Storage solutions: johnnythunderlego
Posted by Huw,
Cody, aka johnnythunderlego, shows us his LEGO room in what might be the last storage solutions articles for a while, because I've run out again:
I’ve been collecting LEGO for as long as I can remember. Having two older brothers meant that I inherited all of their toys when they grew out of them. Among the toys that I inherited, LEGO was always my favourite. I fell in love with the limitless freedom that building with LEGO provided me.
My passion for the toy never waned through my school years. In fact, it was during college that I interned with LEGO North America. I ended up working for LEGO for a total of 5 years, leaving to pursue a career in another field in 2018.
During that time my collection grew even larger and I found myself in need of some organisation systems to manage the haphazardly scattered collection. Within the last 2 years I have managed to sort the majority of the collection into a system that works well for me. The collection itself is housed entirely within a dedicated LEGO room in the basement of my house.
While my collection is organised using a multitude of storage systems, there are three container types that are used more frequently than all the rest combined:
- Stack-On Storage Cabinets
- AKRO-MILS 12 Gallon KeepBox
- Sterilite Containers
For pieces like minifigure parts, weapons, tiles, hinge pieces, etc. I use Stack-On Storage Cabinets. The cabinets that I use range from 18 drawer to 60 drawer cabinets.
I generally separate pieces based on part-type which saves me from having too many cabinets. The only time I separate pieces based on both part-type and colour is with tiles and 1x plates. Even in these instances I don’t separate each 1x1,1x2,1x3, etc. into different drawers.
For example, I keep all 1x yellow plates together and keep all tiles together of the same colour regardless of their length. This too helps me to keep the amount of cabinets to a minimum. I have a total of 20 Stack-On Storage Cabinets in my collection.
I used to keep the cabinets stacked on IKEA LINNMON tabletops, but I realised after a while that it would be more efficient to build a shelving unit that would hold the cabinets ‘floor to ceiling’.
When I had the cabinets on top of the tables I was only be able to stack two cabinets on top of one another. In building the wooden shelving unites, however, I’m able to stack 3.5 cabinets on top of one another. The one drawback is having to bend down more often when sorting or retrieving pieces but that’s a very minor draw back.
For pieces that I have a lot of, I tend to use the ARKO-MILS 12-gallon KeepBoxes. I have 7 in total, each one holding a different kind of piece. For example, all of my 1x bricks are stored in two separate containers. Another of these holds all my window/door pieces and another holds all of my 2x bricks.
While many people separate these by colour as well, I find it to be more of an adventure leaving them all mixed together. It brings me back to that moment as a child where you are searching in a huge bin for what feels like an eternity to find that one piece that you need. I generally keep these containers ‘out in the open’ rather than tucked away under a build table or stacked neatly in the corner as I use them quite a bit when building.
Though it isn’t the most visually appealing to have them in the middle of the room, it saves me time when building. These storage containers were given to me by my parents from our childhood home which gives them some age. Because around me they are only available online, I’ve ended buying a different kind of container to store other larger pieces.
That’s where the Sterilite containers comes in. I have 6 of these containers in total. 2 of them are dedicated to 2x+ plates, another 2 are dedicated to polybags and smaller unopened sets, 1 is filled exclusively with baseplates and another with larger pieces that I don’t generally use when building. With the growing size of the collection and growing amount of piece types that will soon require a larger container (slopes, tires, window/doors), I’ll have to purchase some more of these containers or a similar brand soon.
The IKEA KALLAX separates my LEGO room from a space that is used as a home office. I use this shelving unit/bookcase to house many different items. Of notable interest here, several of the baskets house LEGO branded clothing or official LEGO store aprons/polos that were acquired over the years. Two of the baskets also contain LEGO related books.
On top I have featured some of the sets that I’ve most recently built. I usually build a set, display it for a few months, and then break it down into its own bag for separate storage. Because of this, the sets that I display on top of this unit are swapped out a few times a year.
Next to all of my main storage containers is the LEGO City that I have been working on for the last year. The city is built on 4 IKEA LINNMON tables, the very tables where I used to keep the Stack-On cabinets. Underneath the table I have various other storage containers, both LEGO branded and 3rd party, where I keep things like loose minifigures, broken down sets, and unsorted brick.
There are many flea markets where I live at which I often find bins of LEGO for sale. This space under the table is generally used to house these bins before the pieces get cleaned and sorted into the main collection.
Part of my collection also features unopened sets which I store in a closet within the LEGO room. The sets are stacked on a few shelves that I built in the closet. Every time I add a new unopened set to the closet, I feel like I am playing Tetris.
Though it is getting packed, I’ve got rid of at least 25% of my unopened sets within the last few months. I’ve made an effort to collect only that which I put in my LEGO City or that has some parts that could be useful to the city.
Many of the Star Wars, Marvel, and other sets that I used to own were recently sold for this purpose. Although it might not seem like it, this ended up freeing some room in the closet. This space also holds the other 3 Sterilite as well as some miscellaneous items like LEGO plush, bags, signage, store displays, etc.
The last area of the room isn’t used so much for storage as it is for display. On the opposite wall of my home office desk I have an area where I display some of my favourite pieces in the collection. These include employee gifts and sets that I especially enjoyed building.
Even though I recently did away with some unopened sets, my collection is growing. Through Bricklink, Bricks & Pieces, and flea markets I continue to acquire pieces that are relevant to the things I build. As the collection grows, I hope to make my storage system more coherent.
Using different storage brands and colours hasn’t bothered me up to this point, but I know from here on out I would like to try and keep it consistent. Additionally, I may need to build another wooden shelving unit to house some more Stack-On cabinets in the future as the ones that I have continue to get filled.
Because of the nature of my work I’ve had a lot of this summer free to continue to sort and to build. I look forward to getting even more done in the coming two months.
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14 comments on this article
How did you get the big red 2x4 LEGO store brick?
@nick3c said:
"How did you get the big red 2x4 LEGO store brick?"
The Lego Brick 8 knob stackable stowage solutions sold on Amazon are 50cm high, 25cm wide which looks around a quarter of the size shown. Possibly working for Lego for 5 years helped? If you are allowed, please give more details of what you where doing at Lego, as always interested in the views of those lucky enough to be more directly involved.
Large multi-size pull out drawers seem to be the most economical solution that I have found as lots of competition and sales from different makers. Also great if you move house often or need to take to other sites. I like your waterfront area as well done, and glad to see that your worktop has plenty of space for future development.
Cody, that is a good looking basement, and the Lego only makes it better. The shelves you built really go with the overall look of the whole room. (You might like to get a small stool on wheels to help you when you re sorting parts in the lower bins.) Using the Kallax shelves to separate your office area works really well with the space, too. The whole room looks like a great place to spend time in. Even your closet is fun to look through! Your growing city makes a great centerpiece with lots of interesting buildings and features. Do you have anywhere that you post your progress or your MOCs? Thanks very much for participating in the series!
Cody, nice article. I have 10 of those Stack-On cabinets myself. Two things I noticed:
1. Some come with dividable drawers and some don’t. You can recognize the dividable ones by the fact that the “lip” has horizontal lines on them, whereas the non-dividable ones have smooth “lips”. Did you notice the same?
2. How are you planning to get more cabinets? Second hand and flea markets? When I looked at getting more dividers for my cabinets, I learned that the Stack-On company has been bought by another company, and they have discontinued the cabinets several years ago. If you have a source for getting them, I’d be interested to know.
@backtobricks said:
" @Huw I've contacted you via the message system as I sent my Storage article in on 6th June and you replied on 7th to say you would publish it in a few days, but I don't think you ever published my article."
I've sent you an email
@ambr said:
" @nick3c said:
"How did you get the big red 2x4 LEGO store brick?"
The Lego Brick 8 knob stackable stowage solutions sold on Amazon are 50cm high, 25cm wide which looks around a quarter of the size shown. Possibly working for Lego for 5 years helped? If you are allowed, please give more details of what you where doing at Lego, as always interested in the views of those lucky enough to be more directly involved.
Large multi-size pull out drawers seem to be the most economical solution that I have found as lots of competition and sales from different makers. Also great if you move house often or need to take to other sites. I like your waterfront area as well done, and glad to see that your worktop has plenty of space for future development."
He was talking about the giant Lego Store brick, not the storage.
@ambr said:
" @nick3c said:
"How did you get the big red 2x4 LEGO store brick?"
The Lego Brick 8 knob stackable stowage solutions sold on Amazon are 50cm high, 25cm wide which looks around a quarter of the size shown. Possibly working for Lego for 5 years helped? If you are allowed, please give more details of what you where doing at Lego, as always interested in the views of those lucky enough to be more directly involved.
Large multi-size pull out drawers seem to be the most economical solution that I have found as lots of competition and sales from different makers. Also great if you move house often or need to take to other sites. I like your waterfront area as well done, and glad to see that your worktop has plenty of space for future development."
Thank you very much! I'm looking forward to adding some additional buildings/making the ones already there a little bit taller.
Long story short they were re-doing the floors of a store and were supposed to throw it away but they gave it to me instead. I was no longer working for the company at that point so it was a nice gesture.
Thank you for the very kind comments! The stool is a really good idea! I recently started using Instagram to display my mocs. @johnnythunderlego.
@flipus74
I never noticed the ones I buy having come with the dividers but I do see the slots in them where they would sit.
I actually just bought brand new ones at the Tractor Supply store a few weeks back. That's the only physical store I have ever been able to find them at. At the moment, they are sold out just about everywhere online so you might be right in which case flea markets would be the only way to go.
2 days in a row and we both have the technic nutcracker employee gift 4002017 on display!
Another fantastic collection! Hopefully, more articles come out soon.
@johnnythunderlego said:
" @flipus74
I never noticed the ones I buy having come with the dividers but I do see the slots in them where they would sit.
I actually just bought brand new ones at the Tractor Supply store a few weeks back. That's the only physical store I have ever been able to find them at. At the moment, they are sold out just about everywhere online so you might be right in which case flea markets would be the only way to go."
Check the back of the plastic cabinets, at least with Akro Mills the dividers are attached to the back of the 'cabinet'. The dividers are often put there (though you typically need to cut them out to get them for use). Otherwise, get the dimensions of the part bins and check Amazon as there are a lot of people making the dividers for bins like this. (as I have had to buy them for my Akro-mills piece bins).
Forget the insane amount of Lego, keeping the original boxes from Classic era is just fascinating.