Today I would like to show you a project I have been following since the beginning of the year. Flickr member atkinsar took up the task of converting a garage into a full-fledged LEGO room. I believe his project could help other LEGO fans who have been dreaming about having a dedicated LEGO room all for themselves. 🙂
The space you are planning to use for your LEGO room might be different, but the task remains the same; how to store those still sealed LEGO sets and loose LEGO elements, and showcase all your favorite LEGO models and minifigures in a way that is functional and doesn’t look cluttered.
Atkinsar’s space for a LEGO room was a small garage with a dimension of L 6.55m x W 2.31m x H 2.11m (that’s 21.49 x 7.58 x 6.92 feet). He had to start out with clearing out the garage, then installing insulation, plasterboard walls, flooring, lighting, etc. I won’t get into details on all of that, but you can check out atkinsar’s flickr gallery for pictures on each step. (UPDATE: flickr gallery has been removed).
To get a sense of the LEGO room’s design and plan out what he needed, atkinsar created 3D renders of the LEGO room layout, using a free software program called SketchUp.
Shelving was installed at the back wall of the LEGO room to store all the sealed LEGO sets. And on both sides Expedit bookshelves
To display his LEGO polybag collection atkinsar also added a slatwall section to his LEGO room, and there are also individual open shelves for showcasing larger LEGO models, minifigs, etc.
There are many other neat details in atkinsar’s LEGO room; storage for loose LEGO elements, a LEGO mosaic sign on the door, and folder-cabinets for storing LEGO instruction books.
If you are interested to create your own LEGO room, you can check your local home-improvement store for various shelving and storage options. Amazon also has a good selection of the exact same Expedit storage-shelves
What do you think? How do you like the LEGO room featured here? And how about yours? Do you have a dedicated LEGO room, or at least a LEGO corner or closet? Are you happy with how your LEGO is stored, organized and displayed? Or are you planning to make improvements? Feel free to share and discuss in the comment section below! 😉
You might also like to check out the Care & Feed of LEGO section for more storage and display ideas or select from the following related posts:
Whoa. Amazing.
Also for all on Instagram,my name is Legomasterj.
Just followed you!
I’ll check you out!
WICKED! THIS IS A WORK OF ART!
Now this is awesome. If I could do that I’d do it! Of course without all the work 😉
I don’t have a lego room but occasionly I put some lego in the extra room for a couple weeks.I just got a desk to put lego on and im now gonna buy these shelves to put lego on!Thx!
I have a LEGO room! my room… no not really. 🙁 I wish I had a LEGO room. THEY ARE SO AWESOME! I’ve never been in one, but I’ve seen pictures, they are cool. I might have one when I get older. 🙂
Wow! I would love to visit that room. Now if I can get my room organized…
exactly Allen, precisely…
My room just has boxes of Legos on the bed. XD
I sleep on the couch in my room.
Oh yeah!! his is the beez kneez!!! I would love those cubbies with the lighting and the glass to protect my collection from dust.
Yeah, I also really like those cubbies. It is really clever to use a bookshelf sideways! 😛
Is that what they are??? Very nice.. I need about a 5×5 for my medium sets.
BTW I got the Superman Vs. Power Armor Lex set last night.. it’s a MUST HAVE!!!
Hm… I have been wondering about that set… if I should pick it up. 🙂
I have those but never thought of using the inserts. Made a note of this and plan to get some. Nice looking room also.
i want one but theres sone problems 1. we dont have a garage 2. i cant afford it 3. im too young 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 why is the world so unfair
lol! Agreed! We don’t have a garage either, but we’re moving to CO in April so we might get a garage!
Benny, it doesn’t have to be a garage. It could be a closet, or just a corner of a room. 😉
it could be a corner of I room! I did not know that! too bad the only corner in my room is where my bed is. and my parents wont let me decorate my room. and the side with all the corners is my sister’s side… SO UNFAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! don’t mind me, I’m just goanna go have a pity party in my room. 🙁
There is actually another LEGO room project I’m planning to feature here sometime in the futre; it is built inside a closet. It is really excellently done. That might work better for you. 😉
thanks admin! nice tip!
Hey admin,
I think you should make a TBB instagram account! It would be awesome! 🙂 I’m sure I would follow it!
BTW, I think it would be awesome to have a LEGO room! But, I’m just a kid almost a teen so it will be another 10 or so years before I get my own house. 🙁
Hm… what’s so special about Instagram? I keep hearing about it, but it just sounds like another fad. TBB is already on Facebook, Google, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Pinterest… any reason we should be on Instagram too? If you think it is a good idea and you can convince me I will consider it. 😉
Well it’s a photo sharing site/app and you can post some of your MOC pictures but to be honest I’d personally stick with what you’ve got. There is probably a low amount of instagrammers that exclusively have just that and are into LEGO. You already have a wide range of audience “catchers” like FB and stuff but Instagram may increase popularity of this site by a small amount. Speaking of which if I get my friends to subscribe and follow and go on this site-do I get brownie points? 😀
Um there’s a huge lego community full of mocers,and lego fan pages!
I have heard that a lot of MOC-ers migrated to Instagram after those horrible changes that happened on Flickr. 😕
Okay, I will look into it. I don’t have too much extra time to maintain yet another social account, but if yo guys help out with a bit of promotion it should be worth it. As far as brownies, I’m making chocolate-chip cookies today, so how about that? 😉
Yay cookies!!! 😀
Speaking of which LEGO should do cookies it could just be a round plate with chip printing 🙂 soooo cool
Minifigs don’t need cookies. They are already overweight. 🙄
Well send them to brick-watchers
😀
It’s a lot easier and it’s made your your phone! I just got it recently so I’m not an expert, but man is it fun! Plus Instagram is more of a kid thing than Facebook or Twitter ect. LEGO also has their own Instagram and they have 61,061 followers and Instagram says they have over 130 million users. It’s free and like Chi-bacca said it may increase viewers on the site a little, but it’s a little and a little is more that nothing! It’s super easy too! I would suggest it. 🙂
What’s your username?Mines Legofanatic15
Cool! If LEGO is on Instagram I will definitely check it out! 😀
Get one!I will give you a shoutout if you do!
Thanks, I will look into it – probably this evening. 🙂
Let us know if you get one! I’m nathan_k743 BTW!
Oh… I just checked and I don’t have a device Instagram would work with. I have a laptop, a tablet, and a generic cell-phone, and Instagram is not compatible with any of them. It says on their website they are only compatible with iOS and Android devices. So yeah, looks like I will have to wait until I upgrade my phone. 🙁
You have a private user right?
I was talking to Nathan
yup!
What do you mean?
What kind of tablet do you have? An ipad or a nexus or something else
Actually both of my computers are convertible tablets. But the larger one I mainly use as a laptop (my main computer) and the small one I use mostly in tablet mode when I travel. Both of them are Fujitsu Lifebook T Series. I love Fujitsu computers; they have been making tablets and convertibles with gorgeous touch-screens long before anyone else. My first Fujitsu tablet was from 2005! 🙂
Oh well!
yes! thank you admin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not to get over excited though 😉
Does a large floor to ceiling bookcase and a normal one filled with lego, with two big clear boxes of LEGO and numerous little ones under my bed which has a lego duvet on majority of the time, lego posters (courtesy of my sister who works in WHSmiths 😀 oh and I bet I’ve got one that no one else does- its a minifigures series nine advertisement poster-basically the print on the packaging which comes to a point at the bottom) and Lego on the floor so you can’t get to the window count as a LEGO room? Cause thats mine. LOL
Yeah, that sounds like a bonafide LEGO room to me. 😛
I’ve got comics on the floor so you can’t get to the window…
I probably need to find me a cheap bookshelf… =/
LOL 😀
My room is pretty awesome but it doesn’t half get hot in there even when it’s raining! Oh and I’ve got a celebrations tub and 2 small clear boxes of minifigures and a lot of others around the place 😀 they’re the only organised LEGO objects I have! Licensed in one and normal in the other two.
Awesome! I might do this with my shed. but will probable use it for brickfilming.
The bookshelf idea I’ve been doing and closet. I have a garage but, full of non LEGO stuff ( how boring). As for displaying LEGO sets I can only do one big set or a couple small sets. I rotate sets every couple of months at a time . It also helps me keep the dust bunnies down.
Hey Admin. This will be the first post I will use for my assignment. Wish me Luck 😉
Oops misspelled my Email> :opps: I did great
Ah, atkinsar’s LEGO room. My favorite Polybag collector.
I never really catch that Instagram craze either, admin. As you can see on my Contributor’s Page, I’m not someone who keeps on Social Networks…
You know, since I’ve moved to an apartment, I’ve actually been allowed to use an unused room for a LEGO room once We’re totally settled. I’ve got some great, ambitious,(possibly expensive) plans for it.
Fikko, I added that polybag picture there just for you. 😉
If you decide to make your own LEGO room, I highly recommend planning everything ahead before spending any money. I don’t have a LEGO room, only a LEGO wall and a LEGO closet, but even with just that I know I have spent more then I could have if I planned better as I have redone the whole set-up at least twice. I think carpenters have a saying; something like “measure twice, cut once”. I found that to be a very useful advice. 😛
I actually already have everything planned out; problem is, I was envisioning some kind of a shelf with a glass case to keep the sets from getting dusty, with a magnetic wall to keep magnets. Of course, I’ll have to get it custom made, which isn’t too big of a problem, If only you don’t live in the 30th floor. I was also hoping for a table, not sure of the specifics, to do all my building and robot-MOCing. Also a drawer which will store some of my current projects, Spares and LEGO media. I will also aim for a table with space for my Preciousss laptop, a printer AND a light box to do my pictures. I’m not sure where to buy a light box, and it’s probably over my budget, so I’ll settle with the makeshift one from the tips from this site.
Hm… sounds like a good plan. I have personally decided to stay with open shelves as I like to tinker with my finished projects all the time. I only have to dust them off twice a year. I use one of those compressed air bottles and a brush. And I live in a one-story house with the windows always open. So don’t be afraid of open shelves. It is not such a big job to keep your displayed LEGO clean. 🙂
As far as a light box, I got mine on eBay and I’m very happy with it. Not very big, but I never needed bigger. And it packs away into it’s own case. It was like $30, comes with the lightbox with interchangable backgrounds and two spot-lights. Here is a current listing to give you an idea how it looks: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-PHOTO-STUDIO-TENT-PHOTOGRAPHY-CUBE-BOX-LIGHT-KIT-/190682714014?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c65934f9e
What happened to my comments?
Never mind
It’s cool, but, as others have implied, it’s really hard to do something like this in a big city where space is limited…
Well, yeah, works as inspiration, I guess…
Unfortuanately, I have neither the space or the moola for my lego room ='(
(and the people at walmart say they wont take monopoly money)
Also, I feel kinda sad now ='( I never have collected sets or kept them together ='( I bust into them and build other randomness ='( WAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
P.S. I can just make a lego-room/corner out of my personal living area and sleep on the porch, so dont feel too sorry for me
=)
There are set lists availabe at sites like Peeron or Brickset though, if you’d be willing to sorting them out.
Although if you’re more into building randomness, you might not think it’ll be worth the effort, anyway.
Not keeping your sets together is perfectly fine. Not everybody does. I’m a free-builder too and rarely keep sets together. Only the ones I really-really like, and even then I tweek them and improve them. There are many ways to enjoy the LEGO hobby. 😉
This is a really cool room! I wouldn’t really want a room for only displaying sets and models and minifigs but a room like this for building in….I could like. 🙂
If any wants to know the ikea grid shelves come in manysizes but the opening are all 13×13 inches I believe. But when you build them you could probably just skip putting in some of the shelves to make then 13×26, for taller mocs
Faron, good idea! 😀
Love the space he created and noticed the plastic bins he uses. Any recommendation on where to buy those? Thanks
Oops missed the info on the link my apologies.
No problem, any other questions just let me know. 😉
What are the storage shelves/bins, (the plastic drawer units what have 3 darers) in the Ikea shelving? Where do you get those?
Sarah, they are by a company called Really Useful Boxes. I think they are based in the UK, but you can get some of their storage boxes on Amazon: Really Useful Boxes
They are expensive, but fit the Ikea selving system perfectly, and they are very modular and configurable. In this LEGO room the 4 liter boxes were used (see Amazon link above – I think it is the third item from the top) with some hobby trays added also made by the same company. Also, some of the 9 liter boxes were used for more storage.
This is a nice LEGO room, it must have been expensive though.
I myself sadly only have half a LEGO room(yes i know it sounds weird) but it can fit my collection. Also it is neatly sorted so I don’t have problems with it yet.
Not sure if this is still an active site. Just came across this as I am looking how to display my son’s Lego sets. Can you tell me where you purchased the display shelves (like the one the space shuttle is on?) I’ve noticed alot of shelves are 4 in or less wide and this looks maybe a bit wider? Or I may have to do the bookshelf thing. Thx!
Colleen, atkinsar did not mention the type of shelves he used, but you can contact him via his flickr gallery (link in post). It’s also possible that they are custom built.
A great Lego room. I am building a similar place in my house, a room in the attic with dimensions of 4×8 meters. It will be dominated mainly by Lego City sets 😉