Does a lack of space mean a lack of Legos?

[SWMAN]

I have recently gotten back into Legos after moving from Missouri to Florida. Unfortunately, I got rid of all my Legos when I moved, so I have just started buying Castle and Star Wars sets. In my old house I have a huge shelving unit that allowed for a large display of Legos, so I was able to buy and display whatever I wanted. Now that I have moved, there is no room for a large shelving unit. I am limited to the top of a dresser and a small desk. I wish to purchase more Clone Wars sets to recreate a large battle, but simply do not have the room for every set I want. Just wondering if others have encountered this dilemma and how/if you have solved it.

[prateek]

same here i dont have any space for lego so i rarely buy any sets now

[SWMAN]

same here i dont have any space for lego so i rarely buy any sets now

I have a bad habit now of buying what I can't find space for. I had to totally rearrange the sets in my room, putting my Castle sets packed together in order to get room for my Star Wars.

[Kliq]

I certainly have this same problem as well. Eventually I had to line the floor in front of my dresser, entertainment center, bookshelf, desk, any other outlining floor space with sets. I did have some outlining my bed, but after too many wrong steps, they had to go.

[Faramir]

What I do is a type of rotation. I obviously can't fit it all, so when I run out of room, I take some of the either older (or somewhat less-loved) sets and take them apart. These days I choose to sort the bricks, but you could just find some kind of large storage container for loose bricks.

Hope I helped

[Eilif]

If you're wanting to do a large scale diorama, you may be out of luck, but if you are into MOC'ing, then there may be hope. A good sorting system can enable you to keep your pieces relatively compact. If you are willing to build a MOC, photograph it, and then disassemble it you'll be ok.

Even in my room that is dedicated mostly to LEGO, I have to be pretty choosy about what get's displayed as there isn't as much space as I'd like.

[mania3]

I've got a large display area for my stuff, but I just keep sets that I'm not currently displaying sorted, separated, and stored. No matter how big the space is you can fill it up with enough LEGO sets. Living in a downtown/urban area limits my space, so I've converted the closet underneath my stairwell into my LEGO haven, or as my friends refer to it, my Shangrila. I just started collecting again six months ago, and the sorting, building, dismantling, storing, and planning can take up a great deal of time. As you can see in the pictures I've got a lot of storage bins and drawers for my collection to grow into, but I've also got a LOT of sets towards the back of the closet that have yet to be built. My best bit of advice would be to make the most of your space.

Naturally, I didn't show how the entire closet is laid out, but essentially the room slopes downward, following the path of the stairs, and I just built shelves to fit it accordingly.

[AFOL SF]

It took me almost 5 years before I could start displaying Legos. Even now there is still not enough space for everything that I would like to show. So I do some kind of 'rotation.' One theme at a time. Diorama or display? Not alot of us have the luxury to do that but it won't hurt to dream about it... someday, somehow it can come true.

[YG-49]

My mum keeps saying "*Insert name here*, you can't keep getting all this LEGO, where are you gonna put it?!"

[Peppermint_M]

In reply to the title: Yes and no. Space is at a premium in my house. I still live with my family, and there are 8 of them besides me and we have a three bedroom house... I still buy lego and display my latest/favourite creations amongst my books and action figures down in my (shared) room. The loft is the land of lego, both mine and my little brother's. Up there it can be a squash as my Lego fights for room between Zoids, books, dvds, games and comics in my "half" alongside the family collection of wooden railway and the bodyboards...

Needless to say I don't have much room however I still buy Lego. None of the massive sets (largest so far have been the big Agents sets and Sentai Fortress) and my plan to buy more big sets means I have to dimantle a Castle MOC I have kept for at least three years.

If you feel bad about taking up lots of space in the house, or don't want to share space with Lego everywhere then stop buying for a while and plan some Ikea style modular living.

[brickzone]

I think you can cram a *lot* of lego in a small area and with some organisation, you can have a number of sets out, and construction. I have a roughly foot-wide stack of sorting bins and some large containers - these are stacked to bookcase height. I have one ground-level shelf that I can stack 1 litre containers on, 6x7=42. Finally I have storage drawers (roughly a foot wide) from ground to bookcase height. This takes care of all my sorted Lego, and when I want to build, I simply take out the bins and set them on the floor or windowsill and in front of the bookcases (I can stack them 2 tall). This is but the work of a moment. Then I take out the 1 litre tubs I need (not all of them - e.g. maybe not vegetation which is about 4 tubs, maybe not windows/doors/hatches/people-stuff (cannons,ladders, etc.), or black/grey/bley/dark bley bricks/slopes/mod-bricks which together take about 15 tubs). I have a computer desk which only has a flat panel monitor on it, so I have space for building one MoC. I take out the storage drawers as necessary. The room gets frightful in just a half hour or so, but it is about 5 mins work to clear up and pack it all away to the corners of the room. Maximum use of space.

I am short on display space, but I can put small models in front of books on bookcases (temporary - I usually use just to display new sets for a couple of weeks). I have one floor level shelf that I can just fit 2x 32x32 and 1x 16x32 (used for CC/GG/MS with Town plan crammed in in front). I have space for maybe 2-3 more models that size elsewhere (currently My Craghold Castle MoC, MMV, and expanded Soldiers Fort).

Finally I have my set boxes in the attic, and built/stored sets are in Lego shipping boxes stacked under the stairs (I'm gradually sorting these or disassembling and packing them in individual bags/shoeboxes for later use in displays/MODs/MOCs).

My collection is a reasonable size being 226 sets according to brickset (although I have multiples and some mixed Lego from ebay).

[Shoc]

Not in my house. I have lack of space because Lego takes up most of it!

I still don't know how I'm going to sort it either.

:skull:

[mania3]

I forgot to add that in the pictures above I have about 180 sets, 55,000 pieces, and about 650 minifigures. I'd say that my closet is about at 1/5th capacity right now.

[CP5670]

This used to be a constant problem for me, and still is to a lesser extent. I often bought sets anyway though and just put them in storage, with the assumption that I would have room to build and display them in the future. I actually have a quite large number of MISB sets (a mix of old ones off ebay and recent ones) I have collected over the last several years, which I didn't open mainly due to space restrictions. They are just stored in a closet for now.

I have my own place now and could create a lot more space for displays by buying more of the garage shelves I'm using, but haven't had time to set that up. The main thing preventing me from building them now is a lack of time.

[brickzone]

mania3: Very nice setup you have there, it looks like a very efficient use of space. Indeed it does seem you have a similar sized collection to my own (maybe 3/4s the size - still pretty similar), and I would consider that quite a large amount of Lego even if not perhaps as much as some AFOLs.

I'd love to have a whole room for Lego, but in the meantime I don't consider my Lego inaccessible or wasted. I merely have to put up with some inconvenience and restriction in my building/display efforts.

[Oky]

Does lack of space keep me from buying more Lego? Not really. I am already having trouble finding space for all my sets but I still keep buying them. That's mostly because I have a pretty big room with a bunch of shelves and a whole little closet where I store my Lego. So, whenever space becomes sparse, I just make room by rearranging everything a little or take apart old sets or MOCs.

[Grrr]

Certainly not.

That said, I collect Lego Boxes too - which can be a hassle to display.

Whilst I have a 250m² house (~2800sq ft), I have only managed to convince my wife to allow me to use on modest bedroom for my Lego collection.

As a result, I usually have one set of shelves with built up models, and the rest is sorted and ready to build with (in many hundreds of 1L plastic take-away boxes). I prefer it this way. If I have too many sets built up I start running out of parts. Also, built up sets get covered in dust and I hate cleaning, and I fear the dreaded UV light will get to them more.

[ILikePi]

I have so little LEGO that I don't even have ANY lack of space whatsoever.

Oh and on a side note, Grrr, did you know that your member number is 911? :P

[Grrr]

I have so little LEGO that I don't even have ANY lack of space whatsoever.

Oh and on a side note, Grrr, did you know that your member number is 911? :P

Yes, I was aware of this. I'd rather have had 4554 or perhaps 6399. Or some other classic set number. Even 376 would have been better :).

[hollisbrick]

This is true, I only buy $40 and less sets now because I am running out of space

[drdavewatford]

This is perhaps my favourite ever thread on Eurobricks..... I must confess that I have been on a huge and shameful Lego buying spree since December 2008, and I am currently surrounded by large boxes with nowhere to put them except in piles on my study floor. Everyone I know thinks I am completely crazy. Being on this forum and reading this thread is therefore fantastic therapy for me because I now know that I am not alone, and that an addiction to buying many more sets than I have space for is a shared problem.

Dr. D.

[M'Kyuun]

This is perhaps my favourite ever thread on Eurobricks..... I must confess that I have been on a huge and shameful Lego buying spree since December 2008, and I am currently surrounded by large boxes with nowhere to put them except in piles on my study floor. Everyone I know thinks I am completely crazy. Being on this forum and reading this thread is therefore fantastic therapy for me because I now know that I am not alone, and that an addiction to buying many more sets than I have space for is a shared problem.

Dr. D.

Ha! I've been on a huge and shameful LEGO buying spree since 2003 , and I've been actively collecting since 1975; I recently moved from an apartment to a house where I have a little more space. Most of my sets remain in boxes now, but I have shelves lining 2 walls in a dedicated LEGO room. My wife buys LEGO occasionally as well, and she has a couple shelves. I've never counted my sets, but I figure I have somewhere between 1000-1200, not counting my wife's collection. Add to that lots of Transformers, some Zoids, a few models, Yamato Macross toys, Star Wars and other assorted figs, and most of my storage space is already taken. I never throw away boxes, so space gets filled quickly. My problem is that the toy companies keep making more! When I retire, I plan on buying a place with a relatively large basement so I can set up my various sets, esp City and Star Wars.

As for space saving, TLG often makes oversized boxes, so I'll break down the set, and place other smaller sets in that box to maximize space. Castle and alot of Star Wars sets are ideal. Just don't be like me and forget where you put them!