Do you build the exterior or interior first?

Hello @Isnishi beautiful thread. I build the houses first and summarily divide the rooms, then complete the exterior and finally furnish it. :)

I do all the exterior first, landscaping (if i'm using it), then plan interior layout, bathrooms are the first to be furnished and then I go from there

@Flexono1 I also do like you. I find that the context helps me in inspiring and creating a story for the house. :)

I always furnish the outside first - it helps me to get a feel for what I want the inside of the house to look like. I also run out of steam by the time I get to the interior so half of the time I'll upload houses to The Gallery that are beautiful on the outside but bare bones on the inside! lol

It's interesting how most seem to do the exterior first. The reason this comes to my mind, is that someone was mentioning that houses they download often have windows placed strangely in rooms, like right up against the walls. I know this is because if you want the exterior to have symmetrical window placements, rooms often end up with window placements that are asymmetric or right up against a wall. If you do the interior first, the windows are symmetrically placed for each room but the exterior looks haphazard.

"lsnishi;c-16634421" wrote:
It's interesting how most seem to do the exterior first. The reason this comes to my mind, is that someone was mentioning that houses they download often have windows placed strangely in rooms, like right up against the walls. I know this is because if you want the exterior to have symmetrical window placements, rooms often end up with window placements that are asymmetric or right up against a wall. If you do the interior first, the windows are symmetrically placed for each room but the exterior looks haphazard.

It is kind of a giveaway as to which way the home was built, if the windows aren't symmetrical either outside or inside. I hadn't thought about that.

What I do sometimes is put furniture down on the ground, the way it will be in the house, so I know how big I want the rooms to be.

This helps me, especially if I'm building on a really small lot, and I know that I need to conserve space. I delete the furniture after I have the walls up, because they are just place holders, not what I actually want.

After I put the walls up, interior and exterior, I do the outside decorating first. As in, paint, trim, windows, doors, stairs, porches, columns, railings. Things that are attached to the house. Then I do the inside of the house, and then back outside for the landscaping.

I guess I've done it the way some of you do, build the outer walls first, and then try to divide it up nicely, but it never works out quite as well

Since I often use real houses and floor plans as my inspiration, I build the house first, including the exterior finishes. Then I start on the interior design and before I’m finished inside, I usually start on the landscaping. I make changes to the architecture as I’m working if I feel it needs it (like adding an extra window or reducing the size of a room). I always end by finishing the landscaping, usually with terrain paint.

I always start by doing the rough outline of the build, adding windows and wallpapers and then plan where I want the rooms. After this, I sometimes leave the house because I'm terrible at furnishing! But I usually start decorating small rooms first, like bathrooms.

I generally do the exterior first for traditional home styles since the character of the build is primarily about the shape of the exterior, for me, anyway. For modern homes, it depends on the inspiration! If the inspiration is an amazing open floor plan, then the exterior has to fit that and modern homes are often about the function anyway so the exterior can be molded by the interior. Sometimes it's something about exploring different shapes of the exterior that really drives me to want to build. I do the floor plan before the landscaping in case I need to push and pull walls to get an efficient lay out.

Usually, it goes like this:

I build the exterior of my building

• Play with the shape
  
• Get the windows lined up evenly
  
• Color the walls
  

I add the roof

• Layers look best.
  
• Then add any extra walling for roof windows
  
• Add roof decorations like chimneys
  

I subdivide the interior layout and adjust the exterior as needed.

• Add the stairs first to the best spot on the second floor if applicable
  
• Figure out what space is what room based on the front door's location. I imagine 'walking' through the house and build walls and doors as I go. (Does this house open into the kitchen or a small entryway foyer?
  
• Flooring, then wall paint
  

I decorate the inside and exterior porches simultaneously

• Buy mode stuff goes together, completed by room.
  
• Add half walls as necessary.
  
• Strangely I always add the lights last...
  

I add the landscaping.

• Move/adjust the entire house around the lot until I find a good place for it to sit.
  
• Paint an interesting dirt design on the floor.
  
• Fill in dirt "garden" with interesting plants. Use some areas as focals.
  
• Add trees last
  

Always forget the mailbox.