 | My life is in storage |
Anyone who knows anything about LEGO knows that storage and organization is a constant struggle. I read this post on the evolution of LEGO sorting from back in 2001 and laughed at how much I empathized.
I don’t think I have any pictures of my green bin, but I used to keep everything in this ~2.5 foot diameter x 2.5 tall plastic bin with white rope handles and no lid like the picture to the left. EVERYTHING went in there. As I was a kid, I’d come across multiple curled up spider carcasses that must have thought it was a great place to hide…
The worst problem with the bin is that all the tiny pieces get down to the bottom, so you’re never able to find them. The second problem was that the delicate pieces like poles, swords, and flag clips, get bent or broken in all the shifting around that you have to do to find pieces. That second problem though is also a side effect of the most gratifying part of that method. There’s just something so satisfying about sticking your hand into a sea of LEGO and stirring it all around and hearing all the pieces move around! Man, I miss that!
My next evolution in LEGO sorting incorporated a screw/bolt organizer with drawers like the one to the left. It had different size drawers, so i was able to keep all my horses (notoriously the hardest piece to store) in 1 drawer. I head everything clearly labeled. So I had that for the specialty pieces, but still relied on the bin for bulk storage of everything else.
The bin stayed around at my mom’s house until I got my own house and was teaching a class to kids, so I brought the bin up to my house. I kept it in my closet, because it didn’t really fit anywhere else and you can’t stack anything on top of it anyway. When I got married and because consolidating things, the bin had to go to save space.
My wife got me Stanley portable storage containers for my birthday. It took me a few days to get everything sorted out, but I think I have a pretty good system and everything just happened to fit pretty well! I have a little flexibility to grow into it with the adjustable sections too. I also got a bag from running in a 10k that fits all my plates, even my raised castle plate, perfectly!
Bin 1 contains mostly blocks and basic 1x pieces as well as down slopes and roof pieces –
Bin 2 contains some more blocks in the side drawers, but it’s mostly large building materials with a more practical application like doors and castle walls –
Bin 3 contains everything you’d need to make a character, pets and plants, as well as some other car and pieces that add personality and detail –
As I’ve been using them, I’ve had to adjust a little bit. I find that it’s easier to keep the pieces using the space efficiently when they’re clicked together. So I connect similar colors together for easy storage. I have way too many black pieces, so they get their own side drawer. I fear that’s the next step, if I ever get to it; each color having their own bin!
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