*Additional* *tip* to save time looking for the right drawer (or bin): affix a LEGO plate to the front of each drawer, then put one of each element you can find in that particular drawer on the plate. It's easy to change if the contents of the drawer change, you can use white plate to better blend with the ALEX drawers, and you can even use Command strips (though I'd recommend filling the back of the plate in with a mouldable glue like Sugru to get more surface area if you do) if you don't want to commit to using the drawers for LEGO forever!
Yep at 4:44! About 10 years ago I bought 4 sets of plastic drawers from Target with slots for LEGO plates built into the front of each drawer :) They also came with removable divider trays inside.
I live for the sorting and organizing of my Lego collection! I love buying a bulk lot from Ebay and sorting through it, identifying pieces for specific sets, figuring out what pieces are missing, ordering the pieces online and creating full sets. LOVE IT. The sorting and organizing and the pulling together a set from the pieces is so fun for me. I'm surprised Lego hasn't gotten into providing different storage ideas and marketing them. Edit to add: All of us middle-aged ladies would love that!
I am glad you made this video, especially for those young lego fans reaching the point at which they might make the leap and sort their lego! I actually just resorted my lego a couple months ago by brick type. Growing up, like most kids, I did not have my lego sorted at all. When I was 14 I thought I wanted to be a lego designer for a living(I would still love this job, but my values are starkly different from those of the lego brand, so I don’t think I would be in place there) so I sorted my lego pieces the way I thought lego designers would. By this time, I had four huge bins meant for clothing simply filled with miscellaneous lego elements. I dumped out one bin at a time and sorted into eight large drawers and then used lego cups for remaining organization. I separated out my minifigures and sorted bricks by color. It worked quite well for me given that I didn’t have that many of any one color, and compared to not having my parts sorted, sorting by color was much better because I could see how many of a color I had and that would help me decide what I wanted to build. In fact, I would say it changed the way I built lego entirely! That said, I am nineteen years old now and for the last year I have wanted to resort by part type because I felt it would make it easier to build more complex mocs. Sure enough, it has been easier to build! However, I am in college and living with my parents so I have one room for my desk, my bed, my clothes, my books, my lego display shelves, and my lego building, so I don’t yet have room for your kind of set up. I currently have the same eight drawers holding part types of which I have the most(slopes and wedges in one drawer, 2x bricks in another, 2x plates in another, etc( and any additional types of parts are held in lego cups. This is not ideal, because I have to dump out the contents to access the pieces, but it has been cost effective for a long time considering the cups come free when I buy parts. I think however that I’m going to make the leap again soon and buy an organization for my other parts.
Take a look at some of Art Bin's products. They design for crafters (who always have things to sort) and have, for instance, small compartment drawers like he shows at the beginning of the video _but_ theirs have dividers within each drawer so you can get more sorting use out of them. Try hot gluing a LEGO plate to the front of each drawer, then putting one of each element you have in the drawer on the plate. You can still reorganize that way, but you can better put to use the depth of some organizers if you don't have to worry you'll forget what ended up in the back.
@@Eu023 I’m not looking to share the details of my belief system here because I don’t feel those details are not relevant to this, but suffice it to say that I have a different understanding of morality and virtue compared to Lego. I don’t hate lego, but I don’t think I’d be welcome working there.
Due to severe space constraints, I use plastic bags to sort pieces by shape. Pieces of the same shape go into a small ziploc bag, then all bags of a shape type (plates, for example) go into a large ziploc bag. I don't recommend this method if you don't already have a lot of plastic ziploc bags, but this system has two distinct advantages--the transparent bags make it easy to find the right piece, and the squishy bags let you pack a lot of bricks into a compact space.
This is similar to my approach. I have 6 drawers of legos, which each contain some broad category (e.g.: bricks, beams, gears...), and those drawers are sub-compartmentalized with bags like this. Great compromise between space and cost vs access.
Clear plastic baggies are a part of my Lego storage system as well. I also use $.99 6-Quart clear plastic shoe boxes. One of them holds all my 1x bricks and 1x1s are in one baggie, 1x2s are in the next baggie, 1x3s are in the next baggie, you get the picture. I write with a Sharpie directly on the bag. Some of my other pieces are in small-parts-organizers from Home Depot. I love the sorting process. It is even more fun than building to me! Is that wrong? ;)
I love this idea and I considered using it myself... until I remembered we have a excess of Tupperware containers! Now I'm glad I didn't get around to decluttering them yet lol.
Great video Tiago. Love it. I’ve been telling people DON’T SORT IN COLOR for years. People do it because it’s so easy for our brain. BUT THATS THE POINT. Sort by piece and then let your brain find the color while building because it’s SOOO good at it. That’s how you build quick.
It never even occurred to me to sort by color. It doesn't make it easier to find things, it makes it harder. I sorted by type from day one. If you have the space to sort by color and type then I could understand.
I only use parts from the original Classic Space Sets - there are 777 different parts if you include the colour variations. I do sort them by colour and keep them in large plastic boxes, however within those large boxes there are zip-lock plastic bags - one for every type of part. So when I want to find a part, I first go to the box for the colour I need, pull out some of the bags and sift through them until I find the bag for the part I need. It works perfectly for me. I don't own any drawers to store my LEGO parts in - large or small.
Don't know if anyone mentioned this, but take a color photo of what's in the drawer, print it off and tape it to the front of the drawer. A handy visual clue to what's inside!
I love having my bricks sorted but I have learned that u also want a tray of random unsorted parts that u can skim through to spark ideas. This is a MUST!!!!!
Something I have done to save space is to stack the bricks together. For plates I stair step them back and forth one stud so they are easy to separate. This method cut down my bins by 1/3 to 1/2! I don’t have a large enough collection to dedicate a bunch of drawers and little dividers… yet!
I would be concerned about the long term effect of having bricks stacked this way, though I must say it’s very difficult to prove. You may save space but question if you’re doing any harm to the parts.
I typically stack just like that when I'm sorting for a build. I do something similar for oddly-shaped bricks/plates, like semi-circular ones, or the kind of angled plates/bricks with the one angled edge. I don't really have an unbuilt collection yet, but would likely do the same long-term.
@@seamarie3111 Older bricks sure enough suffer by that, but the more recent ABS formulations seem to make for bricks which keep their shape just fine. Key thing, if you're going to leave them out in the open, is to always keep them away from direct sunlight.
I really appreciate how you manage to pack so much knowledge into all your vids and specially when you incorporate the family aspect/angle which frankly doesnt get talked about enough when arranging your lego room or space! I think its so important that the place you’re building is aesthetically pleasing and Lego sets can look like visual clutter very easily. Love all your content, best of luck and always enjoy these kinds of videos!
I've become a firm believer that no ONE method is realistic for a medium or larger collection. Essentially what you've done is close to what my final plans are, having some bins for sorting out the bigger pieces, and theme pieces, while using (art deco boxes & tackle boxes for me in drawer like fashion) shelving style storage for sorting the rest. I do NOT want Lego to completely take over the room we are moving them too, so I did not want to even entertain the nuts & bolts sorter method that I see most Lego YTers use. What was really cool though was seeing what Lego actually uses, something I've always been curious about myself.
I'm a noob and a pro lol. Constantly buying new bins to rearrange and sort my bricks. It's scary how similar we all are when it comes to these things. Fantastic video
I can understand why not to sort by color, and I might try it. I think most people sort by color because it is visually more harmonious, seeing the colors sorted out says "organized" more than seeing everything multi-colored, even when the parts are all the same, the mind just sees chaos and not order. One of my favorite courses in art school was color theory, but we never discussed organization through colors and how the brain processes that. Edit to add- if time is money, then you should be as organized as possible, but I dont mind a little searching, there is something enjoyable about it to me. By organizing into color then categories (not specific types) it still lets me hunt and search a bit but not too long.
I also like to experience a little bit of 'the thrill of the hunt' and when I find the piece I'm searching for, I feel fulfilled, delighted and accomplished. But I can also get frustrated if 'the hunt' takes too long, so I try to stay organized. :)
It is an incredible coincidence ... i had all mi pieces divided by colors ..... and two weeks ago i found myself thinking "what a waste of time" ... and i went to Ikea i bought several transparent boxes and i started separating all bricks by type!!!! And now you have made this video !!! Just wow
Agree. Sort by type and function. Here's a suggestion if you have limited space:put pieces that are VASTLY different in function, but not size the same space. You can share, for example 1x8 tiles and 2x8 plates. 2x2 slopes and 2x2 corner bricks. You won't confuse them by searching. Also, why not go 'dynamic' regarding the strictness of your sorting? Means, whatever piece types you have a lot of, sort them strictly; few of quantity (but different functions of course) you can put together in teh same place.
I finally settled on this - combination of not having a dedicated room and storage capacity. My collection not so big so I have some combined - eg 1x4 and 1x6 together, but 1x2 separate so they don’t get smothered by larger plates. It’s dynamic so if there are eg a lot of grey parts (from Star Wars sets) they are in their own section so the smaller number of coloured parts don’t get lost.
I have a lot of parts, but I actually do sort by color, asides for around two dozen things I keep separate. As a MOC builder, it makes me more creative to look through rather than just for one certain piece
that first sorting example is actually quite ideal for bionicle moccists! bionicle parts (+ccbs and some technic) are often smaller and much easier to organize compared to the decades long part library you find with system lego.
THANK YOU!! I have just introduced Lego to my toddler, he is loving it, the collection is starting to grow and for the past week I started to experiment with some sorting approaches that have not worked properly because I can see my little guy staring to get frustrated looking for the specific piece and eventually loosing the idea he was working on. THANKS AGAIN
After watching your earlier lego sorting video, I went and bought my first ALEX and it's been such an immediate improvement to my collection! The con of it not opening fully is really minor compared with the rest of the usable space. For now I shove my weird shaped pieces (sorry vidiyo beatboxes) and the small overflow of other ones also in ziplock baggies. Sorting by shape has always been my prefered method of sorting as well. It's as you said in the vid, way easier to find a specific colour usually. Thank you for all your great insights into the deeper aspectes of this hobby!
Your original studio tour from a couple of years ago when you first started setting up in your own home, is what inspired my current system. I do use several Alex drawers and I love them for the exact reason you mention! I do however have quite a few parts cabinets on the wall above them, and I love them too! It is true each little drawer you open is time, multiplied. But it works for me and doesn't slow me down really.
Big thanks for the video! A few days ago, my dad and I were discussing about how to sort my lego in our new apartment. Later, I quickly thought of your studio tour in 2020. These drawers require less space then the typical black drawers. And what a coincidence that you just made this video!
One tip I'd like to share for others about the drawers technique (my personal favorite) is that you will probably get used to what is in which drawer. If you organize like, one line for 1x1 variations, the lower one for technic pins (sorted by color or shape) you'll get the hang of it. Aside from that there's also the idea to cut building instructions and placing a tape on each drawer, so it'll be labeled! I know it might hurt, but it's still an option, I used my older booklets, the ones that are all folded and lost lmao. But either way, hope this can help a bunch of people, just like this video! It's definitely pleasing to see a beautifully organized collection.
Not entirely correct 😕 he meant not to sort ONLY BY COLOR. If you sort by color you should also sort by piece. Or you'll be left digging for days as they all are the same color.
he's sorting by piece, so both by colour and shape. However, if you don't have enough pieces for it to be worth sorting like that (like he shows in the video for example at 4:49) you want to sort by shape rather than by colour
Glad I just found this... I'm a casual beginner builder and nobody warns you about the pre-build sorting. PLUS if you build 'third party' sorting becomes even more important - I'm just starting a COBI build and not one of the many bags included in the box are numbered!!! So sorting is a must. I came to the same conclusion - that flat compartmentalised tray boxes are the best way to go, and I sort by size/shape and NOT colour. A great video for the beginner, because even if you are just making small projects sorting is still a skill that makes the hobby less stressful, thanks!
2:40 What I did to fix this problem was to get a picture of the pieces from either online or the last page of a Lego instruction booklet, Cut it out and paste them on the tiny cabinet
I think sorting your collection depends on how many parts you have and how different your parts are. And important to overthink your sortingsystem by growing your collection.
Indeed, it depends a lot on what percentage of your colleciton you keep built, the size of the unbuilt part and wether you do MOCs. A young kid's collections sorted by color works fine and is simple. It'd be weird ot have 2000 pieces in 200 boxes.
Not to mention just your own personal preferences. I don't mind digging for a specific part, so I'm fine just having mine sorted by color. Then again I'm the sort of person who just dumps all the parts out of a bag when building large sets and searches for them as I need them. Other people sit there and meticulously sort them all before they start building, so if you're someone like that you might prefer having them arranged by type.
For me and my kid, the bin is a rubbermaid container. I used to call it the "amnesty bin". When you're done with a build, you can just junk it into the bin for later sorting, without feeling bad about doing so, since that's the purpose of the bin. Nowadays, he started calling it the "nightmare bin" since it's where we end up going to find pieces since we're LONG overdue for sorting. ;D
We will sort from there by color, but really as a first step. Then they get sorted by type and size later. Because having it by color is better than the nightmare bin. ;D
I have a bin sized collection, which I have only recently started to organize with limited space. One of the methods I have found for bricks is sort stack builds. Gather the type of brick and build them into a mass or column and put them back in the bin. For smaller pieces, resealable bags, crafting organizers, and set canisters work for containers.
I've tried using the Ikea Alex with little compartments before, but I switched to using organizers like the ones at 1:38 (I highly recommend the ones from Stanley. they're transparent and the handles don't block the view, so you know exactly what's in each and every drawer even from a distance) and after a few months of having them at my building table, reaching for parts got intuitive. I can focus on what i'm building and the parts basically appear in my hands like magic. It's like grabbing the last few parts of a numbered bag when building a LEGO® set, except for the entire build. imagine having a bunch of sorted piles of individual elements, but layed out horizontally and without adjacent piles getting mixed up. With an Ikea Alex, i have to open at least three large drawers when trying to find something, since nothing is visible from the outside when they're closed. Also, when the compartments inside the drawer are taller than wide, it's really hard to get the pieces out.
The crawling around on the floor crying that I couldn't find a piece was exactly what pushed me to start organizing my Lego. I also very quickly decided I would rather organize by part type not color. Because I recognized that I could find the color I wanted in a drawer faster than I could find a specific part in a pile of the same color. Unfortunately, I am using a lot of Sterilite and Arko-mills drawers currently. It was the first and most obvious solution I could find to start with. It may not be the fastest system, but it is infinitely better than the big bin of random parts. When I move into a larger place, I will have to consider getting some Ikea drawers.
Sorting by type definitely makes sense. However, for me at least, sorting by color first is an absolute must. I've not quite gotten into MOCS, but when building sets I need to sort by color, or else I won't find anything. I'm partially blind, so it's just easier for me to keep things color-sorted. I also like to stick together bricks/plates of the same kind type and color when sorting, so they're even easier to find later. I might try sorting by type, THEN color on my next build, though, based on your type-based recommendation. 👍🏼
You don't "open and close" small drawers. You pull them out and place them before you. Works well enough for small scale (vertical storage place is easier to come by more often than not), but as scale grows, normal sized drawers take the cake.
This is my dream of building space. So practical. My kids have their bin with the very colorful pieces. I have bought some locking stackable hardware storage solutions for now. I can sort by color and part type. Eventually when I have space and my kids are older we will transition into a similar storage solution as yours. The containers lids can come off and I can place them in a drawer. One day!!!
I still sort by color because I make mocs based on color scheme, so I just pick up blueish dark grey, blueish light grey, and black for the base then purple and red pieces for the color scheme.
Very useful video! Finally I won't have a mess of bricks on my floor xD Btw can you make a video for how to start a lego collection like getting pieces and making the collection as a beginner?
"Do not sort by color!" I have recently returned to Lego after a break of about 50 years, and wish I had watched this before my last but one build. From ebay I bought a "used" Palace Cinema set, and when it arrived it was just broken down as four main assemblies, So I broke it down to individual pieces and sorted and stored by colour, and experienced exactly the problems outlined: the 1x1 tiles etc always drop to the bottom of the container. When I dismantled the cinema to construct a MOC, I found it much easier to sort the pieces by both color and type. For storage, I use a mix of plastic takeaway containers from the local Chinese restaurant, and small self-seal plastic bags. This will work while my collection is small and a lot is on display as completed models, but I foresee it developing as the collection grows.
NO WAY! I just started watching your channel yesterday because i dug up my old Lego pieces and sorted them all by color and piece and then you upload this a day later
Yes - Do NOT sort by color! I went in a different direction - I looked at the Alex drawers but the wasted space bugged me so went with the Helmer Ikea drawer and the Glis Bins to go inside - I like to be able to pull out the whole drawer and take it with me. And the same Ikea clear bins for over stock, large parts, etc. Stacked on the Omar shelves. Still have some small drawer units kicking around for small qty parts that can sit right on my work table.
I can advise the IKEA NOJIG organizers instead of the hardware store bins. They are cheaper and fit neatly in a 6x3 grid (in case of the smallest organizer sizing 10 x 10 x 5 cm) within an ALEX drawer. Because the trays are removable, this setup is very flexible and you can take trays that you need many parts of with you to your building area. For quite some parts I don't have enough to sort them by part, so I can't avoid merging. Again, the fact that the trays are removable is great, as I simply tip the trays into a larger container to find the right parts, then pour it back in the smaller tray and place it in the drawer. I tried hardware store assortment boxes and, although the smaller compartments allow for more precise sorting, I found it difficult to dig through the pieces when filled and thus a limitation that I could not simply tip a tray over. Great video, Tiago. It convinced me to buy the ALEX drawers now I am rediscovering, and sorting (!), my childhood LEGO.
I feel like sorting by color is awesome for people that just want to build and don't care about finding that perfect piece just want to color match their entire build even if it will looks pretty crappy. It is also much more friendly towards those that have much smaller collections that you don't mind sifting through and don't have massive collections that take up an entire room. When you get into more complex builds that have a lot more parts that aren't visible then yes sorting by something other than color is the way to go.
Want to use the back of those drawers as well? Get some special drawer slides from Home Depot etc. Attach them to the drawers instead of the stock units (or however it came). Then you can pull the drawers out all the way. This is what I have on my tool chest set up.
I've just brought a whole heap of Lego Sets. When I started my first one I sorted by colour but by the time I got to my 6th set I started sorting by colors then the brick type within each colour. I realised the reason I didn't get into Lego much as a kid was because it was always a big box mixed with Legos of all types. Fun but give my a brand new set with instructions and where I have to pit things in order first then start the actual steps towards the build and I'm in heaven!
I love to see how much your channel has grown. Its amazing to see that you are still going and have more than 300 k subs. I used to watch all the time when you just started the channel.
I 100% agree that the method of using drawers with dividers is best for being most convenient for finding parts, but it probably also has the highest cost. What drawers do you recommend to use while not spending a fortune?
Adam Savage's Lego sorting video was so frustrating when he said a Lego expert he knows told him to first sort everything by color, then go from there...
I just built the rolling garage door using your tutorial and it was a delight! It was my first ever LEGO build. I only have very few LEGOS and I am glad to have found this video. Keep up the awesome content my friends!!
I don’t have a huge collection so I design based on what I have available. So for bricks and other large pieces I like to sort by color because it helps me easily see how many pieces of a certain color I have, which is the limiting factor of the size of the MOCs I make. Then I sort studs, small tiles & plates, special modified bricks, technic, and hinge pieces all by type instead of color. The large pieces sorted by color are loose in drawers and tubs, and the small/special pieces are in divided trays inside of drawers. This system works well for me!
I’ve arrived at your same conclusions, Tiago. Excellent to hear it coming from someone of your experience level as yours dwarfs mine. Thank you!! Oh, and agreed… NEVER BY COLOR! 😁🙏
About ten years ago, I sorted all my Lego pieces for the first time. Previously, they had just been in a single huge storage bin. I had accumulated a lot of random bricks from garage sales, hand-me-downs, and disassembled sets. I had a pretty big collection, a desire to sort it, but I did not have a lot of wall space. Because of this, I opted to sort by color into about 18 categories using the very similar Ikea trofast storage system. Although sorting by color wasn't ideal for all the reasons he mentioned in his video, it was still 1000 times better than having my pieces in a single bin. I think sorting by color is a good starting point for people who are limited by space and have a decently sized collection (when I say decently sized, I mean around 30-100Ibs of Lego). Beginning to sort a collection is an especially daunting task, especially if you start by part type. Since I first sorted my collection ten years ago, I have gotten more bins and further sorted out the more important pieces by part type, such as cheese slopes and 1x1 cylinders. It's important to note that there are over 50,000 different lego elements, so sorting by piece will require much more individual spaces. I don't think sorting by color is by any means an end solution, but it's not fair to say you should NEVER sort by color. It's still better than doing nothing at all, and you can always further divide your pieces up from there.
Something like the 3D printed parts organisers that Alexander Chapel designed would be really useful for that draw system. It’s a grid based system that gives you multiple sizes that all merge together to make good use of space.
What I'd suggest with the bins of the same color is to put together each kind of brick in a stack of each kind and plates in perpendicularly alternating stacks to make sure they're easy to separate when you need some of them. It would be similar to putting a specific kind of connector on a single rod with K'nex, like I've done.
Yep! That or a sewing/craft box! I don't use my little boxes for a collection, per se, but for my insane overload of tiny spare studs, slopes, pegs, and such.
I haven't played with legos for years, but they were a big part of my childhood. It's a little funny for me hearing the emphasis "Do not sort by color." As a kid, I arrived at the same conclusion, but for a different reason. I was what you may call "aesthetically impaired." Color? Useless. I was all about structure. I wanted to build a castle. It didn't matter how many colors it was made of. Spaceships? Robots? Even better. They're practically begging for funky colors.
Thank you so much, this Video came just in time for my own collection! The amount of LEGO is getting out of control and I'm past the point of putting it in these black framed cabinets with little drawers... I don't have a dedicated LEGO room (yet), so it will be nice to have it stored in a better way. Off to IKEA I go!
A trick I've come to use for keeping my pieces sorted when I can't make individual compartments, is to stack all pieces of the same type and color together. That way instead of my tray of red bricks just being this disorganized pile, it's a stack of 1x4 red bricks, a stack of 2x4 red bricks, et cetera. Of course the usefulness of that is gonna depend a lot on the amount of bricks you have
I’ve just started sorting after years of using legos in random bins with random pieces, I sort by part type like technic, or technic bricks and plates, I can say it’s a definite help
Just in these days I was going to buy the hardware organizers and fatality yesterday I went to Ikea but I did not notice your furniture, but now that I know that it must be there I will definitely take it, thank you very much for helping me!
I appreciated the video as this is something that is important to enjoying all ones bricks. I went to Harbor Freight and bought two of their small parts organizers. Sorted by part type. One of the parts organizers has very large trays. I separated one by ones, one by two’s, all the other one by’s, all blocks, and sloped blocks. We just started with Lego so we only have around 2 to 3 thousand pieces.
I use the nuts/bolts drawers for small pieces like 1x1 plates and their office counterpart (sized to store papers) for larger parts. That works out nicely for me. I think it's essential to be able to see the pieces from the outside.
I'm so glad to hear that my instinct was right. Organize by type, not color! I had started to waffle over this, but now I have no doubt based on what you said here. We got back into Lego this past week. We only had 4 bins to start with, so our categories were "basic b*tches", "Special", "teeny tiny", and "flats". Now I'm getting more containers so I can organize more effectively! Part of the fun is digging for me though, and sometimes I find a piece I didn't think to use and it ends up working out better. So I probably won't get quite as detailed in my organization as you lol, even though you're right, it's super satisfying to look at!
Im in middle school and im glad you made this video for some of the younger fans like me that are dum dum when it comes to organizations this caused me to clean up my desk and build a solution
Going through the hell of sorting my childhood collection by type and then piecing out every set so I can keep/sell my old sets. It feels dumb but I basically have to do everything in this video just to undo it again
i’m currently in the middle of a post-move lego organization, and we already have a skinny lego drawer piece like this. i was originally going for the mini drawer plastic cabinets, but this is a great idea, bravo
I use these: " *Washi Tape Storage Keeper by Simply Tidy* " (Michaels), it is a transparent briefcase carrier with 4 stackable trays, each tray divided into 5 long compartments. Get a few of these, works for a medium-sized collection: bring up, open, unstack trays, build, stack back, close, store out of view, done.
I’ve been using Sterilite drawers for a long time to organize my LEGO collection and just started to sort into the smaller hardware drawers to separate out some of the special functional pieces (clips, balls and sockets, etc.). I haven’t done much building out rod the smaller drawer system yet, but I can already see how it can be limiting and inefficient to find pieces that way. What I do like for Technic pieces in particular are the Stanley-style or Sortimo-style organizers that have varying compartment sizes that can be removed for building. That system is really nice when building functional mechanisms like ball machines and automata. What I would love to do is create an organization system like Alexandre Chappel has done with his custom drawers and inserts to provide every part with a home that is easily accessible with hardly any wasted space in each drawer.
I am very jealous of those who have the discipline to sort parts into drawer organizers! I have too many LEGO MOC projects going on at once and it could sound like ADD...but if I get stuck on something I just jump over to working on another MOC and so on. If I’m building a Star Wars ship it helps to sort by color since red is used for the frame, grey and tan for the hull and white for corridors. If I spent time sorting beyond color my time for building would be limited since I’m a slow builder.
Great video! I have my bricks sorted in small cabinets with five drawers. Each cabinet contains one colour and each drawer contains either studs, plates, tiles, bricks and slopes. Idk if this is actually considered as "sorting by colors", but my collection isn't really big and it works pretty good. Thanks for the tips that will certainly come useful when my collection expands!
I have my smaller bricks sorted by type in big organizers but also by color by putting them in small ziplock bags to make sure they don't get mixed up. I used to have small loom-strap cases to put in my smaller pieces but getting them out was pretty hard when they were at the very bottom so I only use them for pre-sorting and large quantities of the same piece now.
I have just a small collection of LEGO so I sort by color. The reason is because I save space and I know which pieces I have and the I can experiment with them versus if I would have to search by type. And I dont have any PC programmes. And your sorting method is brilliant btw :D.
Agree with type+color sorting for the most common colors! However, as a colorblind all elements (except bricks and big plates) in one box is an option for the more rare (and less distguisable) colors is the way to go!
Nice Tipps. I saw You mixed dark and light bluesh grey in one box an d red an orange in another. I recommend mixing one grey with red and the other grey wirt orange. You might find the colours you need quite faster and easier.
Great video! I recently turned my dining room into a LEGO display room and while it’s mostly IVAR IKEA shelves, I grabbed one of the ALEX cabinets for sorting - And I’m obsessed! LEGO used to make sorting trays that I have a bunch of and they fit perfectly inside the ALEX too! Sorting is always a pain but it’s also amazing? 😅 Oh also, DO sort by color if you have millions of Round 1x1 tiles!
I love having my bricks sorted but I have learned that u also want a tray of random unsorted parts that u can skim through to spark ideas. This is a MUST!!!!!
Small Tupperware containers are ideal for the small bits :). As well as the small inner plastic bags that come with the sets nowadays not the big ones with the numbers on them lol
All of my lego spaceship mocs (currently over 50) where build out of "the bin". Or in my case "the pile" I start off by looking through it, then ideas come and Off it goes. While skimming trough the pile searching for a piece i need i find other parts that give other ideas. I think i Like it that way
PLANO tackle boxes are great for this. They have many different sizes translucent boxes. I have been boxing mine by set, one box is flat plates, small box for the smaller pieces, one box for technic, everything else in another box.
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Do NOT sort by color...
Buy LEGO to support the channel ❯ bit.ly/3ZCkguS
LOL!!!
Okay thanks👍
@Tiago Catarino Oh I did, but only for my extra pieces box. I don’t have any other Lego to sort. I mostly keep them built.
UnderStood i did it (not by colour) but by piece
Oh except fake ones they’re just staying in the same place for years
*Additional* *tip* to save time looking for the right drawer (or bin): affix a LEGO plate to the front of each drawer, then put one of each element you can find in that particular drawer on the plate.
It's easy to change if the contents of the drawer change, you can use white plate to better blend with the ALEX drawers, and you can even use Command strips (though I'd recommend filling the back of the plate in with a mouldable glue like Sugru to get more surface area if you do) if you don't want to commit to using the drawers for LEGO forever!
Instead of using actual bricks, you can also print images on stickers. Now you can still use the bricks.
This is exactly what is done in lego designers' building spaces, if you pay close attention, you'll notice exactly what you described in the video
Yep at 4:44!
About 10 years ago I bought 4 sets of plastic drawers from Target with slots for LEGO plates built into the front of each drawer :) They also came with removable divider trays inside.
me n my dad when i was 5 used this 90's auto printer to print stickers on to the boxes with names
Dude. This helps so MUCH and I do not even MOC or sort LEGO... Thanks, Tiago! The professional in you is what this community needs!
I live for the sorting and organizing of my Lego collection! I love buying a bulk lot from Ebay and sorting through it, identifying pieces for specific sets, figuring out what pieces are missing, ordering the pieces online and creating full sets. LOVE IT. The sorting and organizing and the pulling together a set from the pieces is so fun for me. I'm surprised Lego hasn't gotten into providing different storage ideas and marketing them. Edit to add: All of us middle-aged ladies would love that!
I’ve got a huge Lego collection that needs sorting and I find the process to be a real drag. Do you charge by the hour?
@@Lukusprime 1500 US dollars per hour is my charge.
I am glad you made this video, especially for those young lego fans reaching the point at which they might make the leap and sort their lego! I actually just resorted my lego a couple months ago by brick type. Growing up, like most kids, I did not have my lego sorted at all. When I was 14 I thought I wanted to be a lego designer for a living(I would still love this job, but my values are starkly different from those of the lego brand, so I don’t think I would be in place there) so I sorted my lego pieces the way I thought lego designers would. By this time, I had four huge bins meant for clothing simply filled with miscellaneous lego elements. I dumped out one bin at a time and sorted into eight large drawers and then used lego cups for remaining organization. I separated out my minifigures and sorted bricks by color. It worked quite well for me given that I didn’t have that many of any one color, and compared to not having my parts sorted, sorting by color was much better because I could see how many of a color I had and that would help me decide what I wanted to build. In fact, I would say it changed the way I built lego entirely! That said, I am nineteen years old now and for the last year I have wanted to resort by part type because I felt it would make it easier to build more complex mocs. Sure enough, it has been easier to build! However, I am in college and living with my parents so I have one room for my desk, my bed, my clothes, my books, my lego display shelves, and my lego building, so I don’t yet have room for your kind of set up. I currently have the same eight drawers holding part types of which I have the most(slopes and wedges in one drawer, 2x bricks in another, 2x plates in another, etc( and any additional types of parts are held in lego cups. This is not ideal, because I have to dump out the contents to access the pieces, but it has been cost effective for a long time considering the cups come free when I buy parts. I think however that I’m going to make the leap again soon and buy an organization for my other parts.
Respect, writing such a long comment
@@legobrixz much appreciated :)
What do you mean with “my values are starkly different from those of the LEGO brand”?
Take a look at some of Art Bin's products. They design for crafters (who always have things to sort) and have, for instance, small compartment drawers like he shows at the beginning of the video _but_ theirs have dividers within each drawer so you can get more sorting use out of them.
Try hot gluing a LEGO plate to the front of each drawer, then putting one of each element you have in the drawer on the plate. You can still reorganize that way, but you can better put to use the depth of some organizers if you don't have to worry you'll forget what ended up in the back.
@@Eu023 I’m not looking to share the details of my belief system here because I don’t feel those details are not relevant to this, but suffice it to say that I have a different understanding of morality and virtue compared to Lego. I don’t hate lego, but I don’t think I’d be welcome working there.
Due to severe space constraints, I use plastic bags to sort pieces by shape. Pieces of the same shape go into a small ziploc bag, then all bags of a shape type (plates, for example) go into a large ziploc bag. I don't recommend this method if you don't already have a lot of plastic ziploc bags, but this system has two distinct advantages--the transparent bags make it easy to find the right piece, and the squishy bags let you pack a lot of bricks into a compact space.
This is the approach I have currently. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
This is similar to my approach. I have 6 drawers of legos, which each contain some broad category (e.g.: bricks, beams, gears...), and those drawers are sub-compartmentalized with bags like this. Great compromise between space and cost vs access.
Clear plastic baggies are a part of my Lego storage system as well. I also use $.99 6-Quart clear plastic shoe boxes. One of them holds all my 1x bricks and 1x1s are in one baggie, 1x2s are in the next baggie, 1x3s are in the next baggie, you get the picture. I write with a Sharpie directly on the bag. Some of my other pieces are in small-parts-organizers from Home Depot. I love the sorting process. It is even more fun than building to me! Is that wrong? ;)
and it's cheap!
I love this idea and I considered using it myself... until I remembered we have a excess of Tupperware containers! Now I'm glad I didn't get around to decluttering them yet lol.
Great video Tiago. Love it. I’ve been telling people DON’T SORT IN COLOR for years. People do it because it’s so easy for our brain. BUT THATS THE POINT. Sort by piece and then let your brain find the color while building because it’s SOOO good at it. That’s how you build quick.
I sort by color. Personally I build faster that way because I always know where what is.
I always always sort by color. Even LEGO Basic Creator sets are sorted by colors.
Sort by piece and color
@@Codypro134 if you don't have a lot of every lego piece this probably isn't worth it
It never even occurred to me to sort by color. It doesn't make it easier to find things, it makes it harder. I sorted by type from day one. If you have the space to sort by color and type then I could understand.
I only use parts from the original Classic Space Sets - there are 777 different parts if you include the colour variations. I do sort them by colour and keep them in large plastic boxes, however within those large boxes there are zip-lock plastic bags - one for every type of part. So when I want to find a part, I first go to the box for the colour I need, pull out some of the bags and sift through them until I find the bag for the part I need. It works perfectly for me. I don't own any drawers to store my LEGO parts in - large or small.
1:42
2% of Tiago’s LEGO Collection...
Big fan bro
Ahem. 0.2%
@@TiagoCatarino Lmao sounds about right!
@@TiagoCatarino no 0.00002%
@@TiagoCatarino😂
I just even love sorting legos as an activity. My creativity is boosted when they are not so organized, too.
Yeah I gotta agree that creativity goes up as efficiency goes down when it comes to lego 🤣
Don't know if anyone mentioned this, but take a color photo of what's in the drawer, print it off and tape it to the front of the drawer. A handy visual clue to what's inside!
I love having my bricks sorted but I have learned that u also want a tray of random unsorted parts that u can skim through to spark ideas. This is a MUST!!!!!
yeah I also do that :D
Something I have done to save space is to stack the bricks together. For plates I stair step them back and forth one stud so they are easy to separate. This method cut down my bins by 1/3 to 1/2!
I don’t have a large enough collection to dedicate a bunch of drawers and little dividers… yet!
I would be concerned about the long term effect of having bricks stacked this way, though I must say it’s very difficult to prove. You may save space but question if you’re doing any harm to the parts.
I typically stack just like that when I'm sorting for a build. I do something similar for oddly-shaped bricks/plates, like semi-circular ones, or the kind of angled plates/bricks with the one angled edge. I don't really have an unbuilt collection yet, but would likely do the same long-term.
@@bdilalla Just curious, how would stacking bricks like that damage them? I mean, you connect when building, so...
@@seamarie3111 Older bricks sure enough suffer by that, but the more recent ABS formulations seem to make for bricks which keep their shape just fine. Key thing, if you're going to leave them out in the open, is to always keep them away from direct sunlight.
@@benrowlinson my bricks are from 30 years ago and I stacked them together and they are still having great shape
Just what I needed Tiago!
I really appreciate how you manage to pack so much knowledge into all your vids and specially when you incorporate the family aspect/angle which frankly doesnt get talked about enough when arranging your lego room or space! I think its so important that the place you’re building is aesthetically pleasing and Lego sets can look like visual clutter very easily. Love all your content, best of luck and always enjoy these kinds of videos!
I've become a firm believer that no ONE method is realistic for a medium or larger collection. Essentially what you've done is close to what my final plans are, having some bins for sorting out the bigger pieces, and theme pieces, while using (art deco boxes & tackle boxes for me in drawer like fashion) shelving style storage for sorting the rest. I do NOT want Lego to completely take over the room we are moving them too, so I did not want to even entertain the nuts & bolts sorter method that I see most Lego YTers use. What was really cool though was seeing what Lego actually uses, something I've always been curious about myself.
Tackle box! What a novel idea! I might have to consider that!
The Lego advent calendar trays are perfect for dots, 1x1 round plates and cheese wedges. I've been using them like that for a couple of years.
I'm a noob and a pro lol. Constantly buying new bins to rearrange and sort my bricks. It's scary how similar we all are when it comes to these things. Fantastic video
I can understand why not to sort by color, and I might try it. I think most people sort by color because it is visually more harmonious, seeing the colors sorted out says "organized" more than seeing everything multi-colored, even when the parts are all the same, the mind just sees chaos and not order. One of my favorite courses in art school was color theory, but we never discussed organization through colors and how the brain processes that. Edit to add- if time is money, then you should be as organized as possible, but I dont mind a little searching, there is something enjoyable about it to me. By organizing into color then categories (not specific types) it still lets me hunt and search a bit but not too long.
I also like to experience a little bit of 'the thrill of the hunt' and when I find the piece I'm searching for, I feel fulfilled, delighted and accomplished. But I can also get frustrated if 'the hunt' takes too long, so I try to stay organized. :)
I find it interesting that the fact that not sorting by colour and looking less organised is specifically what makes it more efficient
It is an incredible coincidence ... i had all mi pieces divided by colors ..... and two weeks ago i found myself thinking "what a waste of time" ... and i went to Ikea i bought several transparent boxes and i started separating all bricks by type!!!! And now you have made this video !!! Just wow
Agree. Sort by type and function. Here's a suggestion if you have limited space:put pieces that are VASTLY different in function, but not size the same space. You can share, for example 1x8 tiles and 2x8 plates. 2x2 slopes and 2x2 corner bricks. You won't confuse them by searching. Also, why not go 'dynamic' regarding the strictness of your sorting? Means, whatever piece types you have a lot of, sort them strictly; few of quantity (but different functions of course) you can put together in teh same place.
Me who doesn't have enough lego to be sorted...
😢
One day
I have a decent amount of Lego, but most of it is just built sets
I have to many in giant tubs I can’t sort it all I am on day 5
Me who has to much to be sorted😢
I finally settled on this - combination of not having a dedicated room and storage capacity. My collection not so big so I have some combined - eg 1x4 and 1x6 together, but 1x2 separate so they don’t get smothered by larger plates. It’s dynamic so if there are eg a lot of grey parts (from Star Wars sets) they are in their own section so the smaller number of coloured parts don’t get lost.
I have a lot of parts, but I actually do sort by color, asides for around two dozen things I keep separate. As a MOC builder, it makes me more creative to look through rather than just for one certain piece
that first sorting example is actually quite ideal for bionicle moccists! bionicle parts (+ccbs and some technic) are often smaller and much easier to organize compared to the decades long part library you find with system lego.
THANK YOU!! I have just introduced Lego to my toddler, he is loving it, the collection is starting to grow and for the past week I started to experiment with some sorting approaches that have not worked properly because I can see my little guy staring to get frustrated looking for the specific piece and eventually loosing the idea he was working on. THANKS AGAIN
“he came back when the world needed him the most”
After watching your earlier lego sorting video, I went and bought my first ALEX and it's been such an immediate improvement to my collection! The con of it not opening fully is really minor compared with the rest of the usable space.
For now I shove my weird shaped pieces (sorry vidiyo beatboxes) and the small overflow of other ones also in ziplock baggies.
Sorting by shape has always been my prefered method of sorting as well. It's as you said in the vid, way easier to find a specific colour usually.
Thank you for all your great insights into the deeper aspectes of this hobby!
Hobby? It’s like a religion lol
Your original studio tour from a couple of years ago when you first started setting up in your own home, is what inspired my current system. I do use several Alex drawers and I love them for the exact reason you mention! I do however have quite a few parts cabinets on the wall above them, and I love them too! It is true each little drawer you open is time, multiplied. But it works for me and doesn't slow me down really.
Big thanks for the video! A few days ago, my dad and I were discussing about how to sort my lego in our new apartment. Later, I quickly thought of your studio tour in 2020. These drawers require less space then the typical black drawers. And what a coincidence that you just made this video!
The beginning of this video totally feels like an “as seen on TV” commercial and it’s hilarious!
One tip I'd like to share for others about the drawers technique (my personal favorite) is that you will probably get used to what is in which drawer. If you organize like, one line for 1x1 variations, the lower one for technic pins (sorted by color or shape) you'll get the hang of it.
Aside from that there's also the idea to cut building instructions and placing a tape on each drawer, so it'll be labeled! I know it might hurt, but it's still an option, I used my older booklets, the ones that are all folded and lost lmao.
But either way, hope this can help a bunch of people, just like this video! It's definitely pleasing to see a beautifully organized collection.
Tiago: Never sort by color!
Also Tiago: sorts everything by color 🤨
Not entirely correct 😕 he meant not to sort ONLY BY COLOR. If you sort by color you should also sort by piece. Or you'll be left digging for days as they all are the same color.
😉
he's sorting by piece, so both by colour and shape. However, if you don't have enough pieces for it to be worth sorting like that (like he shows in the video for example at 4:49) you want to sort by shape rather than by colour
Glad I just found this... I'm a casual beginner builder and nobody warns you about the pre-build sorting. PLUS if you build 'third party' sorting becomes even more important - I'm just starting a COBI build and not one of the many bags included in the box are numbered!!! So sorting is a must. I came to the same conclusion - that flat compartmentalised tray boxes are the best way to go, and I sort by size/shape and NOT colour. A great video for the beginner, because even if you are just making small projects sorting is still a skill that makes the hobby less stressful, thanks!
2:40 What I did to fix this problem was to get a picture of the pieces from either online or the last page of a Lego instruction booklet, Cut it out and paste them on the tiny cabinet
I sorted by color
Well you only use grey anyways so I guess that works :p
i thought the title said: Snorting LEGO Like a PRO. LOL
I think sorting your collection depends on how many parts you have and how different your parts are. And important to overthink your sortingsystem by growing your collection.
Indeed, it depends a lot on what percentage of your colleciton you keep built, the size of the unbuilt part and wether you do MOCs.
A young kid's collections sorted by color works fine and is simple. It'd be weird ot have 2000 pieces in 200 boxes.
Not to mention just your own personal preferences. I don't mind digging for a specific part, so I'm fine just having mine sorted by color. Then again I'm the sort of person who just dumps all the parts out of a bag when building large sets and searches for them as I need them. Other people sit there and meticulously sort them all before they start building, so if you're someone like that you might prefer having them arranged by type.
That scenario in the beginning is soo relatable
For me and my kid, the bin is a rubbermaid container. I used to call it the "amnesty bin". When you're done with a build, you can just junk it into the bin for later sorting, without feeling bad about doing so, since that's the purpose of the bin. Nowadays, he started calling it the "nightmare bin" since it's where we end up going to find pieces since we're LONG overdue for sorting. ;D
We will sort from there by color, but really as a first step. Then they get sorted by type and size later. Because having it by color is better than the nightmare bin. ;D
You have convinced me. I’m transitioning from the hardware bins storage system to the Ikea style storage bins.
I have a bin sized collection, which I have only recently started to organize with limited space. One of the methods I have found for bricks is sort stack builds. Gather the type of brick and build them into a mass or column and put them back in the bin. For smaller pieces, resealable bags, crafting organizers, and set canisters work for containers.
I've tried using the Ikea Alex with little compartments before, but I switched to using organizers like the ones at 1:38 (I highly recommend the ones from Stanley. they're transparent and the handles don't block the view, so you know exactly what's in each and every drawer even from a distance) and after a few months of having them at my building table, reaching for parts got intuitive.
I can focus on what i'm building and the parts basically appear in my hands like magic.
It's like grabbing the last few parts of a numbered bag when building a LEGO® set, except for the entire build.
imagine having a bunch of sorted piles of individual elements, but layed out horizontally and without adjacent piles getting mixed up.
With an Ikea Alex, i have to open at least three large drawers when trying to find something, since nothing is visible from the outside when they're closed.
Also, when the compartments inside the drawer are taller than wide, it's really hard to get the pieces out.
The crawling around on the floor crying that I couldn't find a piece was exactly what pushed me to start organizing my Lego. I also very quickly decided I would rather organize by part type not color. Because I recognized that I could find the color I wanted in a drawer faster than I could find a specific part in a pile of the same color. Unfortunately, I am using a lot of Sterilite and Arko-mills drawers currently. It was the first and most obvious solution I could find to start with. It may not be the fastest system, but it is infinitely better than the big bin of random parts. When I move into a larger place, I will have to consider getting some Ikea drawers.
Sorting by type definitely makes sense. However, for me at least, sorting by color first is an absolute must. I've not quite gotten into MOCS, but when building sets I need to sort by color, or else I won't find anything. I'm partially blind, so it's just easier for me to keep things color-sorted. I also like to stick together bricks/plates of the same kind type and color when sorting, so they're even easier to find later.
I might try sorting by type, THEN color on my next build, though, based on your type-based recommendation. 👍🏼
You don't "open and close" small drawers. You pull them out and place them before you. Works well enough for small scale (vertical storage place is easier to come by more often than not), but as scale grows, normal sized drawers take the cake.
The simpliest sorting mechanizm : normal lego and lego technic.
This is my dream of building space. So practical. My kids have their bin with the very colorful pieces. I have bought some locking stackable hardware storage solutions for now. I can sort by color and part type. Eventually when I have space and my kids are older we will transition into a similar storage solution as yours. The containers lids can come off and I can place them in a drawer. One day!!!
I still sort by color because I make mocs based on color scheme, so I just pick up blueish dark grey, blueish light grey, and black for the base then purple and red pieces for the color scheme.
Very useful video! Finally I won't have a mess of bricks on my floor xD
Btw can you make a video for how to start a lego collection like getting pieces and making the collection as a beginner?
"Do not sort by color!"
I have recently returned to Lego after a break of about 50 years, and wish I had watched this before my last but one build. From ebay I bought a "used" Palace Cinema set, and when it arrived it was just broken down as four main assemblies, So I broke it down to individual pieces and sorted and stored by colour, and experienced exactly the problems outlined: the 1x1 tiles etc always drop to the bottom of the container.
When I dismantled the cinema to construct a MOC, I found it much easier to sort the pieces by both color and type. For storage, I use a mix of plastic takeaway containers from the local Chinese restaurant, and small self-seal plastic bags. This will work while my collection is small and a lot is on display as completed models, but I foresee it developing as the collection grows.
NO WAY! I just started watching your channel yesterday because i dug up my old Lego pieces and sorted them all by color and piece and then you upload this a day later
Yes - Do NOT sort by color! I went in a different direction - I looked at the Alex drawers but the wasted space bugged me so went with the Helmer Ikea drawer and the Glis Bins to go inside - I like to be able to pull out the whole drawer and take it with me. And the same Ikea clear bins for over stock, large parts, etc. Stacked on the Omar shelves. Still have some small drawer units kicking around for small qty parts that can sit right on my work table.
I can advise the IKEA NOJIG organizers instead of the hardware store bins. They are cheaper and fit neatly in a 6x3 grid (in case of the smallest organizer sizing 10 x 10 x 5 cm) within an ALEX drawer. Because the trays are removable, this setup is very flexible and you can take trays that you need many parts of with you to your building area. For quite some parts I don't have enough to sort them by part, so I can't avoid merging. Again, the fact that the trays are removable is great, as I simply tip the trays into a larger container to find the right parts, then pour it back in the smaller tray and place it in the drawer.
I tried hardware store assortment boxes and, although the smaller compartments allow for more precise sorting, I found it difficult to dig through the pieces when filled and thus a limitation that I could not simply tip a tray over.
Great video, Tiago. It convinced me to buy the ALEX drawers now I am rediscovering, and sorting (!), my childhood LEGO.
I feel like sorting by color is awesome for people that just want to build and don't care about finding that perfect piece just want to color match their entire build even if it will looks pretty crappy. It is also much more friendly towards those that have much smaller collections that you don't mind sifting through and don't have massive collections that take up an entire room.
When you get into more complex builds that have a lot more parts that aren't visible then yes sorting by something other than color is the way to go.
Want to use the back of those drawers as well? Get some special drawer slides from Home Depot etc. Attach them to the drawers instead of the stock units (or however it came). Then you can pull the drawers out all the way. This is what I have on my tool chest set up.
But be careful not to pull too many of them out, as it will topple the cabinet.
I've just brought a whole heap of Lego Sets. When I started my first one I sorted by colour but by the time I got to my 6th set I started sorting by colors then the brick type within each colour. I realised the reason I didn't get into Lego much as a kid was because it was always a big box mixed with Legos of all types. Fun but give my a brand new set with instructions and where I have to pit things in order first then start the actual steps towards the build and I'm in heaven!
Welcome back Tiago
0:20 it's scary by just how relatable this is.
I love to see how much your channel has grown. Its amazing to see that you are still going and have more than 300 k subs. I used to watch all the time when you just started the channel.
I 100% agree that the method of using drawers with dividers is best for being most convenient for finding parts, but it probably also has the highest cost.
What drawers do you recommend to use while not spending a fortune?
Adam Savage's Lego sorting video was so frustrating when he said a Lego expert he knows told him to first sort everything by color, then go from there...
Darn it!!! I just spent my weekend sorting by colour
RIP
I just built the rolling garage door using your tutorial and it was a delight! It was my first ever LEGO build. I only have very few LEGOS and I am glad to have found this video. Keep up the awesome content my friends!!
Where do you get the dividers for the drawers?
I use a combination of all of these methods lol.
269 different bins (we counted), and it's quite confusing if you're not used to it...
I don’t have a huge collection so I design based on what I have available. So for bricks and other large pieces I like to sort by color because it helps me easily see how many pieces of a certain color I have, which is the limiting factor of the size of the MOCs I make. Then I sort studs, small tiles & plates, special modified bricks, technic, and hinge pieces all by type instead of color. The large pieces sorted by color are loose in drawers and tubs, and the small/special pieces are in divided trays inside of drawers. This system works well for me!
Great video Tiago! You caught me at a great time. I just started an overhaul of my sorting system. I picked up some awesome tips from this! 🔥
I’ve arrived at your same conclusions, Tiago. Excellent to hear it coming from someone of your experience level as yours dwarfs mine. Thank you!! Oh, and agreed… NEVER BY COLOR! 😁🙏
About ten years ago, I sorted all my Lego pieces for the first time. Previously, they had just been in a single huge storage bin. I had accumulated a lot of random bricks from garage sales, hand-me-downs, and disassembled sets. I had a pretty big collection, a desire to sort it, but I did not have a lot of wall space. Because of this, I opted to sort by color into about 18 categories using the very similar Ikea trofast storage system. Although sorting by color wasn't ideal for all the reasons he mentioned in his video, it was still 1000 times better than having my pieces in a single bin.
I think sorting by color is a good starting point for people who are limited by space and have a decently sized collection (when I say decently sized, I mean around 30-100Ibs of Lego). Beginning to sort a collection is an especially daunting task, especially if you start by part type. Since I first sorted my collection ten years ago, I have gotten more bins and further sorted out the more important pieces by part type, such as cheese slopes and 1x1 cylinders. It's important to note that there are over 50,000 different lego elements, so sorting by piece will require much more individual spaces. I don't think sorting by color is by any means an end solution, but it's not fair to say you should NEVER sort by color. It's still better than doing nothing at all, and you can always further divide your pieces up from there.
Something like the 3D printed parts organisers that Alexander Chapel designed would be really useful for that draw system.
It’s a grid based system that gives you multiple sizes that all merge together to make good use of space.
What I'd suggest with the bins of the same color is to put together each kind of brick in a stack of each kind and plates in perpendicularly alternating stacks to make sure they're easy to separate when you need some of them. It would be similar to putting a specific kind of connector on a single rod with K'nex, like I've done.
For your bricks, organize them by brick SIZE, mixing all of the colors. It's easy to spot the desired color, especially with clear bins.
For a smaller collection, a fishing tackle box (or 2 or 3) with fold-out organizer drawers can work like the drawer solution in miniature :)
Yep! That or a sewing/craft box! I don't use my little boxes for a collection, per se, but for my insane overload of tiny spare studs, slopes, pegs, and such.
I haven't played with legos for years, but they were a big part of my childhood.
It's a little funny for me hearing the emphasis "Do not sort by color."
As a kid, I arrived at the same conclusion, but for a different reason.
I was what you may call "aesthetically impaired." Color? Useless.
I was all about structure. I wanted to build a castle. It didn't matter how many colors it was made of.
Spaceships? Robots? Even better. They're practically begging for funky colors.
Thank you so much, this Video came just in time for my own collection!
The amount of LEGO is getting out of control and I'm past the point of putting it in these black framed cabinets with little drawers...
I don't have a dedicated LEGO room (yet), so it will be nice to have it stored in a better way. Off to IKEA I go!
A trick I've come to use for keeping my pieces sorted when I can't make individual compartments, is to stack all pieces of the same type and color together. That way instead of my tray of red bricks just being this disorganized pile, it's a stack of 1x4 red bricks, a stack of 2x4 red bricks, et cetera. Of course the usefulness of that is gonna depend a lot on the amount of bricks you have
Minecraft style!
I’ve just started sorting after years of using legos in random bins with random pieces, I sort by part type like technic, or technic bricks and plates, I can say it’s a definite help
What’s the names of the drawers that you use? Could you provide the link?
Just in these days I was going to buy the hardware organizers and fatality yesterday I went to Ikea but I did not notice your furniture, but now that I know that it must be there I will definitely take it, thank you very much for helping me!
I appreciated the video as this is something that is important to enjoying all ones bricks. I went to Harbor Freight and bought two of their small parts organizers. Sorted by part type. One of the parts organizers has very large trays. I separated one by ones, one by two’s, all the other one by’s, all blocks, and sloped blocks. We just started with Lego so we only have around 2 to 3 thousand pieces.
I use the nuts/bolts drawers for small pieces like 1x1 plates and their office counterpart (sized to store papers) for larger parts. That works out nicely for me. I think it's essential to be able to see the pieces from the outside.
I'm so glad to hear that my instinct was right. Organize by type, not color! I had started to waffle over this, but now I have no doubt based on what you said here.
We got back into Lego this past week. We only had 4 bins to start with, so our categories were "basic b*tches", "Special", "teeny tiny", and "flats". Now I'm getting more containers so I can organize more effectively!
Part of the fun is digging for me though, and sometimes I find a piece I didn't think to use and it ends up working out better. So I probably won't get quite as detailed in my organization as you lol, even though you're right, it's super satisfying to look at!
Im in middle school and im glad you made this video for some of the younger fans like me that are dum dum when it comes to organizations this caused me to clean up my desk and build a solution
I struggle with Lego organizing. This is the best video with the best advice ever!
My OCD approves of your sorting. The Ikea solution you made is beautiful!
Going through the hell of sorting my childhood collection by type and then piecing out every set so I can keep/sell my old sets. It feels dumb but I basically have to do everything in this video just to undo it again
i’m currently in the middle of a post-move lego organization, and we already have a skinny lego drawer piece like this. i was originally going for the mini drawer plastic cabinets, but this is a great idea, bravo
I use these: " *Washi Tape Storage Keeper by Simply Tidy* " (Michaels), it is a transparent briefcase carrier with 4 stackable trays, each tray divided into 5 long compartments. Get a few of these, works for a medium-sized collection:
bring up, open, unstack trays, build, stack back, close, store out of view, done.
I’ve been using Sterilite drawers for a long time to organize my LEGO collection and just started to sort into the smaller hardware drawers to separate out some of the special functional pieces (clips, balls and sockets, etc.). I haven’t done much building out rod the smaller drawer system yet, but I can already see how it can be limiting and inefficient to find pieces that way. What I do like for Technic pieces in particular are the Stanley-style or Sortimo-style organizers that have varying compartment sizes that can be removed for building. That system is really nice when building functional mechanisms like ball machines and automata.
What I would love to do is create an organization system like Alexandre Chappel has done with his custom drawers and inserts to provide every part with a home that is easily accessible with hardly any wasted space in each drawer.
I am very jealous of those who have the discipline to sort parts into drawer organizers! I have too many LEGO MOC projects going on at once and it could sound like ADD...but if I get stuck on something I just jump over to working on another MOC and so on.
If I’m building a Star Wars ship it helps to sort by color since red is used for the frame, grey and tan for the hull and white for corridors. If I spent time sorting beyond color my time for building would be limited since I’m a slow builder.
Great video! I have my bricks sorted in small cabinets with five drawers. Each cabinet contains one colour and each drawer contains either studs, plates, tiles, bricks and slopes. Idk if this is actually considered as "sorting by colors", but my collection isn't really big and it works pretty good. Thanks for the tips that will certainly come useful when my collection expands!
I have my smaller bricks sorted by type in big organizers but also by color by putting them in small ziplock bags to make sure they don't get mixed up. I used to have small loom-strap cases to put in my smaller pieces but getting them out was pretty hard when they were at the very bottom so I only use them for pre-sorting and large quantities of the same piece now.
I have just a small collection of LEGO so I sort by color. The reason is because I save space and I know which pieces I have and the I can experiment with them versus if I would have to search by type.
And I dont have any PC programmes.
And your sorting method is brilliant btw :D.
Agree with type+color sorting for the most common colors! However, as a colorblind all elements (except bricks and big plates) in one box is an option for the more rare (and less distguisable) colors is the way to go!
Nice Tipps. I saw You mixed dark and light bluesh grey in one box an d red an orange in another. I recommend mixing one grey with red and the other grey wirt orange. You might find the colours you need quite faster and easier.
Great video! I recently turned my dining room into a LEGO display room and while it’s mostly IVAR IKEA shelves, I grabbed one of the ALEX cabinets for sorting - And I’m obsessed! LEGO used to make sorting trays that I have a bunch of and they fit perfectly inside the ALEX too! Sorting is always a pain but it’s also amazing? 😅 Oh also, DO sort by color if you have millions of Round 1x1 tiles!
Where can I find these trays that fits perfect? Pls tell me
attention!!! some images and sequences in this video are extremely satisfying!
I love having my bricks sorted but I have learned that u also want a tray of random unsorted parts that u can skim through to spark ideas. This is a MUST!!!!!
Small Tupperware containers are ideal for the small bits :). As well as the small inner plastic bags that come with the sets nowadays not the big ones with the numbers on them lol
I find that I like to start with one piece that I think looks interesting and build off it
All of my lego spaceship mocs (currently over 50) where build out of "the bin". Or in my case "the pile"
I start off by looking through it, then ideas come and Off it goes. While skimming trough the pile searching for a piece i need i find other parts that give other ideas. I think i Like it that way
I have a bunch of bins/containers with separators and it helps a lot but I’m always out of ideas
My other half calls this the 'oooh' box 😂
PLANO tackle boxes are great for this. They have many different sizes translucent boxes. I have been boxing mine by set, one box is flat plates, small box for the smaller pieces, one box for technic, everything else in another box.