How do you store lego?

[BoysRule]

My DS1 loves lego and has quite a few boxes where you make specific models following the instructions. I don't know how to store all of these though!

Once he has made them he pretty much doesn't play with them as they are in the box and I don't want them to get mixed up. However, I am not sure if I should just put it all together and mix up the sets. If I don't do that, I need to find a way of storing it. I know that lego make storage boxes that look like bits of lego - however, I am reluctant to buy one to store each set as that would take up a lot of room and cost a lot.

Do you mix yours up in one big box? If not, how do I keep them separate but so he can easily access them (but his little brother can't!)

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We have this table with 16 of the green baseboards stuck to the top which covers the whole surface. Then anything built that they are still playing with sits on top and the rest goes in the storage in the centre of the table (two halves slide apart). Personally if I tried to store them in sets the kids would just mess them up trying to create something new anyway.

We don't store individual sets as such, but all lego Star Wars is together as is lego city etc. we have some of the Lego shaped storage boxes and other stuff is in ikea trofast boxes. I like to think I've taught DS to be a bit anal about keeping stuff separate (in storage, not play), but actually, I think it's quite innate with him

Chuck it all into a big crate. They do find all the really fiddly pieces, honestly. Far too much faff to try to keep things separate.

That storage table is a great idea. Our lego is in numerous Fairy tubs plus an ikea compartment box. There's no system

My hubby made this (Ikea Trofast & lego plates & put onto casters). We have one drawer for people, one for other bits like wheels, one for instructions then the rest are sorted into colours (red & yellow, black & white, blue & green, yellow + grey). It's fab & my boys spend so much more time playing lego now they have a dedicated workstation (& I secretly love sorting the pieces)

Eta that's not our actual one but this was our inspiration

We have something very similar to PhoebeMcPeePee.

The best fun with lego is using imagination to create your own models so we don't keep sets as sets. We have a drawer for all of the instructions (some of them go back to my own childhood). If the children fancy rebuilding a set, they can easily find the pieces as they are sorted into colours/wheels/windows/'special pieces' in separate containers/drawers.

We have 8 (yes I do mean 8!!) of these:

www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9051036.htm

and around 10 of these:

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60239584/

plus some other random crates.

It's all mixed in together and it needs to be sorted and sold but I can't face it :(

In terms of play value, it's much better mixed imo. However it does become a nightmare with a life of its own....

I have to say the underbed storage is probably the best - it has lids so keeps it clean and dust free and because it is wide and shallow, it makes looking for small pieces easier.

We have 8 (yes I do mean 8!!) of these:

www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9051036.htm

and around 10 of these:

www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/60239584/

plus some other random crates.

It's all mixed in together and it needs to be sorted and sold but I can't face it sad

In terms of play value, it's much better mixed imo. However it does become a nightmare with a life of its own....

I have to say the underbed storage is probably the best - it has lids so keeps it clean and dust free and because it is wide and shallow, it makes looking for small pieces easier.

I've got some of my old one instructions & pieces too including some strangely large headed people

yes, forgot to add that we two drawers full of instructions too

I tried for a year or two to keep lego organised, but when we moved a few months ago I just thought sod it and chucked it all in together... So far no one has noticed!
Like you say OP, the lego you get now (in small sets to build a specific model) hardly gets played with after it is made!

Phoebe
We have the large headed people too but they are missing bodies and lacking some of their arms!
We also have lots of Fabuland characters which have animals heads and lego legs and are slightly larger then normal Lego mini figures.

Wow Phoebe, I badly want one of those!!

We use trofast too - a drawer for instructions, one for large pieces, one for small pieces, one for special bits (windows, wheels etc), and one for instructions. The stuff that isn't part of a set (inherited from various family members) is just in a Really Useful storage box. It works so far, but DD is getting about a billion new sets of Lego for her Christmas present, we may need to expand the storage to cope :o

The Fabuland stuff is strange, we have tons of it.

That is absolute genius Phoebe - I think that's going to be DS's xmas present (with some Lego obviously!)

We are going to add a top on it (thankfully used tape rather than glue for the lego boards) to make it bigger for more space and an overhang will allow them tuck their legs under like a table.