Storage solutions: Kieran2400
Posted by Huw,
Kieran2400 proves that every man's shed is his castle as he shows us round his wooden outhouses in Ireland:
My first Lego purchase was at the age of 6 over 20 years ago when I managed to convince my uncle to buy me 2229 Basic Building Set. It proved an excellent investment – I spent the next few years constantly building with it. My lego interest took off further in 2001 when my parents picked up a few surprise Christmas presents for me including 4704 The Room of the Winged Keys – making an educated guess that combining my obsession with Harry Potter and Lego would create a good present. Over the next few years I avidly collected the Harry Potter sets. As the collection grew my parents purchased a shed for me for Lego which became a whole new hobby in itself.
However, as we reached the late 2000’s the Harry Potter line had dried up and so too had my interest in Lego. I remember though in 2008 or thereabouts looking through the Smyths toy catalogue (This is an Irish institution at Christmas – every child has one!). I came across 8292 Cherry Picker which I thought looked interesting and got it as a present. A few other Technic sets followed but I didn’t maintain an interest.
Then in late 2010 10185 Green Grocer had intrigued me for a while and I decided to pull the trigger on it just before it was discontinued. I was totally mesmerised by it, it was and still is an extraordinary set. I had got my true Lego mojo back and the rest is history…
Today I am tipping about 170,000 pieces according to Brickset (excluding loose pieces etc bought), doubling in the past four years. This of course posed huge storage challenges for me.
However, by 2013 Shed 1 was bursting at the seams and a second shed was called for (had to convince my parents to fell a tree in the garden for it!) In 2015 the original ‘Shed 1’ was becoming rather dilapidated and needed replacement, so I used the opportunity to squeeze in a slightly bigger one – though I hadn’t elaborated on that part to the parents!
However, again by 2018 both sheds were absolutely full. I knew I needed significant extra space that could last, a 3rd shed was implausible and both existing sheds were fairly new. I reached a solution with the company that supplied the existing sheds, they bought back the existing Shed 2 and agreed to manufacture an extra high larger shed.
In the end we were able to fit in a shed that was twice the floor area of the previous shed but because of the height increase was triple the cubic space. While I have enough space now for a long time I don’t expect any more spend on sheds as I am hoping to buy a house in the next few years which a Lego Room will hopefully be part of! The photos below shows the original tree, first Shed 2 and the current Shed 2.
Shed 1 houses the Modular Buildings, Creator, London sets, New York, Space sets and a few other bits. It also has my Lego ‘office’, spare pieces and instruction books.
I bought modular square units in Argos, they are useful as there are different types (cupboards, open shelves etc). Each square cubby perfectly fits a standard Lego baseplate which is ideal. I use these units for Creator sets.
Nothing really new here – my main interest in Creator was the once fine houses it produced – there has been nothing in recent years in this area which is a pity. I removed the middle shelf in the unit on the right to create an open space for seasonal sets – currently just an assortment of flowers but used for Easter, Halloween and Christmas sets too. As you might notice – I love London and the UK!
Modulars are housed at the back of the shed along with a few other bits and pieces. I put in double width shelves to fit in road plates and various city sets I bought over the years to make it more town-like. Plastic coverings used to keep splinters, dirt etc away from the sets. Should be able to squeeze in another 2 -3 modulars I reckon! I had got a label maker last year and labelled sets locations but I haven’t been updating as you may see…
This is ’the office’ with a various scattering of sets. I don’t think I have any sets broken up at the moment – I prefer to display them as I don’t get the time to focus on MOC’s so I have relatively little spare pieces. They are all kept in this storage cabinet apart from the very high volume pieces such as 1*1 rounds and slopes etc and very large pieces. I generally sort by type but it could probably do with a tidy up….
I was interested reading these articles to see how others stored instruction manuals. I started reorganising mine during the Covid-19 shutdown but found myself asking, do I sort by size or set number? – clearly an OCD matter! I have a mix of both approaches here, and I am using a mix of Tesco box files and B&Q storage boxes.
I have the smallest books in the boxes on the right and have recently put Creator Expert instructions in numerical order regardless of size in the larger plastic boxes. Architecture books are kept separately on the top shelf. I am interested to know what perspectives others have on this!
Moving to Shed 2, this houses Harry Potter, Fairground, Vehicles, Architecture, Trains, Technic and other ad-hoc bits. It is also the storage for boxes, seasonal sets, accessories and everything else Lego related.
This is my Lego table as mentioned – very clear at the moment, only 10233 Horizon Express getting a bit of a dusting. A former dining table, it makes a useful place to relax during the fine weather for reading etc.
This photo shows the fixed shelves which are hung using a flexible system purchased in B&Q. They are heavy duty which is important given the weight and the flexibility is great to change as required.
On the other side I have 4 of these units of varying heights purchased from Argos – they come with different options – drawers/no drawers and different heights and widths. The shelves are also flexible which is useful.
Harry Potter also gets one unit here, I have taken the opportunity of the shutdown to clean up the older sets and put some back on display that had been stored away. The odd looking vehicle on the second shelf is 10220 Volkswagen T1 Camper Van, currently stripped down as I am replacing some discoloured white bricks.
Boxes are stored on overhead shelving. I also find their storage an interesting topic, much time was spent planning their storage to keep it packed as dense as possible! I think eventually I will have to start storing boxes within boxes or flattening the cereal type boxes but again OCD is currently stopping me from tampering with them!
To conclude this tour, we end with this photo of 2229 sitting on top of one of my units – the red plastic box that has resulted in 170,000 more plastics pieces, four sheds and an empty wallet! I appreciate my displays or collections aren’t anywhere near as impressive as some of the other fantastic articles featured here but nevertheless I hope you find it and interesting read.
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37 comments on this article
Very nicely displayed collection! How do you manage during wintertime? Do you need to heat up the shed before building?
Do any of the boxes get Mold on ?
What do u do to keep them dry at winter?
Now this was a setup that came out of left-field! Love it.
Do other cultures obsess about small, wooden garden structures the way the residents of Ireland & Britain do...?
Impressive solution, I really like it :)
Fully dedicated space. That's a good thing. Even if I like when friends and visitors see my beautiful sets I have my house (living room for instance). And their polite comments to confirm me that they are beautiful and all...
Interesting, other hobbyists have being using garden sheds for a long time, so glad to see a Lego fan doing the same as all the shelving gives lots of space to display your impressive collection rather than all stored away, with the modular main street impressive. I note the cling film to keep the dust off Sydney Opera house is a novel idea. It would be interesting to see if anyone has done something similar with their garage, especially the double ones in the US?
This solution would involve way too many spiders for my liking.
Your collection is very impressive and it's cool that younger you thought to ask your parents for the shed. I spent a winter in the UK about 30 years ago and I clearly remember flowers poking up through the grass on Valentines's Day, so I am guessing mounds of snow in winter don't keep you from your collection. Temperatures over there were also much more reasonable than here in Atlantic Canada, too. The Creator houses look great all lined up like that, which is a group that hasn't been highlighted much so far. It would be interesting to get an update in a few years when you relocate to your own house! Thanks for participating in the series!
A (4 actually) shed is an interesting idea for someone's hobby but I think it is not my cup of tea as it would involve too much dust/spiderwebs/mould/big variations of temperature that destroy anything rubber-y etc etc as others said. Compared to the lack of a dedicated LEGO room however and only under certain conditions, it might be tempting...
I think it is awesome that your parents support your love of Lego. I notice you have what appears to be plastic sheeting on the walls between the studs, does that help prevent moisture and critters from getting in?
I'm shedding a tear. This is beautiful.
Kieran «Two Sheds» Jackson :)
Very impressive... thanks for sharing and putting together such a detailed look at your space(s)!
I can envision using a similar approach and freeing up our basement for actual use lol. Although my shed would have to include a bed, for those times when I've spent too much on LEGO.
Biggest disappointment here for me here is, the shed isn't build out of Lego!!!! :) LOL
Very cool! It wouldn't work for me in upstate New York with our deep freeze winters and high humidity and hot summers. Reminds me of this https://www.tuffshed.com/the-shed-of-solitude/
You have got to be the biggest fan of sheds in the UK!
This is great. I’ve done some shed window shopping in the past, just dreaming of what I could do with that room.
That’s awesome! Is that shed bigger on the inside, though?!? That’s like TARDIS-level efficient use of space... there’s so much in there!
This is amazing dedication. Multiple sheds to store (and enjoy) LEGO sounds like a dream, though I definitely feel here in the southern USA, it isn't a practical idea. Without installing a small A/C system of some kind, it would get bloody hot inside. And that means you'd need it rigged for electricity, unless you want to use nothing but battery-powered lamps to build by once the sun went down. And speaking of the heat, that can play a number over time on the LEGO bricks themselves, nevermind any UV exposure from the sun's rays. And finally, there is the threat of bugs, arachnids, or any manner of small, slithering things somehow finding a way inside your cozy little LEGO paradise and totally ruining it.
I think the only way to adapt the shed idea in the USA well would be if one could buy those offshore logging unit (OLU) boxes. They're already wired for electricity and have air conditioners on the roof. They are designed to be pressurized and intrinsically safe, so if properly set up, could even provide a relief from dust. But they definitely lack the exterior charms of a wooden, hand-crafted structure!
^ I don't think heat will be much of a problem in southern Ireland but freezing cold might be!
My first thoughts were. Weather. How does it not freeze / condensate / mould. and Security. My shed was a possibility for Lego storage, rather than display, but I feared it would be any combination of dusty, spiders webby, Condensaty, moudly, and very easy to break into. So I settled for Loft. Of course like any spare space its now full anyway, mostly of Camping kit and bikes.
Hi
Another Lego shed owner ( only 1 though!!). Built mine over 10 years ago.
I think the secret is a quality shed. Can’t remember who manufactured mine but self assembly and cost ? 2500 pounds. I put it on a proper concrete base.
It did have electricity through a cable from the previous house owners garden lights but when I had some electrics done on my house the cable was condemned so nothing now.
Never had a problem with mould but I am in the driest part of Uk in North Essex.
It’s unusable in winter as it’s too cold.
Yes spiders are a nightmare and especially spider waste on my models !
@Wrecknbuild said:
"Very nicely displayed collection! How do you manage during wintertime? Do you need to heat up the shed before building?"
Thanks for the comment! During the Winter I do more building indoors but I also use a heater for when I’m out during the day.
I noticed in a previous winter that mould appeared on some of the boxes on the sheltered side of the shed, keeping them on the side of the shed exposed to the Winter sun seems to keep them good. It is something you have to keep an eye on though.
@Brainslugged said:
"This solution would involve way too many spiders for my liking."
I get this sort of comment a lot! Spiders dont really bother me at all, which is good given some of the huge ones I have come across in the sheds over the years!!!
@Mephistophiel - Yes, keeping dust and timber splinters off them
@Balthazar_Brannigan - You wouldnt believe the planning that went into that particular shed to maximise the use of space!
@Ragnar123 Agreed. If buying a timber shed the quality of the timber is everything. Mine are all 'Barrelboard' which is more expensive but far more durable and pleasing to look at. Cheaper shed types such as rustic/roughly sawn arent worth it unless they are only for garden tools etc. The other two key ingredients for a good timber shed are a torched on felt roof (rather than just tacked on) which prevents leaks and good interior lining.
I nearly could sell them for a career at this stage!
@bananaworld said:
"Now this was a setup that came out of left-field! Love it.
Do other cultures obsess about small, wooden garden structures the way the residents of Ireland & Britain do...?"
Can't remember the last time I saw a backyard without a shed here. Lots of plastic/cheap, prefab ones though.
Huw: just so you know, "outhouse" has a slightly different meaning in America...
I like this Idea because then my partner doesn't have to worry about me taking up too many rooms of the house for lego.
Never hurts to have your seperate space. My question is do we love Lego because we're bordering OCD or Lego pushes us to be one?
@kieran2400 said: "I appreciate my displays or collections aren’t anywhere near as impressive as some of the other fantastic articles featured here but nevertheless I hope you find it and interesting read."
Are you kidding? This is quite a collection! The sheds are a unique idea, wasn't expecting that, but as others said I'd be worried about moisture/spiders/wood dust.
Not gonna lie. I was loving this and hating it at the same time. While always impressed by alternative solutions and the fact it is Lego I was even more impressed BUT I would be lying if I didn't catch myself with a questionable face on LMAO. Probably just thinking of how HOT...... COLD..... DAMP...... BUGGY...... MOLDY........ ya know all the good stuff that comes with being about 1/2" away from the elements with no real seals and no climate control LOL. They must have a much different climate/environment in Ireland :)
Legos in an outhouse... Uhm....
Not sure how to put this. It's delicate. But in the US and Canada, an outhouse is a privy. One doesn't take LEGO to the loo, that is how you lose pieces.
Don't know if a moist toolshed is the best choice of storage.