LisainOhio Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My daughter has a growing Lego collection and I'm at a loss when it comes to storage. They used to be in big plastic bin but she was frustrated digging for the right piece. I bought little hardware drawers at one point but it's entirely too overwhelming to her to actually sort them into these little drawers. Maybe we need some combination of small storage for special pieces and general storage for more normal pieces. I'm in search of the perfect solution. Do you know what that would be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShutterBug Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We spent an entire Sunday last month organizing ds's Legos. It was a HUGE pain...but well worth it. Now that he can find the pieces he wants he plays with his legos much more often :) . Now, we have a TON of Legos...I don't know how many you have or if you'll need this many categories. Ds also had categories that were important to him (mainly weapons and armor). You'll have to take into consideration the space you'll be using to organize them as well. Ds has a train table that he plays with them on and then a bookshelf for completed sets and other storage. Here's what how they are organized... Under the train table are 2 large under the bed storage containers that he can pull out and then push back in when he's done. The under the bed storage works well because they are shallower making for easier digging. One container is for regular ol' bricks of all shapes, colors and sizes and one is for large, irregular pieces that aren't bricks or flat pieces...stuff like rock walls, pillars or castle chunks. Also under the table is a good size container of all different size, shape and color flat pieces. On the shelves there is a large container with all of the base plates. There is also a large container of large misc. stuff (boats, doors, etc..) On the shelves and in various smaller containers are.. - mini-figures - weapons - armor - greenery (trees, vines, plant pieces) - wheels - windows and clear pieces - creature parts - small misc. items (money, gold, jewels, handcuffs, cups, flames, spiders, treasure chests, etc..) I'll try and take some pics to add later :) Jenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehog Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 At the moment, we have one, big, flat box with a snap down lid. So it's wide enough for my dc to find what they want without having to dig too much. It's also low enough to slide under DS's bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheReader Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We spent an entire Sunday last month organizing ds's Legos. It was a HUGE pain...but well worth it. Now that he can find the pieces he wants he plays with his legos much more often :) . Now, we have a TON of Legos...I don't know how many you have or if you'll need this many categories. Ds also had categories that were important to him (mainly weapons and armor). You'll have to take into consideration the space you'll be using to organize them as well. Ds has a train table that he plays with them on and then a bookshelf for completed sets and other storage. Here's what how they are organized... Under the train table are 2 large under the bed storage containers that he can pull out and then push back in when he's done. The under the bed storage works well because they are shallower making for easier digging. One container is for regular ol' bricks of all shapes, colors and sizes and one is for large, irregular pieces that aren't bricks or flat pieces...stuff like rock walls, pillars or castle chunks. Also under the table is a good size container of all different size, shape and color flat pieces. On the shelves there is a large container with all of the base plates. There is also a large container of large misc. stuff (boats, doors, etc..) On the shelves and in various smaller containers are.. - mini-figures - weapons - armor - greenery (trees, vines, plant pieces) - wheels - windows and clear pieces - creature parts - small misc. items (money, gold, jewels, handcuffs, cups, flames, spiders, treasure chests, etc..) I'll try and take some pics to add later :) Jenn This is very similar to what we have, or would have in an ideal world. Right now we have two tubs of mixed up pieces in one room, and my oldest has his mini-figs and specialty pieces sorted much as the above. I would LOVE for my younger boys to get on board with sorting in this manner, but so far, no luck. If or when they ever are on board with this, this is pretty much the exact sorting we'll do. Low and shallow is the key if you keep lots of bricks all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I second the under the bed boxes. My DS uses a couple to store his Legos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 At the moment, we have one, big, flat box with a snap down lid. So it's wide enough for my dc to find what they want without having to dig too much. It's also low enough to slide under DS's bed. :iagree: This is exactly what we have. The legos stay in the box now since they can see everything. No more spilling an entire container to dig through it. I do like to keep the lego people pieces in a seperate container in the box, but the dc don't have the same desire. Since I don't pick up legos, they win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakereese Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I know your frustration. My DS has a huge Lego collection. And after we had the baby I had to insist that he keep them all in his room, just too many small pieces to worry about. We have this storage unit to organize special pieces. DS also keeps current "projects" in at least one of the cases. There is also a base plate on top where he works his magic. ;) In addition, we have some shallow/flat rubbermaid totes for the rest. Not as large as the under the bed containers, but the same idea. If he had a bed to put them under I would be all over that!! Great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I'm in search of the perfect solution. Do you know what that would be? I've stepped on my last Lego. Ever. My perfect solution is to store them at Grandma's, the neighbor's, or even Goodwill. :glare: But I'm guessing that might not be what you were going for. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Our current system consists of large underbed plastic bins to hold the bulk of his general pieces, a mid sized (18x18 or so) bin for constructed pieces he is not ready to take apart, and several plastic pencil boxes (the 1$ ones from Walmart) to corral all the mini figs, itty bits and etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We have used the underbed boxes for a few years but my kids hated it. They were always dumping it out trying to find the small pieces. SO this is what we recently implemented for small pieces http://www.target.com/Sterilite-7-Drawer-Craft-Cart-White/dp/B000MQ62IG/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=sterilite%20drawer&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-10&qid=1296485061&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Sterilite%207-Drawer%20Craft%20Cart%20White&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0 Each drawer has a lid so provides a complete carrying case. Medium pieces go in a set of these http://www.target.com/Sterilite-Wide-3-Drawer-Unit-White/dp/B000MPOJGE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&keywords=sterilite%20drawer&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-3&qid=1296485061&rh=&searchRank=target104545&id=Sterilite%20Wide%203-Drawer%20Unit%20White&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=1&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0 And the large pieces and built things go in the underbed storage boxes. No more dumping of boxes here. But I will say our small boxes are loosely sorted so it's not so overwhelming for my younger son. For instance, all minifigs and all people accessories (like guns, booms, flame throwers etc) will go in one container. My kids really like the see through colored pieces and so we have a drawer for those because that it something they would dump the big bucket out just to find otherwise. We have an entire drawer of wheels, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdie Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My ds has a large Lego collection. He stores the pieces several large under the bed type plastic containers. They are shallow and long and wide. He also has a special bin type box for his favorite mini figures. He has several shoe boxes that he uses to hold pieces when he works on new projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tylianna Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 They make lego storage containers. They are similar to the blastic drawer bins on wheels. There are a couple smell drawers and big drawers. They are expensive so buying the regular ones would be cheaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy Inman Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Wow i guess we're the only ones who keep ours sorted by sets. We use plastic latch top boxes from walmart... have one for Star Wars small sets, Indiana Jones sets, City, Pirate stuff, etc. We just installed shelves in his closet a few months ago to hold them all. He rebuilds his sets all the time so this is MUCH easier for him. Sigh... please tell me that he'll outgrow these soon... i don't know if i can find much more room for more bins!! It's ridiculous the amount of legos he has.... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We got 5 gallon paint buckets and bought round inserts for them at Home Depot. The inserts are for nuts and bolts, etc. I spent an afternoon organizing them into like groupings. This system works great for us! Specific sets are kept up on a shelf in dss' rooms. (Like Star Wars, etc.) If they get broken, we put them in large ziplocks until they can fix them. All the booklets are stored in a bin under the bed with all the bionicle booklets. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Wow i guess we're the only ones who keep ours sorted by sets. We use plastic latch top boxes from walmart... have one for Star Wars small sets, Indiana Jones sets, City, Pirate stuff, etc. We just installed shelves in his closet a few months ago to hold them all. He rebuilds his sets all the time so this is MUCH easier for him. Sigh... please tell me that he'll outgrow these soon... i don't know if i can find much more room for more bins!! It's ridiculous the amount of legos he has.... LOL Sounds like we do the same thing! I use the Sterilite modular latch boxes from walmart and each set has its own box. The instructions go inside and then I put a label on the outside (with a picture of the set) and stack the boxes on the shelves in the playroom. This has worked for all but the biggest set we own, the Death Star, which has a larger tote that doesn't fit on the shelf so it currently resides smack dab in the middle of my living room. That one took several days to assemble and I don't have the heart to make them put it away.... yet. I'm thinking I'll keep these for the grandkids to play with someday so I want to keep them organized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have to figure out what to do with ours soon. Right now they take up two boxes that honestly you could bury a grown man in and they are full to to the top. Amongst all those pieces are ones you can use to build many of the large starwars items (millennium falcon, star destroyer, slave1 etc) and I can't stand all the lego we have. My kids have even asked if we could just keep some of them (maybe 200 random pieces) and try to sell the rest. Maybe I'll do that. I won't go through them to figure out sets though because that would just be too much. I remember when my son got so many lego sets for xmas from his grandparents that when my dh added up all the piece counts on the boxes it was over 35,000 pieces, and that was only 1 xmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendy Inman Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sounds like we do the same thing! I use the Sterilite modular latch boxes from walmart and each set has its own box. The instructions go inside and then I put a label on the outside (with a picture of the set) and stack the boxes on the shelves in the playroom. This has worked for all but the biggest set we own, the Death Star, which has a larger tote that doesn't fit on the shelf so it currently resides smack dab in the middle of my living room. That one took several days to assemble and I don't have the heart to make them put it away.... yet. I'm thinking I'll keep these for the grandkids to play with someday so I want to keep them organized. Yep! Those are what we use.. though the ones i picked up are taller. We have ours labeled too! And saving them for the grandkids is a good idea... my husband saved his "Space" sets from the 70's for my son and that was very special and we were very glad he did. My friend's husband did the same thing... so i am thinking Alex will save maybe some of his favorites at least for his kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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