Friday, July 27, 2012

Lego Storage

Some of you may know, I used to have a blog called [just had] A Bright Idea where I focused mostly on interior design & decor and some DIY-ing. When I started Style Oyster, I wanted to incorporate those things along with my love of fashion and all things, well, stylish. Unfortunately, leaving that blog for a new url posed it's challenges. I lost the readers I had acccumulated over the 6 months of having the blog as well as the content...but wait, that content is NOT lost! Thanks to Blogger, I was able to move it over to Style Oyster. However, it was a little outdated (the wording in some, etc.) and of course the pictures were all tagged with my JHABI logo (and a few with even older blog logos than that! I had some name change issues...) I am putting this paragraph here as a preface to these posts because even though they are from the past, they are still projects that took a long time and are dear to my heart and I didn't want to lose them when I officially take my old blog off the Internet. So I apologize to those of you who have followed me since [just had] A Bright Idea, as you will be experiencing some deja vu, but I know some of you are new and this may all be new content to you. So bear with me, I plan on posting these once a week until they are all on Style Oyster. Thank you so much, and I do hope you enjoy. xoxo

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Tanner has been long overdue for a good Lego storage solution. The kid has been obsessed with them for the last two years and they are always a big unorganized mess - usually scattered all over the floor.

A few weeks ago, I searched "Lego Storage" on Google and was pleasantly surprised to find I wasn't the only one who had an issue with Legos scattered all over the floor. I found some great pictures and great ideas. I decided that out of all the ideas, I liked the ones where clear plastic bins were used and they were separated by color.

I immediately went on an online search to find a cart of enough plastic bins to segregate the array of colors of Legos he has. I was a bit surprised to find what some stores are actually getting away with charging for a simple cart of plastic bins. It's plastic, people, NOT titanium.

So I was sad and thought that this project would have to be put on hold for a little while until I could a) afford to buy the cart, or b) magically happen upon a cheaper version randomly in a store one day. Then I had an "a-ha" moment...(I love those)...and realized that I had this piece of furniture that I had never exactly made practical use from (this is actually an old pic I took when I was considering selling it on Craigslist! THANK GOD I didn't!):


It was perfect. All I had to do was take measurements and find either two or three plastic bins that would fit perfectly across each shelf. Off to the dollar store I went. I found 12 that fit perfectly in the shelves when set three across.



Now to the organizing. This step took the longest. I enlisted Tanner's help because I knew he'd a) be into it because he loves anything to do with Legos, and b) he'd be more likely to keep it organized if he too spent the time organizing it. (And I'm happy to announce that so far, it's worked!)

I decided the bins definitely needed some cute color labels. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I decided to get some construction paper, freehand the letters and cut them out.



Then I used some Mod Podge to stick them onto the bins. I first did a thin layer on the front of the bin, then I stuck the letters on, and went over them with another thin layer.



I let them all dry and then put them all back into the shelving unit. And here we have the finished product:



Oh, and I kept secret the best part about this particular storage unit...which made it even so much more perfect:


The top opens so he can keep his boards in there and build on them when playing! It's like shelves and a table in one! I can't believe it never donned on me to use this piece for this purpose sooner!


8 comments:

Heidi of Operation Organization - MN said...

Looks great! My 6 yr old is just now getting into legos. I'm sure we'll eventually need to set up some sort of system for him as well. Let us know how your kiddos does maintaining it! :)

Cheers!
~H

Morgan S. said...

Thanks, Heidi! Will do - so far, so good - before he would just dump out his entire container all over the floor, now he picks and chooses what pieces he wants! I haven't had a Lego mess in there since we put this in!

Christy, the Simple Homemaker said...

I'm impressed that he puts them back in the right bins when he's done. Very nice system.

Sabrina @ Customized Creations said...

Super cute! I love how the top opens for a table. That's fabulous!

Jessica T said...

One fabulous idea!! I have been struggling with containers of unorganized legos for years and it drives me crazy! I will be putting something like this together for the kids, thank you :)

prototype mama said...

what a great idea--my boys are too old to play with legos now but I can sooo see this for my little girls doll accessories!

Saying hi from Sharefest!
New follower!

Katie E said...

Very cool - reminds me of the bins of Legos at the Lego Store!

Stopping by from SITS.

Unknown said...

Thanks for checking it out! xoxo

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