DIY LEGO Storage Solutions: Budget Organization Ideas
Supporting Free Content
When you purchase through our links, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an eBay Partner, this helps us keep bringing you expert LEGO® reviews and guides. Thank you for your support!
The cheapest LEGO storage is the containers you already own. Clear tubs for loose bricks sorted into a few broad groups, a divided box for small parts and minifigures, and labelled bags to keep sets together go a long way before you need to buy furniture.
The cheapest LEGO storage is the containers already in your kitchen and closet. Clear tubs for loose bricks sorted into a few broad groups, a divided box for small parts and minifigures, and labelled bags for sets go a long way before you need to buy any furniture. This guide covers what works at each size of collection, how to sort without spending a weekend on it, and LEGO's own rules for cleaning bricks before you put them away.
Start with what you already have
Before buying anything, gather containers you already own. Clear food tubs and storage boxes are the most useful, because you can see the color and type of brick inside without opening them. Label each one with a strip of masking tape and a marker so the system survives a busy week. Shoe boxes work for bulk bricks you rarely dig through, and resealable zip bags keep the parts of one set together.
If you would rather buy matching containers, clear stackable boxes with lids are sold in sets: clear stackable storage boxes on Amazon.
Sort into a few groups, not hundreds
The most common mistake is sorting too finely too early. Start with a handful of broad groups, for example bricks, plates, tiles and slopes, Technic, wheels and vehicle parts, and small parts. Split a group only when it gets too full to search quickly. Sorting by type suits most builders, because you usually know the shape you need before the color; sorting by color suits mosaics and LEGO Art.
Our Sorting Planner takes a list of sets and suggests how to split their parts into the number of bins you have, with labels you can print. For a fuller walkthrough, see How to Sort and Organize Your LEGO Brick Collection and sorting by color or by part type.
Small parts and minifigures
Small parts get lost in a big tub. A tackle box or bead organizer with adjustable dividers keeps 1x1 pieces, minifigure accessories and printed tiles apart, and closes so nothing spills: adjustable divider organizer boxes on Amazon.
For minifigures and small builds that a child wants to reach, a clear over-the-door shoe organizer turns the back of a door into a wall of pockets and keeps everything off the floor: clear over-the-door organizers on Amazon.
When the tubs run out
Once a collection fills more than a few tubs, furniture with pull-out bins keeps it in one place. IKEA's TROFAST is a frame of pull-out plastic boxes made for children's rooms; IKEA lists combinations such as 39 by 17⅜ by 22 inches (wide, deep, high) and a narrow tower of 18⅛ by 11¾ by 57⅛ inches, so check the size that fits your wall before you buy. Shallow boxes suit sorted bricks; deep boxes suit bulk.
For sorted small parts, a small-parts drawer cabinet of the kind sold for screws and craft supplies holds one part type per drawer and stacks on a desk: small-parts drawer cabinets on Amazon.
If you want the storage itself to look like LEGO, Room Copenhagen has made official LEGO storage products under license since 2010. Its Storage Brick 8 is an oversized eight-stud brick about 50 by 25 by 18 cm that stacks like a real one: LEGO Storage Bricks on Amazon.
Sets that come in their own storage box
LEGO's larger Classic brick boxes come in a plastic storage box with a lid, so the bricks and their storage arrive together. They are a sensible starting point for a young builder.
Large Creative Brick Box: classic bricks in 33 colors with windows, doors and baseplates, in a plastic storage box with a lid.
Medium Creative Brick Box: bricks in 35 colors with plenty of wheels for vehicles, in a plastic storage box with a lid.
Keep each set together
If you take sets apart and might rebuild them, keep each set's parts in a bag or tub labelled with its set number, and keep the instruction booklet with it. LEGO also publishes digital instructions in its LEGO Builder app, so a missing booklet is not the end of a set. A set kept together this way is easy to rebuild, sell or pass on, and our Missing Piece Checker helps you find out what is missing before you do.
Clean before you store
LEGO's own advice for dirty bricks is to wash them by hand in water no hotter than 40°C (104°F), with a mild detergent if needed, rinse them in clear water and let them air dry. Never put them in a washing machine or dishwasher, and never dry them in an oven, a microwave, with a hair dryer or in direct sunlight, because heat can warp them. Make sure everything is completely dry before it goes into a closed box.
Related guides
Use Our Tools to Go Further
Get more insights about the sets mentioned in this article with our free LEGO tools