoSjaak]

I do like interiors, and i see beautiful ones around here. Sometimes i almost decide to do a nice interior in one of my enlarged modulars, but then it holds me and i say to myself: Wit the money you spend on the bricks for the interior, you could almost buy another modular.... so i rather do that.....Ans with spare bricks after widening a modular set with another copy, i can do already quit a bit on the interior......So i would rather choose a nice exterior over a nice interior......

[Hobbythom]

I can't imagine building a modular without an interior. My builds allways start with an idea of the funtion of the buidling, which comes to life in both the interior and the exterior. Besides designing the interior is integral to designing the structure as a whole.

[Withacee]

I understand why a lot of people don't, and fair play to them.

I DO always try to include interiors in my Modulars and MOC's, for a few reasons:

1. It completes the building and gives it a purpose

2. On display, I love it when one can see nice details through the windows, for instance in a nice street scene, with plants, curtains, people peeking out, furnished balconies with people on them, and so on (that's why I also 'populate' the streets with pedestrians, cyclists, cars, ice cream and hot dog stands and the likes

3. I know it's there when I see the building, even if I don't see the interior; that's enough for me

[SalvoBrick]

I always make buildings without any interiors: I'm not really interested in them, since I'm more focused to the apperarence of the whole city, not each single building. Also, building interiors requires tiles and plates I should buy on purpose, and I should use only "1 x n" brick for the walls (while I'm actually using also "2 x n" bricks).

And remenber: the original Corner Cafè had no interiors

[Lyichir]

I always make buildings without any interiors: I'm not really interested in them, since I'm more focused to the apperarence of the whole city, not each single building. Also, building interiors requires tiles and plates I should buy on purpose, and I should use only "1 x n" brick for the walls (while I'm actually using also "2 x n" bricks).

And remenber: the original Corner Cafè had no interiors

The Café Corner seems to me like an example of when NOT to omit interiors. The large windows practically beg viewers to look inside, and when they do they see not a Nighthawks-esque scene but a few walls and an uncovered green floor. It's no surprise that later modulars included them to some extent, even if they're sometimes a little barebones, especially for buildings or floors without the aforementioned large windows (of the more featureless modulars, my favorite is definitely the unfurnished townhouse in the Pet Shop—very little furniture, but boxes in the attic and a painter painting the second-floor walls suggest someone will move in soon!)

I rarely design my own modulars outside of LDD, and when I do, interiors are typically a primary concern. I'm just not interested in building architecture on an aesthetic level so much as on a functional level, and deciding on an interior often helps dictate what sort of architecture the exterior should have.

All that said, I can understand that others may enjoy the exterior architecture more than what's inside, and I admit it can be easier to build an exterior that seems big enough for the type of building it depicts and just pretend there's something in there. If I built cityscapes and custom modulars more, I don't think I'd have the determination to furnish them all!

[kibosh]

I do a little of both. I build some fully fleshed out interiors, especially if I plan on doing any photography. In others, I build only limited interiors. If you can se a space through the windows, it gets an interior. I've seen some people build massive office buildings you can see right through. This just doesn't look right to me.

[finnbricker]

I tend to agree with Off the wall and Eurotrash here – while I do admire those of you who create astonishing interiors, I tend not to do it myself. Why? Because it's boring – the same bathrooms, kitchens, sofas and beds all over and over again. Not my cup of tea. On the other hand, I like the Friends interior sets and have furnished my modulars with the interios from Olivia's house, Mia's bedroom, Andrea's bedroom etc. but many buildings remain empty on the inside.

One exception, however, are shops. There's no point in building a, say, florist, if there's no interior, just a sign. And I like creating those shop interiors because they don't have to be repetitive like apartments tend to be.

[flailx]

I feel the exact opposite. To me - if it doesn't have an interior, I'm just not that interested. That's true for pretty much everything minifig scale: buildings, ships, cars etc.

3. I know it's there when I see the building, even if I don't see the interior; that's enough for me

This is exactly how I feel.

Edited July 15, 2014 by flailx

[TheOrcKing]

I can understand the reasons why a person may not go through furnishing the interior due to the extra costs or all they care about is the fancy facade. However to me, the build seems incomplete without interior of any kind as it doesn't feel 'real' unless the place is meant to be an empty apartment waiting for somebody to move in. I enjoy decorating the inside well as the outer shell and it is fun having different scenes play out in certain places as you look around what you have on display.

Edited July 16, 2014 by TheOrcKing