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Hey Y’all! Hope you’re all hanging in there during this COVID Quarantine we have going on here. While some of you are using this time to get into that back log of sets, sort those ever growing piles of parts, or build the MOCs you haven’t had time for, I am in the process of building something I have never built before: My very own Lego Room.
For years now (since I originally got into the hobby 14 years ago) I have had my LEGO take up space in the Back portion of my parents basement, but now starting in the middle of July, my Bride-to-Be and I will be moving into our first home where she has given me permission to take the smaller spare bedroom to turn into my own little nerd cave.
The room itself is not the biggest, it is appx 12×9′ and has a decent size closet. I have my part organization down for the most part, but what I am really curious of is how do you all store and or display your built sets and MOCs? If you wouldn’t mind sharing some of your experiences, products you liked/disliked, and even your own design or way of doing things in your LEGO room I would love to see or hear about them!
Thanks again in advance! Once we get into the house and I can actually do things in the room I will start to provide pictures of the Progress!
I think the Brothers Brick has a series on this and I feel like Josh recently posted the video of them going through the basement of LEGO Ambassador / longtime Connecticut LUG member Kevin Hinkley.
Your space will evolve based on what you have, and what your goals are, so I can only offer generalized advice.
First you need a clearly designated area reserved for building that does not get other stuff piled on it. You need to organize your part availability around that space. Sets that you are saving or items on display need to have their own area.
You will have to decide if storage of parts is meant to be practical or needs to be “real estate ready.” I’ve used what was available, all of my favorite containers served a previous purpose and have transparent sides. My favorites include 8×8 inch square petri dishes, Rita’s Italian ice cherry mix containers and former Beanie Baby prisms/prisons. These were all obtained for free or very cheaply. (see photo)
I prefer containers that not only have clear sides but have mouths wide enough to get my hand into. I use some pick-a-brick cups, and while it is easy to get the lid off and on, they can tip over easily and often the lids are not secure enough to prevent everything from spilling.
I also use LEGO tubs or RubberMaid type bins, separated the parts inside with ziplock bags. These are usually stackable, which is good because use of vertical space is important. However you may gradually want shelves for the bins because undoing the stack gets to be inefficient. Like I said, it will evolve.
Kevin Hinkley’s storage room for parts is what Josh would call “matchy-matchy.” Kevin had enough of the same brand of drawers to cover at least the biggest wall of the room that you described.
A long term concern is sunlight. For me, keeping things in the basement and having the windows covered prevents light from entering and bleaching parts. Also, when it comes to dust, if your leave LEGO out for months and it is not covered with a sheet or something, it is going to get dusty. This might be great if you are going for the post-apocalyptic look, but its not preferable for white-roofed North Pole buildings.
Maybe that is not the answer you were looking for, but I hope it helps. 🙂
>> my Bride-to-Be and I will be moving into our first home where she has given me permission to take the smaller spare bedroom to turn into my own little nerd cave.
Sweet! She sounds like a keeper 😀 You should post progress pics n stuff.
Greg’s advice all sounds good. I have definitely found that it helps to have my storage containers match wherever possible so they stack as easily and line up in an organized fashion as well. About 3.5 years ago I started giving away containers that don’t match and I don’t have a good space for (some of them are in Josh’s basement now).
I’ve also found that the building area is the most important thing (especially if you like to do bigger builds), and that the bigger you can make that, the better.
Unlike nearly all AFOLs, I don’t put sets on display in my house. But if you’re going to, the best option would be put them on high shelves where possible, both because they’ll be out of the way and because they’ll pick up less dust.
I also agree with Greg that at some point you just have to do it and the change it as needed. We all have the problem that our storage needs constantly change as we acquire more parts and as we build stuff that we don’t take apart. When I organized my Lego room in 2009, I put two sets of cheap Ikea shelves low over the banquet tables, to serve as place to put bags of parts while I’m building, so they’d be out of the way, but they still block anything on the table more than eight inches high, and now they often just feel like they’re in the way. But 2009 was before I was in a LUG or thought about anything like MILSing a large display, so I was just building in front of the shelves.
I don’t put sets on display in my house.
When my kids played with the stuff, I had layouts, but now almost nothing is on display. Most of it is in boxes, except what I am actively working on.
First you need a clearly designated area reserved for building that does not get other stuff piled on it.
Mind = blown.
So years ago, Doug recommended (and then helped me build) a certain IKEA shelving system that was cheap and scaleable/adjustable. It fit well in the original room and almost as well in the current room, and has plenty of space for storage and display – I typically use the top shelf and corner area for display, and the rest for parts.
I spent $ on the shelves, the stack-on type trays (not the same brand but that’s a Chris on the Dollar recommendation from years past), the various size Sterilite containers, and the Stanley black and yellow latchable bins. Each of those has merits (and drawbacks) for both personal building and BrickLink storage. And you can see that organizing is a work in progress for me – resetting the room after it lay dormant & got stuff piled in there while working on other projects around the house, but you can get the gist from the attached photo. I just have a card table in there for building/sorting, but I also haven’t tackled a large build in several years so haven’t needed a bigger surface….
Good shelving should be a high priority. I juts bought some commercial shelving from Target, based on a recommendation from the second “Storage” series on The Brothers-Brick: https://www.target.com/p/5-tier-wide-wire-shelf-made-by-design-153/-/A-53330167?preselect=53117229#lnk=sametab
These have turned out great as the placement of the shelves are customizable. I have set mine to be no more than 2 Lego bins (approximately the same as 2 16Q Sterlite containers or three shoesize Sterlite containers) high. That way I never have to move more than 2 bins to get to the one I need.
I also endorse clear containers or good labeling so that you can get to the bins you need.
Tim
This is a good place to start:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2646414262301682/Ooh, if I ever went to Niles for work anymore I’d be all over that.
I’m halfway tempted to ask a few people at our plant if they’d be willing to proxy and pick these up and hang onto them for me / one of yinz… hmm.
First you need a clearly designated area reserved for building that does not get other stuff piled on it.
That is already done. I have 2 options there. The Desk I currently build on, which is a 3×5′ solid wood office style desk, or one from Ikea similar to this :https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/linnmon-alex-table-light-gray-white-s99331360/
You will have to decide if storage of parts is meant to be practical or needs to be “real estate ready.” I’ve used what was available, all of my favorite containers served a previous purpose and have transparent sides
I have my Part storage and organization down. I have the Stack on style containers for the smaller parts, and then all of my Basic Brick and Plate are all organized by size and color in Scrap-Book towers. All of the Stack on bins have brick tape on them with the respective parts stuck to them, Same way we have the LUG stock labeled!
A long term concern is sunlight
Thankfully the Room I will be in has one smaller window, which I will have black out curtains in. It will be nice though to open that window every now and again to let in some fresh air though
Sweet! She sounds like a keeper You should post progress pics n stuff.
1. She definitely is a keeper! I am still working to convince her to let me put my UCS Falcon in a Coffee Table for the Living room but we’ll start with the room and see how far we get. 2. I will absolutely post progress pictures! You can expect them in Late July or sometime in the beginning of August!
Unlike nearly all AFOLs, I don’t put sets on display in my house. But if you’re going to, the best option would be put them on high shelves where possible, both because they’ll be out of the way and because they’ll pick up less dust.
I was thinking about that. I think my Modular Buildings are going to go on the top of the shelves just so they are still visible and yet out of the way as well. My Technic Porsche will be mounted on the wall under the window (along with the Bugatti and new Lamborghini when I can get them). The biggest things after that are the Sidney Opera House, Brick Built cars, Idea’s MOCs and Star Wars character stuff. I am hoping to contain all of that in the shelves I put along the longer wall.
a certain IKEA shelving system
So Funny enough I was looking at those and they’re definitely one of my favorites. I wouldn’t get the corner ones like you have, but rather the straight ones. My only problem is the lack of a door or covering to keep things dust free but I can live with it if they work well for what I need. Tell me, are the shelves adjustable in both height and the number I can have, or is it set height and number? If its adjustable these will more than likely be what I purchase.
Thank you all for the great ideas! I appreciate it so much. Progress pictures will be coming as soon as I get into the house and have the time to work on it. I am in the process of building one last large set at home and then I begin the Daunting task of packing my collection for the big move.
I wouldn’t get the corner ones like you have, but rather the straight ones
I have those IKEA shelves too, I now know to bequeath them to Matt. 😀
I originally got the shelves for the kids’ room and so I got the corner shelf for stability / concern about kids climbing and toppling the shelves on themselves. The downside of the corner shelf is that it has a narrow opening and you can’t put large things onto that large shelf space when its in the corner.
Tell me, are the shelves adjustable in both height and the number I can have, or is it set height and number? If its adjustable these will more than likely be what I purchase.
You can probably see the pegboard holes in the vertical supports. I believe IKEA either sells a “base” kit and then you can buy add-ons, or maybe it’s entirely piecewise. At any rate, I have another level’s worth of shelves (i.e. 3 straights and a corner) tucked in a closet, so yes, it’s as modular as you want it to be.
I originally got the shelves for the kids’ room and so I got the corner shelf for stability / concern about kids climbing and toppling the shelves on themselves. The downside of the corner shelf is that it has a narrow opening and you can’t put large things onto that large shelf space when its in the corner.
Indeed, it’s pretty stable this way – I don’t have kids so I am suuuuper lazy about anchoring shelves/etc to walls (maybe that changes someday?) but this unit doesn’t really need that. The corner is nice and big, but yeah – it took some finagling to get Helm’s Deep and the Sopwith Camel in there.
I have those IKEA shelves too, I now know to bequeath them to Matt. ?
Ooh, neat! I do have another room they’d fit in!!
Because this discussion seems to have stalled, I will add something I saw this morning on eBay that caught my eye and I hoped Will would see … custom instructions and stickers for a police chief truck. (see below)
…what Josh would call “matchy-matchy.”
LOL.
I can’t really participate well in these threads because yinz all know what I’m like.
Maybe you only reveal what you want us to know. 🙂
December 13, 2012 at 12:19 pm
“greg, BUT WE LIKE ORDER AND EVERYTHING MATCHY MATCHY. ?”A common idea among those interviewed for the TBB articles was to have a “To Be Sorted” Bin or area. As I’ve been slowly cleaning up my Lego area this spring/summer, I’ve tried to adopt that more. For example, I dedicated a container to unsorted basic brick. As I’ve taken apart several older projects, I’ve just thrown all the basic bricks in that container. Once it gets full, I will sort it out and return the bricks to their color coded containers. It certainly has helped speed up breaking down older builds.
Day 6. We closed on the house last week and have been slowly moving things in since. The LEGO room as pictured has been measured twice and tomorrow is the IKEA adventure to pick up the new furniture. Stay tuned for further updates and pictures
Day 37. 99% of the sets and MOCs are in. All that remains in the old house is a few bigger sets and a majority of my sorted brick, which will be coming over in a few weeks. The rest of the furniture I choose will be coming back into stock at IKEA this week or next. Once that is here, I’ll be in a better position to begin unpacking.
Day 102. Over the last few weeks IKEA has been able to get the furniture in that I wanted, first the cube organizer, then the table and legs, followed finally by the shelves. They’re all built and now it’s time to fill them with the LEGO collection. Stay tuned for collection pictures coming soon
I’ll include work area pictures when everything is done. Apparently the forums and my phone Have decided to stop playing well today ?♂️
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