Storage solutions: Hollandsglorie
Posted by Huw,
Marco, aka Hollandsglorie, shows us his very neat and tidy display and storage system:
Moving to the US and buying a house here a few years ago has certainly worked out well for my LEGO collection and I too have my own LEGO room now as well as a substantial modular city layout downstairs (which, for the record, my wife got us into).
But during my years working and living in Germany, space came at a much higher premium, necessitating a much smaller footprint for the hobby. I thought it may be worthwhile to share the solution I came up with.
The idea was that my entire collection would fit inside an IKEA PAX wall unit when stored away - parts, sets and MOCs – and take up less than 2 of the 78 square meters of the apartment. This concept worked well and is now set up in my LEGO room in the US, allowing me to show it here.
The bottom quarter to third of each of the three cabinets consists of drawers to store parts and the rest of the available space is used for shelves to display sets and MOCs. A yellow pullout sofa I bought way back when as a college student is situated opposite to all of this and is one of my favourite places to just sit and enjoy the view. It also provides great comfort to my wife when she watches baking shows or reads a book while I’m building on the floor.
To keep the cost of organising my bricks down and to optimise the available space, I decided to create my own part bins. I started my career as a CAD designer and used my skills to design bins that would fit exactly into those shallow IKEA PAX drawers. They are made from thick, sturdy paper, which is not only affordable, but also dampens the noise quite well when searching for pieces compared to hard plastic bins.
I went with two sizes; one for larger pieces or pieces I have very many of and one for smaller pieces or pieces I have less of. They are slightly tapered, so they can be stacked into each other for transportation, which came very much in handy for the move to the US, while the pieces themselves were travelling in plastic bags.
I sort my bricks mostly by type. With currently approaching 600 sets and 1900 minifigs, I own a good size LEGO collection, but not anywhere near the number of bricks that requires sorting by type and colour.
When I started sorting my bricks as a teenager I did so by colour, but as an adult I quickly discovered that it is far easier to find a yellow 1x1 plate in a bin with black, white, gray, blue and red 1x1 plates than to find that same yellow 1x1 plate in a bin full of yellow parts of all kinds. Colours of which I don’t have very many pieces are kept separately, without any sorting by type, although it is about time to start doing that for my tan and reddish brown bricks.
In order to fully utilise the available space, most bins will have pieces in Ziploc bags on top of the pieces that are loose in the bin. For example, you’ll see a bag with 1x3 bricks on top of the 1x6 bricks in the picture. The plan has always been to create shallower bins that would fit inside the deeper bins instead of using bags, but I haven’t been able to motivate myself to get on with that. Anyway… I’m really enjoying this system for building.
I can easily pull out the bins I need for what I’m building and cleaning up afterwards is only a matter of minutes. The larger drawers in the right-hand cabinet are used for large pieces, such as baseplates, Technic wheels etc.
Another aspect that I have really come to appreciate about this system is how the size of the shelves determines the size of my MOCs: Instead of having to figure out what the footprints for my pirate harbour and my airport would need to be, I knew that I had an area of 120 by 72 studs to work with. I’m also very pleased with the number of sets that can be integrated into the MOCs within this space. On a final note, this setup keeps everything free from dust and protected from sunlight!
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30 comments on this article
I have to say this is my favourite storage system I've seen so far. I love how neat your displays are, compact but beautiful. Like your self-made containers and really like your theme shelves. It is a great solution, being able to keep the displays dust free and protected from sunlight but also able to open and fully display in seconds. I think a large part of this is down to your modest collection compared to some of the others that have been on show.
Mine is mainly a Technic collection, mostly the large sets, and unfortunately I don't have a way to display them. I can only build one, have it up for a couple of weeks before it has to be dismantled and stored back in a cramped loft. I use Really Useful Boxes - 9l,5l and 4litre, nicely stackable.
Those display themes are amazing! Particularly liking the Hobbit\Lord of the Rings, the Battle of Naboo, the Battle of Hoth and the Classic Castle layouts!
What a superb storage and display system.
I especially like the parts stored in the trays in their drawers, and how you have the models displayed above. I have some Ikea PAX units but they are used for boring things like clothes although there are a few boxed sets stored there and there was a range of small boxed sets on the top.
Good stuff! This solution if the closest to what I need myself. Thank you very much!
Chip & Dale visiting their friends at the Ewok Village. Lovely!!
Fun fact: Dale is called Chop in Spain ;-)
@FARLANDER said:
"Chip & Dale visiting their friends at the Ewok Village. Lovely!!
Fun fact: Dale is called Chop in Spain ;-)"
And they are called "Knabbel & Babbel" where I originally come from ;-)
If you look closer you'll spot more surprise guests, especially in the Pirates theme...
Thank you everyone for your very positive comments!
That tower of Orthanc makes me very jealous
Very impressive. I really like the way you display your sets!
Very clever use of space, displays look great
This solution is very nice. I might borrow this idea for my own collection as I am searching for a suitable storage solution for a while now. I like the small scenes as well. Do you have some images with your modular layout somewhere? Always love to see how modular buildings are displayed.
Your homemade bins are so clever. Not only are they recyclable, but they are pleasant to look at because they are neat and tidy and fit so perfectly into the shelves. That was very resourceful of you. Thank you for participating in the series!
Héle mooie collectie Hollander! Vooral je displays met de hobbits en de toren van LoTR vind ik prachtig. Leuk ook met je wolkjes in de achtergrond!
De Ewok village en Orthanc heb ik nog in gesloten doos en ik kijk er nu nog eens extra naar uit om ze te bouwen.
If it could happen you don't understand dutch anymore, I can always translate it for you ;)
Cool and all, but why would you HIDE such good displays?
Very lovely display indeed!
Another nice detail I observed:
"The Emerald Night Express meets the Western Fort Legoredo" :D
I love it, also my favorite so far. I'm very impressed with all the solutions I have seen, haven't really commented as I'm buried with work due to covid, but I had to take a moment and comment this. I love the fact that you can acually close it entirely. The shelft are not crowded and are put next to each other in a very nice way.
My fav is always the lotr theme, happy to see that.
The drawers are also great. This gives me ideas and I'll probably have something similar.
I love the whole series. It combines lego which we love and the community who we are. Simple product reviews are great but doesn't show the community as much. That's why this series is so popular, pls keep doing it!
@lordofdragonss said:
"Cool and all, but why would you HIDE such good displays?"
A little entity called dust ;)
@lordofdragonss I don’t think he’s really hiding it, more like keeping it free of dust and out of the sunlight. He also said in the article that he sits on his couch and looks at the displays when he’s in that room. Seems like a great idea to me!
Clean, simple, organized and enjoyable to look at.
One of my favorite so far. Doesn't need to have a full Lego warehouse to be or have the nicest collection!
Congrats
@lORDoFtHEbOARD said:
"Héle mooie collectie Hollander! Vooral je displays met de hobbits en de toren van LoTR vind ik prachtig. Leuk ook met je wolkjes in de achtergrond!
De Ewok village en Orthanc heb ik nog in gesloten doos en ik kijk er nu nog eens extra naar uit om ze te bouwen.
If it could happen you don't understand dutch anymore, I can always translate it for you ;)"
Ik ben in Nederland opgegroeid, dus geen vertaling nodig! Vriendelijk bedankt voor de positieve opmerkingen! - (I grew up in the Netherlands, so no need to translate! Thank you very much for the positive comments!)
@Mr_Hankey said:
"This solution is very nice. I might borrow this idea for my own collection as I am searching for a suitable storage solution for a while now. I like the small scenes as well. Do you have some images with your modular layout somewhere? Always love to see how modular buildings are displayed."
I don't have an online presence (but thinking about it). I'm considering a late submission for the Meet-a-Member feature. That article would include 1 or 2 pictures of my modular city, as I have devoted a lot of my MOC efforts on that display lately. Just hoping for some last Bricklink orders to finally arrive and for Huw to be willing to publish a late submission...
Again, thank you everyone for your very positive comments!
Love these cabinets. Probably makes dusting and cleaning a breeze when you can close the doors. Would be better if they were glass doors so you can see things when closed.
I love that little airport, so cute!
That spider: no.
I love the cloudy sky wallpaper you used in the displays! It really sets the scenes. Your paper parts bins are ingenious. Thank you for sharing your display.
A truly great display. I have started putting items in cabinets like that. I really want to see your LEGO city!
epic idea to decorate the inside of the cabinets with sky surface. just do the same with star wars like in space: dark with stars?!
Great creativity and pragmatism all at once. Love this
It would be perfect that wall unit have glass doors!
I have seen many stororage solutions here, and yours my firend, is not only sane, but also best organized and relaxed setup according to the theme. I loved the underground rail system below the airfield.