Storage solutions: miies
Posted by Huw,
My name is Michel (miies on Brickset), I live in The Netherlands and I work as a software developer. After reading all these great Storage Solutions articles, I couldn't resist the urge anymore to add my own humble LEGO room to the mix.
My LEGO hobby is, by my own choice, restricted to a single room that I use as an office and hobby space. You won't find any LEGO lying around my house, since I like a nice and tidy home and I loathe cleaning and dusting ;-) There's one exception in my living room, more on that below.
The room measures about 2 by 4 meters so is quite modest, but it's filled quite efficiently. According to Brickset, I currently have over 208k pieces, which sounds about right, and I guess about 85-90% is housed in this room. I have some larger unopened sets in storage for which I simply don't have space any more.
Anyway, let me show you around!
This is where I work from home, and usually build LEGO sets while watching a movie, TV show, or YouTube on one of these screens. Forgive my dusty laptop, I only noticed how dirty it has become after taking this photo! The Powerpuff Girls and DC's holy trinity stand guard over my activities, as well as an R2D2 keychain-pocketlight-thingie (which is LEGO, but doesn't conform to any System standard).
This side desk is used for MOC projects, although it's currently occupied by some other, non-LEGO, hobby projects.. On the shelf you can see some containers, these are from Dutch store "HEMA". I sort all my pieces by type, it works well for me.
Above the desks are more shelves with (many) more of these boxes, but of a lower variety. These hold various parts that I use the most. There's SNOT, round bricks, windows, doors, wall parts, slopes, etc. I simply know where everything is, so I don't have to label anything. All boxes have a little yellow sticker. For filled boxes it's on the back, empty boxes are turned around, so I can see which ones are empty.
Behind me are three custom-made bookcases that have been in my family for decades now. These hold a variety of different containers and hobby cases from all kinds of stores: IKEA, Aldi, Gamma (Dutch DIY store), and Blokker (Dutch home accessories store). Some LEGO books are tucked in between as well. Wherever I need to label something, I always use painting tape. This tape can easily be removed and replaced, so if you constantly move around your pieces, it's really easy to re-label. Dutch readers can read the labels ;-)
Bonus feature! This beautiful, expensive, but very good large display case is from Dutch company Siletsy. It stands in a corner of my living room and houses a constantly changing collection of some of my favourite sets, usually quite recent ones. I have more sets in storage but I just don't have the room to display it all. But isn't that the bane of any LEGO collector?
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15 comments on this article
That's a lot of boxes... Do you have a link to any of your Mocs? Always interested to see how people use all those parts.
I love those Hema boxes, my parts are stored in them as well!
Nice and tidy just like you said. My lego is all over my house and my wish is that I will eventually get a room free for my lego.
And yes I read your labels to see how you label your stuff.
LEGO must love such people!
Really well organized Lego room, and a great work space! Your display case looks like an upgrade from the popular Ikea Detolf case, which is pretty good shelf on its own, but not as slick as yours. I also store my excess base plates standing like books as you do, and sometimes I wonder if they will become bowed over time. Anyone know if that is so? Thanks for sharing your collection with us!
Would like to have a LEGO room as tidy as this! Great work!
@Andhe said:
"That's a lot of boxes... Do you have a link to any of your Mocs? Always interested to see how people use all those parts. "
Hi there, my Flickr is https://www.flickr.com/photos/miies80/albums but I haven't uploaded in quite a while now. There are some older MOCs though. I'm a model railroader by heart so most MOCs are related to that.
@mfg3000 said:
"Really well organized Lego room, and a great work space! Your display case looks like an upgrade from the popular Ikea Detolf case, which is pretty good shelf on its own, but not as slick as yours. I also store my excess base plates standing like books as you do, and sometimes I wonder if they will become bowed over time. Anyone know if that is so? Thanks for sharing your collection with us!"
Hi there, I haven't noticed any bending in those baseplates over the years. Thanks for reading!
That display case has quite a cool mix of themes and sets I must say.
And as for your LEGO room - great usage of available space.
Plus, thanks for the link to that display case manufacturer. True, their products aren't cheap, but good quality display cases always are expensive from my experience. And these look particularly good. Will see if they are available in Germany as well.
Nice to start learning Dutch
@AustinPowers said:
"That display case has quite a cool mix of themes and sets I must say.
And as for your LEGO room - great usage of available space.
Plus, thanks for the link to that display case manufacturer. True, their products aren't cheap, but good quality display cases always are expensive from my experience. And these look particularly good. Will see if they are available in Germany as well. "
Credits go to Huw for adding the link to Siletsy's website :) Unfortunately, it seems they only deliver in NL and BE..
@miies said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"That display case has quite a cool mix of themes and sets I must say.
And as for your LEGO room - great usage of available space.
Plus, thanks for the link to that display case manufacturer. True, their products aren't cheap, but good quality display cases always are expensive from my experience. And these look particularly good. Will see if they are available in Germany as well. "
Credits go to Huw for adding the link to Siletsy's website :) Unfortunately, it seems they only deliver in NL and BE.."
I just saw that as well. Pity. I haven't been able to find anything similar in Germany yet. At least no company that offers comparable products to private consumers for similar prices. All I could find where companies that sold such cases to museums and the like.
I love the organization here. The Hemi boxes look great!
Probably the most efficient use of one wall I have ever seen, while still leaving space for a desk. There must be over 300 containers supported by only three shelves. Maybe I would add a few more shelves to save going mad having to remove 5 boxes each time I wanted the bottom one. Also thanks for the link to your flickr site, I enjoyed going around seeing the exhibits at the Lego World 2013 and 2014 Utrecht. I also liked your train container lifter moc using the tension in the rubber bands to hold the Maesk container. There wasn't a depot for the Maesk train at the time which was a shame.
@ambr said:
"Probably the most efficient use of one wall I have ever seen, while still leaving space for a desk. There must be over 300 containers supported by only three shelves. Maybe I would add a few more shelves to save going mad having to remove 5 boxes each time I wanted the bottom one. Also thanks for the link to your flickr site, I enjoyed going around seeing the exhibits at the Lego World 2013 and 2014 Utrecht. I also liked your train container lifter moc using the tension in the rubber bands to hold the Maesk container. There wasn't a depot for the Maesk train at the time which was a shame."
Hi there, pretty good counting, the three shelves above the desks hold a total of 342 boxes. Thanks for the compliments, I quite enjoyed building that crane.