19 Lego Organization! A Follow-Up & Some New Tips!

I mentioned last week that I had some last minute travel come up. One of those trips was out to Texas to work with my girlfriend, Grace. While I was there, her little guys were asking my advice on Lego storage. They had a bit of a mess happening in their room and were overwhelmed by all of the pieces and builds and piles... And I have to say, I wasn't at all surprised. Lego organization is one of the most common topics I am asked about. Readers want to know, "Does the color system still work for you?" Parents want to know, "Is there anything I can do to prevent the middle-of-the-night Lego booby traps that attack my feet?" And the kids want to know, "Is this going to be easy to pick up? Because I ain't got time for anything complicated. I have worms to eat and my sister to color on and other toys that require my attention. Oh! And that leftover pepperoni and olive pizza to eat in the fridge. So let's keep this simple, OK?"

I never would have thought that Lego storage would be right up there with pantry cabinets, linen closets and paper piles, but if you think about it, they are quite the universal toy. It doesn't matter if you are a girl or boy, young or old, happy or sad; everyone loves playing with Lego pieces!

So today I thought I would do a little follow-up post about how our system is working, and what approach I took with Grace's cutie pie kids.

We shared our system quite a few years ago now, and it is still a very hot spot for our younger two boys. Even our oldest will get creative with the different sets from time to time. Right now we have half of our laundry room unloaded into the boy's hangout area, and they insisted we just move the Lego bins up to our son's bedroom temporarily. So we did.

To summarize, we used two Trofast towers paired with these bins, sorted everything by color, and created labels by cutting vinyl with my Silhouette.

I will be the first to admit I wasn't fully on board with the idea to organize our pieces by color. The first step in the process is always to interview the kids and get their ideas and input. My boys wanted color. I guess they figured it was the easiest way to identify pieces and find what they were looking for. Overall, it has worked out surprisingly well, with some very minor exceptions. In fact, the majority of their Lego pieces are still sorted by color today.

A few things that have helped the system succeed:

• The boys have areas in their personal spaces to play with and display their Lego creations.
• Each boy has a large, lidded bin for storing their "in-progress" work. The bins are clear, light weight, stackable and fit in a concealed cabinet when not in use.
• Every 4-6 months we take an hour or so to sort their personal bins back down to the colored bins. Generally they are hurrying during pick-up time and then throw their current messes into their personal bins instead of sorting them down accordingly, which adds up over time. 
• Sometimes I sit and sort with them (sorting is my therapy), but they are perfectly capable to do it on their own and the entire system is definitely easy enough for them to maintain.
• I very recently picked up a couple of divided bins to further break down special pieces and people. That is a newer work-in-progress, but they boys seem to be digging the idea.

When it came to helping out Grace's youngsters, I took a slightly different approach. If I have learned anything over the years, it is that just because something works for us, doesn't mean it is going to work for everyone. So I sat down with her kids and asked a series of questions. Things like...

• Where do you prefer to play with your Lego builds?
• Do you build from the manuals or from your imagination? Or both?
• What do you like to do with your completed projects? Do you ever take them back apart?
• What is your favorite creation and why?
• Show me what a typical Lego playing session looks like.
• How are you currently organizing/sorting your pieces? What is working? What isn't?
• What would make your Lego experience even better?

A few things the kids mentioned in response to these questions were:

• They play with their Lego creations in their bedroom.
• They like to build from manuals and from their imaginations.
• They generally like to leave all of their builds together once finished.
• They started to organize their pieces by color but they were not finding it to be super helpful. The remainder of their pieces were between an oversized canvas tote and a bin in their closet. 
• They would take the large canvas tote out and sift through it, dumping piles of pieces on the floor to look for specific items.
• They wanted more boards, they love to build on boards. 

Based on their responses, I suggested the following solutions:

• Only store Lego pieces in clear bins so the kids can better see the pieces they are digging for (shallow bins work OK as well, as long as there are not too many pieces inside).
• Set up a temporary or larger solid surface area for the kids to build and play on (vs. playing on their Lego eating rug on the floor). Something like our puzzle board that can be pulled out during play time and then tucked away between uses.
• Simplify the sorting process. Based on how they use their pieces, I suggested they only sort down to the following four basic categories: People/Accessories, Solid Bricks, Specialty Pieces and Boards. The end goal is to make it easier to find things and to pick-up.
• Grace already had purchased and added a tall adjustable shelf for the kids to display all of their creations in their bedroom (you can see the short version in their space here, she recently upgraded to a tall version for more display space).
• Sort down the bulk of their current pieces and sets, and moving forward, begin storing the really important sets in their own stacking containers and bins. Or inside of labeled Ziploc type storage bags and then placed into a hard-sided bin. 
• Select bins that are easily portable from the closet to the floor.
• Create an easy place to organize current instruction manuals.

We started working on their new system while I was visiting, and Grace and her kids felt like they had a good start on things but still plan to take their final setup even further down the road.

To get them going, I taped a piece of paper to the front of each bin that clearly stated the bin's specific category, as well as a few descriptive words to offer some guidance during the sorting process. Because they were not sorting by color, there were a few gray areas and adding some specific terms to the sorting labels was quite helpful. Her kids took it from there.

These bins are awesome for stacking and tucking away in narrow closets and spaces. They are also clear which is a huge win for digging and searching.

The label holders are adhesive and clear, making it easy to update the contents down the road. They are also fairly heavy duty, and should stay on the bins even with a little wear and tear.

Bonus: They are so easy to use; just stick onto the face of the bin, fill out the included card, and done! No fancy equipement necessary.

These carrying cases are amazing for smaller pieces and people. Grace plans to add a couple more to their collection to further sort down some of the specialty pieces. I love that they are clear and the dividers are removable. I can also think of 101 other places I want to use these spiffy little cases.

And finally, a basic three ring binder paired with clear page sleeves (both found at Target) worked beautifully for organizing a stack of instruction manuals. Now they can easily flip through the binder to pick out their next creation or to find new ideas and inspiration.

__________

Hurray for a much overdue follow-up to our previous Lego post. Please feel free to chime in with additional questions, ideas and suggestions, this is a topic that will forever be popular!

184 Organizing Legos: Part 3 - Creating Organized Lego Storage

Welcome back to Part 3 of my little Lego series.  So far I have blabbed about the build buckets and the build table, but I know what you really have been waiting for.  What in the world did we end up doing with all of those big bins of  Legos?

Well, be ready for a picture filled post to find out!

First, I have to mention, we have been accumulating Legos for YEARS.  In fact, my husband had a giant bin of them under our stairs for the longest time, just waiting for our boys to grow old enough to play with.  Not to mention, as you know we have three boys, so what is always the easiest gift choice at holidays and birthdays?  Legos. 

This project started out with four large Rubbermaid bins full of Legos, along with the craft drawers we attempted to use as storage as well.  {we only had one small cart and it just wasn't big enough for our growing collection}.

My initial reaction was to sort out the pieces by type.  Bricks, boards, wheels, etc... The boys disagreed.  They wanted things done by color.  They were so nicely reminded it was going to be their duty to maintain whatever new system we implement and that the whole point was to make building easier and more fun for them.  So I let it be their choice on how things were done, and sorting by color won.

The next step was to come up with the best way to containerize all of the pieces by color.  I instantly knew the IKEA Trofast system was the way I wanted to go, but I did try and think up other alternative solutions... Cricket cricket.  I had nothin', so Trofast it was!

Then came the REALLY fun part.  The sorting.  OK, not so much fun.  But we tried our hardest to enjoy it.  We all sat together, surrounded by bins, watched movie after movie for an entire day and a half until it was done.

I had the boys help me for 75% of the time.  I figured if they were part of the sorting process, they would appreciate it more and be more apt to help maintain all their hard work.  It's been a couple of weeks now and I am happy to report, so far SOOO good!

When it came to labeling the bins, I sat on this one for awhile.  I wanted to do vinyl with my Silhouette.  SO badly.  And I wanted the words on the front to be the same color as the blocks in the bins.  So when I looked online and in stores at vinyl prices, I about had a heart attack.  10 bins at $7 minimum a color... um no thanks.  Shucks.  I did some research and heard about adhesive backed cardstock.  Again, $5 per color and not every color I needed.  Strike two.  Then it hit me!  I could use regular colored cardstock, cut the words out with my Silhouette, and adhere them to the fronts of the bins myself, all while saving a TON of moolah over the alternative options!  Whew, almost struck out, that was close!

So that's what I did.  I started cutting out letters from each color of cardstock.  The best part of this was that I could use shades of the color that I liked vs. the harsh, primary color that Legos usually are.

I used Dr. Seuss shaped font, it is for a playroom after all! 

To adhere the letters, I wanted something that would last.  And look clean and resemble the look I would have gotten with the vinyl.  So I went with Mod Podge in a matte finish {which is the same finish of the Trofast bins}.

I used some painters tape to give myself a straight line to work with and to ensure the letters were placed in about the same location on each bin.

Then, I used a brush to "paint" on some Mod Podge, stick the letter on the bin, and then Mod Podge over the letter to really make it stick.

Don't worry as you are doing this... it gets worse before it gets AMAZING....

{while drying}

Once all of the Mod Podge dried, you wouldn't have even known it was there to begin with!  WIN!

Totally stinkin' adorable.

The only items we didn't do by color were the boards and little people.  The boards got a large Trofast bin, the people got a smaller storage box.

So did all the manuals.

Again, I hashed out manual storage options.  I originally was going to binder them into plastic page protectors.  But I know my boys.  I imagined that over time, they would take the manual out and it wouldn't easily find its way back.  So they now just get piled in a storage box and it's done.  I am very OK with that since I want it to be easiest for them to maintain.

When it comes to the "builds" they create, sometimes they like to keep them for a little while {however, they play with Legos because they love to create and build, so they don't seem to be too concerned about keeping their sets together for long periods of time}.  I wanted to give them a place in their new playroom to begin displaying their creations, so we installed some inexpensive shelves above the Lego storage bins.

Up until now, they have never really had a place to display their projects, which is why you don't see anything up there right now.  But now they have a place should they want it.  For the time being, I just shopped around the house for items to prop up on the shelves as placeholders, along with some free kid's printable art I found through the lovely world of Pinterest.

Ready to see the whole Lego wall in all it's organized glory?

We are so incredibly smitten with how the whole entire project turned out.  We now have a place that the boys can build and create and the storage is both functional, yet dressed up to blend in and become part of the decor. 

And that my friends, concludes my Lego mini-series!  Until next week that is, when I will host a Lego Link Up Party and we can all swoon over all of your other ideas and Lego storage solutions.  I know there are tons of Lego organizing options out there, many of you have already shared with me incredible ideas that are working well for you!  Next week we will have a chance to share those ideas with all the readers!

75 Organizing Legos: Part 1 - Build Buckets

The Lego posts are finally coming!  Can I get a whoop whoop for some lego love?

"Posts?" you ask.  As in multiples? 

I say go big or go home.  We are a major lego loving family... we started out with 4+ large bins and a few smaller ones as well....

And because Legos are really one of the only things my three boys have in common, it's a big deal here.  And they can play with them for hours upon hours with giant smiles on their faces.  Just like mama used to do....

So because many hours of our lives revolve around the Lego phenomenon, I have been working away at trying to gain some order, save the bottoms of my feet, corral all of the manuals and give them a happy place to create endlessly.  So much to share!

Today I thought I would share the first Lego lifesaver.  The build buckets.

A couple of reasons I decided each boy should have one designated build bucket:

• They create and then have to stop to do things like eat dinner, do homework or take a shower, so what's a kid to do with their projects in the works?
• We share because we care, meaning all of our Legos are all of ours.  But this doesn't always work great when someone is using specific pieces that another kiddo wants or when one boy takes pieces from another boy's current build...  the horror.

So, to problem solve the sharing and creating issue, and to eliminate the boys from having to put their current projects back into the endless pit of chaotic bins, they each got their own single bucket in which they could put all of their current projects and pieces.

I found the tin buckets at Target in the dollar section, I think they were $2.50 each.

To ensure they weren't confused about whose bucket is whose, a little labeling action was in order.

It was super simple, I just used my Silhouette to cut their birth order numbers from vinyl.  Parker even helped me rub the vinyl onto the side of his bucket!

I placed the number on the front and the side of the bucket...

 
So far, the buckets have been working great.  They are perfectly big enough to hold oodles of "in the works" pieces and projects!

And because they are all labeled, there is no more bickering!  They all agreed that each bucket was their bucket only, no getting grabby with one another.

Love.

Total cost: $7.50.

How do you keep your little one's Lego projects organized {or maybe even your own}?

And who is ready to hop on board and organize Legos with me?  I think at the end of this giant project we are taking on, we should have a giant link party to celebrate and share our ideas!  Who is excited?

24 Boy's Den Update: Concealed Lego Storage

Thanks everyone for weighing in on some of our ideas for our boy's den switch-up.  Our youngest calls the new space his Bat Cave... but I am not quite sure that is what we are going for.  So for now, it's the boy's den until we can think of something a bit more clever.

I don't typically share an unfinished project, so consider this more of a room progress post but without shots of the whole room (ha, believe me, it's nothing but mess at this point!).  We still have to finish the board and batten wall treatment, so the space and I are not at the styling stage of our relationship just yet.  I was just too excited to show you how we concealed the boy's Lego system in a simple and upgraded way.

This mini-update was nothing revolutionary or inventive.  We literally just upgraded two stock cabinets and tucked our previous storage right inside.  Add a wood topper and bam!  A sleek new cabinet on the outside, Lego storage mania on the inside.  The overall goal of this project was to take our sweet and darling system from the little guy's playroom and give it a grown up feeling for their new and improved boy den.  The system itself has worked great for us over the past few years, so the goal wasn't to change something that wasn't broken, but just tuck away the visual clutter.


STEP 1: MEASURE

We began by measuring our existing two IKEA TROFAST pieces and determining the placement in their new space.  From there, I asked my husband to build a custom cabinet around the unit.  I also told him he may be building a custom pantry in the back of the room... Quick Tip: Never ask your husband to do two separate projects in one sentence.  After he voted that I try to find a cabinet instead, I decided to check out IKEA's different cabinet systems to find something close in size.  I landed on two of these frames and doors, which would allow the TROFAST to fit right inside.  Another Quick Tip: Be sure to account for hinges when considering and measuring IKEA cabinets.

STEP 2: COMBINE

The unit was going to be much sturdier having the two cabinets joined together as one.  IKEA has special screws for this, making it easy to secure the two cabinets together in four locations inside.

Our favorite grip clamps worked like a charm to hold the two cabinets together while drilling through both sets of cabinets to add the joining hardware.


STEP 3: ATTACH LEGS

I originally purchased some smaller legs and leg plates from the home improvement store, but when I got them home and near the new cabinet, I realized the scale was much too small.  Lucky for me, I had some old BESTA legs on hand, and they already matched color and were scaled much more appropriately.  I continued to use the top plate and pieced a screw and bolt from our hardware store together to affix the IKEA legs.  Quick Tip: Take your hardware/project with you to the home improvement store to find the perfect screw and bolt pairings from their mix and match section.  We have always found employees to help us quickly search those endless bins for just what we need.

STEP 4: PREP & STAIN TOPPER

This of course is optional, but I like the wood element it added to the piece.  We have topped a few other white bookcases and cabinets around our home in the past, and it always adds a nice extra touch.  Typically I have worked with pine or poplar boards, but this time I decided I wanted a little grain and picked up a 2'x4' piece of oak.  After testing every can in my stash, I not only realized that I prefer staining oak any day to other types of wood, but I also realized that Minwax English Chestnut was the wood stain of choice for this piece.

Prior to staining, it is important to sand down the wood and clean it with a slightly damp cloth.  I then used a staining rag to apply a coat of stain and then brushed on a coat of Triple Thick poly for a protective finish.

Because the edges of the oak board were exposed after being cut to size, I also used some stainable iron-on banding to give everything a nice and finished look.

STEP 5: ATTACH TOPPER

To attach the topper we just pre-drilled and affixed the top with a few small screws, again using our clamps.


And that was it!  The cabinet is such a nice and clean piece, that can be attached to the wall for stability, yet easily moved if necessary.  Best of all, it achieves our goals of hiding the colorful pieces that all of the boys still love to play with.

And inside...

We initially added soft-close dampers to the hinges, however, I couldn't decide on the hardware just yet (waiting until the cabinets in the back of the room are finished prior to deciding on this cabinet), so we added some push-and-pop-open hardware to the inside of the piece for now.  It allows the kids to just push in the door and it pops open.

Above you can see the magnetic, spring loaded hardware above the Lego organizer and also on the cabinet door.  And this little spring loaded latch can be easily removed once we land on hardware for the cabinet doors.

Earlier I mentioned we are not quite to the staging point of the room yet.  One thing I thought would be nice to add is a photo above the cabinet, so I selected one of the boy's with their dad at one of our favorite beaches.

I ordered it to be printed at Staples as an engineer sized print, and for around $6, I had something special (and much more vibrant in person than in photos of our poorly lit space).  For now I just popped it into a frame we already had, but I will probably go bigger and add a nice mat as well.  Or maybe I will have it re-done as a nice canvas....

The lamp was borrowed from another room, as was the wooden dish that is holding all of the Lego characters.  Eventually I will be doing something similar with permanent accessories for the space, at least with all of those friendly little Lego faces.

So although the top will eventually receive a bit more attention in terms of what will live there, I couldn't be more thrilled with how the color and finish turned out.

I also finally landed on a couple of chairs in a nice and warm walnut finish, and just put in my order so I can return the blue metal options back to our patio (which is starting to warm up enough to use!).  My fingers are crossed they are as fantastic in person as they look online.  #youneverknow

And finally, I receive questions from time to time about how the Lego system is maintaining.  For the most part, yes!  My boys tend to create builds from their imaginations more than by step-by-step set instructions, so we haven't had too many issues.  Over time, we do find that they just acquire more and more random builds, and it may take a family movie session to re-sort some of the colors back down.  Otherwise, even when the boys do pull out a manual, they are easily able to find pieces by going to the correct bin.  The labels were originally created with my Silhouette craft tool.

So the playroom to boy's den transformation has begun.  Sometimes it just takes that first project to get the ball rolling.  We are hoping to find a weekend real soon to get after the paneling and painting and door moving... only about twenty days left before the boys are done with the school year.

This space update is also going to go hand-in-hand with a few laundry room upgrades and also an office refresh (whoop whoop!), more details on those spaces soon!