Lego storage and play area

[Anonymous]

How do you keep your legos organized at home? Do you have a creative space saving idea for keeping/playing with legos at home? I have little space, and child has accumulated quite a bit of legos.. but need some organization back in my life. Thanks all.

[Anonymous]

We have big fabric storage bins on a bookshelf. They’re big enough that we can place larger builds in there whole without breaking them apart. Some bins just hold pieces. When it’s all put away, you can’t tell there are thousands of LEGO bricks in there.

[Anonymous]

It depends. If they're all mixed up, then the round bags that you can open flat on the floor and easily pull the cord and clean up are awesome.

If you'd like to organize them, I think the Ikea Trofast drawers are pretty good and some are only around 11" deep. For small pieces, we use tool drawers from Akro Mills. You can mount them on the wall.

I think sets that aren't in use are best stored in ziplock bags and then in boxes or tubs. You can fit an awful on in bags. And then put them away somewhere that you don't need to access frequently.

If you do organize, one tip -- organizing by color is usually a mistake. It's nearly impossible to locate a particular piece in a sea of red. Instead, organize by type of piece and the color you want will jump out.

I have a deal with my seven year old - As we have limited shelving/display space, he has to break down a set in order to build a new one.

We have a nook in the basement that we've dedicated to Lego and other activities. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to maximize the space. As you'd imagine, there's a ton of online discussion of Lego organization, and I'm amazed by the Lego rooms folks have put together.

[Anonymous]

I keep bins and baskets everywhere! Playroom, den, bedrooms. They are all different based on the room decor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends. If they're all mixed up, then the round bags that you can open flat on the floor and easily pull the cord and clean up are awesome.

If you'd like to organize them, I think the Ikea Trofast drawers are pretty good and some are only around 11" deep. For small pieces, we use tool drawers from Akro Mills. You can mount them on the wall.

I think sets that aren't in use are best stored in ziplock bags and then in boxes or tubs. You can fit an awful on in bags. And then put them away somewhere that you don't need to access frequently.

If you do organize, one tip -- organizing by color is usually a mistake. It's nearly impossible to locate a particular piece in a sea of red. Instead, organize by type of piece and the color you want will jump out.

I have a deal with my seven year old - As we have limited shelving/display space, he has to break down a set in order to build a new one.

We have a nook in the basement that we've dedicated to Lego and other activities. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to maximize the space. As you'd imagine, there's a ton of online discussion of Lego organization, and I'm amazed by the Lego rooms folks have put together.

But what if he wants to play with multiple sets? And some of these sets are a 1000 pieces-does he rebuild them?

[Anonymous]

I never liked legos but my kids do. My one kid never liked following instructions but she's more of a creative builder. And my other kid likes following the instructions AND building creatively.

We've collected about 1500 pieces over the years, enough to just fill two bins that fit perfectly into the ikea kallax shelves. I never attempted to sort them, because I don't think my kids would ever keep them sorted. But recently, my 5yo, after spending an hour building out of the huge piles, was motivated to sort the pieces that he is most commonly looking for into separate plastic bags within the bin.

I think it all depends on how much you have and how your kids prefer to play with them. You don't want to over-organize and make it harder for the kids to clean up on their own.

[Anonymous]

I just swipe my feet side to side to clear a path. Haha

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just swipe my feet side to side to clear a path. Haha

I love you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends. If they're all mixed up, then the round bags that you can open flat on the floor and easily pull the cord and clean up are awesome.

If you'd like to organize them, I think the Ikea Trofast drawers are pretty good and some are only around 11" deep. For small pieces, we use tool drawers from Akro Mills. You can mount them on the wall.

I think sets that aren't in use are best stored in ziplock bags and then in boxes or tubs. You can fit an awful on in bags. And then put them away somewhere that you don't need to access frequently.

If you do organize, one tip -- organizing by color is usually a mistake. It's nearly impossible to locate a particular piece in a sea of red. Instead, organize by type of piece and the color you want will jump out.

I have a deal with my seven year old - As we have limited shelving/display space, he has to break down a set in order to build a new one.

We have a nook in the basement that we've dedicated to Lego and other activities. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how best to maximize the space. As you'd imagine, there's a ton of online discussion of Lego organization, and I'm amazed by the Lego rooms folks have put together.

But what if he wants to play with multiple sets? And some of these sets are a 1000 pieces-does he rebuild them?

He plays with multiple sets at the same time, sure. He has shelving for about ten sets to stay out. He hasn't rebuilt any sets yet, but with a toddler brother and a strong resale value, I'm not stressing it too much. The hard part is not losing pieces before I pack them up. I've all but stopped buying new sets -- if you're patient, you can often get sets at a discount. I got about 50 sets for $100 recently off of NextDoor, all parted out into separate bags with instructions and a list of any missing pieces (I appreciate that mom!). Many have missing pieces, but if I want can go on Bricklink and order replacements. My son has been getting a handful of new sets as gifts each year, and that's plenty. And he's really been into free building lately. We've bought several bins of mixed up Legos which have been great for free building. He had a school assignment to build a Lego Egyptian pyramid last week, and we spent time researching which animals would be historically accurate to include - big fun!

I love Lego and love building with the boys. The little one is now into Duplo, which we keep in a big drawstring bag that lies flat on the floor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just swipe my feet side to side to clear a path. Haha

I love you.

After many years of trying to keep them organized, I gave up and use the same method myself. F legos!

[Anonymous]

They do the kits with instructions upon opening. Once a younger sibling comes around and disassembles it, it goes into the collective lego tote, where it remains for free play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just swipe my feet side to side to clear a path. Haha

I love you.

+1