Your Lego building environment.

Charmiefcb

How do you usually build LEGO?

Do you sit there in silence and just get lost in the build or do you have some sort of background noise?

Where do you build your sets?

I build mine in an attic. I used to just sit there in silence but then I remembered I had an old portable DVD player so I play movies I've seen before a few times and just have it as something to listen to and keep time with how long I've been up there.

These days I'm watching The Bill on DVD from the start to when I stopped buying the sets at 2001.

I'm seeing what comes first. The last episode of 2001 or I finish my backlog.

Fizyx

I definitely enjoy having youtube or spotify playing in the background.  If I listened to any podcasts I would probably play them too.  Don't have to have it, but I find it's easier to slip into a kind of ultra-focused state with them on than if I build in silence.  Which is, I admit, a little weird since I think most people would find the sound distracting (especially talking) and be the other way around :P

drdavewatford

Silence - I like to lose myself in a build without distractions.

pxchris

I always have something in the background, either music or something on the TV, depending on what my concentration level while building is going to be. If I'm just casual building (or dismantling) I might put on some TV (often something LEGO related on YouTube, or a sitcom I'm not really paying super close attention to) but if it's a build that I really want to focus on and immerse myself in, then it will be music on in the background. I typically build in my media room/LEGO room.

panchox1

Most of my build time is after the kids go to bed. My wife and I are Big fans of Survivor so lately we've been building in the living room while watching past seasons.

Paperballpark

Usually I build in silence, but sometimes I'll put a baseball game on my phone and watch/listen to that while I build. There's not been any of that since last year though :/ Last Sunday I listened to the Hungarian Grand Prix while building.

Huw

When building during the day I listen to http://www.smoothjazz247.com/ and in the evenings something more up-tempo, https://www.radio.net/s/1fmdiscoball

Speedman29

Small sets use the slide out keyboard shelf on my PC desk in the LEGO room, usually with a film or a podcast on. When I built my RoscoPC 1970s F1 cars I was watching the season reviews from 1975/6 as I built.
Modulars, Technic or anything big like the Crocodile Loco, I built on the kitchen table with a film or some TV on the laptop or tablet to amuse me or a podcast. When I built Saturn V I was watching the excellent Apollo 11 film. For the lander we watched the footage of the 1969 moon landings.

bandit778

I only have a small flat so can only build in the lounge on a tray.
Personal choice when wifeys at work is some heavy tunes on in the background.
Of course, when wifeys at home it's whatever she has on the telly in the background with frequent bouts of conversation and the occasional shush when emptying a bag of parts onto my tray.

vanvonfull

I build on a large metal dish In my living room after the family is asleep. The lip on keeps the little pieces from rolling off our padded coffee table we got because of infants. 

I usually have a movie on I’ve already seen. Rewatching the marvel films now. 

At the end of the night I slide the dish under the cabinet where I store away sealed bags for next time. Recycle the box, store the partial build in the basement if it’s large, and everyone wakes up to a clean living room. We live in a house <1000 square feet. 

If my wife had to pick up my toys on a daily basis I’d be in trouble. 

bpk2300

I like to set the right atmosphere for themed licenses. I'll have Star Wars on in the background for Star Wars builds, for example. 

Paperballpark

bpk2300 said:

I like to set the right atmosphere for themed licenses. I'll have Star Wars on in the background for Star Wars builds, for example. 

And for City Fire sets you watch Towering Inferno?

iwybs

I build in a quiet room sitting on a carpeted floor, usually in the late evening.  That's much quieter than building at my desk, with its hard surface.  I don't put on music, movies, or TV to distract me while I'm building, because Lego is the distraction from other things - for instance, the computer screen I'm at all day during working hours.

klinton

I just sit cross legged on a futon. If it's a large build that requires foundational integrity I'll build it on a surface (a pilfered stop sign given to me many years ago as a romantic gesture, hahaha), otherwise I just build it right on the cushioning.

Sometimes I'll put on a movie in the background. Most of the time I'll just hit random on my playlist. I don't really 'theme' either. Just whatever I'm feeling for at the moment. Sometimes I'll be so into the build that hours will pass in silence before I notice that I've not put anything on or that the film had ended.

bmwlego

I listen to my stations on Pandora or something a LUGmate introduced me to...Forever Sorting on YouTube. 

Mr_Cross

I build in whatever tiny corner of space I can bully my way into, with a sountrack of arguing children.

It's not ideal.

TheOriginalSimonB

For sets I’m another “lap tray in the lounge and accompanied by whatever the wife is watching on the telly” builder here. But MOC work is usually on the desk up in my study/home office/LEGO room as that is where all the parts live. 

MeganL

Usually on the couch in the family room, with the TV on for background noise and my husband beside me saying "What is *that* supposed to be?" .

I may have been known to build sets while on conference calls while working from home.  Or not, in case anyone from work reads this.

Fizyx

MeganL said:

Usually on the couch in the family room, with the TV on for background noise and my husband beside me saying "What is *that* supposed to be?" .

I may have been known to build sets while on conference calls while working from home.  Or not, in case anyone from work reads this.

OMG yes, on conference calls is one of the best times to build.  Sadly for me I've had to be leading most of them lately, which makes it hard to mute my microphone so the others on the call can't hear me shuffling through the pieces.

TheOriginalSimonB

And even worse on video calls.

autolycus

My build environment for smaller sets is on the couch with a cut-up cardboard shipping box as a tray (the work area is ~14"x19" with 3" high sides. I put that on a woven bench that's like a hybrid coffee table ottoman.

For large sets (mostly Creator Expert, UCS, and even larger SW ships), I work on my desk. The desk is a 30"x71" height-adjustable (aka sit-stand) with dual 27" monitors (one is normally for work laptop and one for personal laptop, but I have both off my personal laptop for building). That gives a ton of screen real estate for streaming movies or tv shows plus the digital instructions, email, twitter, or whatever else. I also have a very large desk pad which reduces rattle and bouncing of pieces and is little more comfortable to build on for long periods.

MaffyD

There are some parallels to @bandit778 for me. I generally build in the lounge so my wife has access to me - I tend to zone out whilst building so if I was in a different room she'd have no chance of getting my attention. So that will involve a lap tray and some jigsaw sorters.
However, I cannot have anything on the telly that I am remotely interested in, as I get distracted from my build and also can't focus properly on the show, so I fail at both. Thankfully, my wife has.... a different sensibility to my own when it comes to TV.
I can have music on in the background and enjoy it, and have learnt to filter out talk show radio like R4 - which is handy as my wife loves R4 and also loves audible.
I often have a drink by my side when I'm building, but rarely touch it - beer goes warm and tea goes cold as I build.
Big builds go on the dining room table until built and moved to display.
Soon though, I shall have a space of my own to build... a small space, but isolated. Really looking forward to it, but I fear my wife is not!

MrJackson

All of the sets I've built recently are the large sets that I'd not had time to get to: the Porsche GT3 RS, Ferris wheel, a couple others. Those get built on the dining table where I can dump each bag into a Xerox paper box lid. Even small sets have been getting built upstairs as I can't handle building on the floor anymore, which is a bit of a heartbreaker. And I'm only 36. I'm currently building a coffee table for the UCS Falcon which is what the Falcon will be built on as that's in the basement and I'm not risking taking that beast of a set down steps. 

I don't like any background noise, preferring yo get lost in the build experience. I can lose hours easily, and background music, podcasts, movies, etc subtract from the ambience. 

snowhitie

I switch it up a bit, sitting in my Poang (Ikea recliner) with a tray on my lap for smaller builds like a poly. Sets I usually build at the 'build' tabel in the living room. Room for me and my son. We like to put an audio book or some music on, or just chat a bit sometimes. When I'm on my own I will have quiet, music or a book. Not often will I build with the TV on, except if the boys are watching something I don't have any interest in, but I like to focus on the Lego a bit more.

MOCing happens in the study (which is slowly transformed into a LEGO room). In the study and living room we have a table that can go up and down so I can stand and sit to do the building.