Our Lego Problem

At last count we had a bazillion Legos, most of which were once assembled into models, then taken apart and scattered around the house.  Keeping the collection contained became an all consuming passion a couple of years ago.

Stage 1: The Beginning
One of the grandmothers scored a Lego table at a church rummage sale for something like $10 (!) and that was good for building. We kept the blocks in a large container, but nobody wanted to rifle through it to build anything new. Not good.

Stage 2: The Legos must be contained
Summer 2012 found us sorting Lego by color into gallon freezer baggies. This worked OK and more unplanned building occurred, but nobody wanted to clean up after the Legos were dumped out.  Really not good.

By December 2012 I decided that we needed individual boxes for each color.  I discovered Really Useful Boxes at Office Depot and waited for the after-Christmas-get-organized sale.  The 12"x12" boxes are shallow enough to allow the boys to sift through their collection and they can build projects on the lids.  Cleanup is easy, the boxes stack well, and they're very rugged. I'd say unbreakable, but one of the boys managed to chip off a piece of a lid while standing on it.

Lego Headquarters

Stage 3:  The models stay built
With the arrival of the X-wing fighter, one of the boys realized that he wanted this model to stay built. So we needed something on which to store models.  Some older toys were discarded to free up space on a bookshelf.  I also found an IKEA Lack table at Goodwill which became a display center.

But the boys wanted something on which to display their minifigs.  Lego sells a display case for $25, but it didn't hold many.  I searched Pinterest for solutions and found one family that had repurposed a silverware tray and one who had painted a shadowbox white. I can do that!

I went to one of the local Goodwill stores and found a toy cash register tray and a dinged-up wall shelf.  A couple of coats of spray paint later, I had a shelf for small models and a nifty minifig cabinet.  I cut a large Lego flat into strips with a utility knife and used contact cement to glue them to the shelves of the tray. (Thank you Jedi Craft Girl!)

Now that they have easy access, a place to build, and a place to display, the guys are enjoying their Legos again.  I'm happy that the living room doesn't look like a Lego outlet anymore.

Now the guys want a "Lego Closet" in their bedroom.  'Cause who needs clothes anyway....

Shalom y'all!