The dreaded college dorm room

[Corvus]

I'm going to college in three days, and I really haven't decided what to do with my lego. Obviously, I can't bring it all. I can't bring any large setup. My collection now is sprawling. It's covering a four-by-eight foot table, so if there's something I'm not using, it can get shoved to the back of the table. Well, I just don't have the room for that.

My new dorm room is eight feet by ten. Fortunately, I'll have it all to myself, so I don't have to worry about a roommate stepping on any bricks.

Here's the problem- we can' t have any shelves. I was planning to bring a few things along with some IKEA shelves, but now I can't do that. And I really don't trust those adhesive shelves enough to put an AT-AT on.

I've lofted my bed, and I plan to put some sort of table under there, solely for lego. I might bring one or two models for decoration, but I really need bricks. So here's my question- what bricks are best in a limited number? My plan is to bring several small (shoebox sized) boxes, each sorted by color.

Also- photography. I don't have room for a lightbox. I was wondering what canvas or other material would look good as a backdrop.

Looking forward to lots of interesting discussion!

[hewkii9]

I think that bringing lots of finicky little useful pieces, like jumpers, 1x1 rounds, and headlight bricks would be best. Maybe try and pick five or six colors you really like building in, than try to bring a whole spectrum.

[prateek]

I think that bringing lots of finicky little useful pieces, like jumpers, 1x1 rounds, and headlight bricks would be best. Maybe try and pick five or six colors you really like building in, than try to bring a whole spectrum.

Agreed. Instead of bricks and such, take smaller pieces and minifig accessories to make small and detailed MOCs instead of huge MOCs. I always keep a few pieces to make tablescraps on my desk when I work so I can fiddle around when I'm lost for ideas.

[TheWarden]

You might be able to use your college's light box / photog setup / etc. which might be better / not in your space.

What to bring? Lots of little pieces might be nice if you build microscale. Otherwise.... not sure.

What do you store in? I store in plastic shoeboxes with lids. If you don't have a lot of floor space, go up! My storage containers can stack as high as I want.

Edited August 22, 2010 by TheWarden

[Corvus]

You might be able to use your college's light box / photog setup / etc. which might be better / not in your space.

What to bring? Lots of little pieces might be nice if you build microscale. Otherwise.... not sure.

What do you store in? I store in plastic shoeboxes with lids. If you don't have a lot of floor space, go up! My storage containers can stack as high as I want.

I do like vigs. So lots of minifigs, small parts, and plates seems good.

I'm currently undecided on storage. I've mostly been sorting colors in preparation to sort them up by part from there. However, this is too much of a hassle and it does take up lots of room. I think I'll just stick with color, for now. I might sort a little big, separating bricks, plates, and so on. It's hard hard, finding a line between too general and too specific. I suppose everyone has their preference.

[Capn Frank]

I would not live in a dorm.

When I transferred to my four year campus after a 4 year education hiatus, I was married and 25. My admission's counselor said that she highly recommended that I live in the dorm. I then told her I was not going to live in a dorm with my wife, dog, and a full moving van.

Anyways, I will need to keep tabs on this topic, cause all of my Lego needs to be moved to dorm-sized room.

[CP5670]

The Stack-on containers discussed in the parts storage thread are a bit expensive but are very space efficient. You can line up a bunch of them along the wall on the edge of your table. I think that would be a lot better than using shoeboxes or anything else that spreads out horizontally.

How much floor space do you have? I use several of these packs for displaying built models. Even one of them can hold a lot of stuff. This might be too big for what you want, but there are many other shelf products like this in various sizes.

I would not live in a dorm.

Same here. I never stayed in a dorm, despite everyone I talked to advising me to. I commuted from my parents' home as an undergrad and got an apartment for grad school, which has been an extremely good decision in hindsight.

Although I had all my Lego crammed into my bedroom at one point, and learned how to pack things in back then.

[KotZ]

First, have fun in college, Mr. Mandalorian! But don't stop posting here on EB!

Second, I would take, as everyone else is saying, is take colors you like and sort them out when you get to your dorm. but I say also bring a few special elements, from jumper plates to the oddly colored brick.

And for a vignette, why can I see a toga party coming now?...

[Aanchir]

What I did was limited myself to certain themes-- or at least, tried to. For my first semester at college I stuck mostly to the 2009 BIONICLE sets. For my second semester my brother and I brought (and bought) Space Police III, Atlantis, and Power Miners sets. Having three themes got a bit ridiculous, but one or two could be manageable.

Sticking to specific themes means your MOCing parts will almost certainly be compatible. Sticking to bringing complete sets makes it easier at the end of the year or semester to take inventory and make sure you have everything you came with. Furthermore, limiting yourself to current sets allows you to expand your collection slightly. And the oversized boxes people complain about are a great way to store sets without having to take them apart completely, and to store instruction booklets that you accumulate. I feel this strategy worked well to satisfy my LEGO cravings for my first year at college.

[Sir Fred]

With my dorm room last year, I brought 1 48x48 baseplate along with some figs and actually some of the larger more <insert that tiresome argument> pieces. I'm mostly a Castle collector though so the large "<insert that tiresome argument>" pieces in that theme aren't to awful. Basically, for any sort of building, think small. I had a box that was probably about half the size of a shoebox and I allowed myself only to bring what could fit in that box, other than the 48x48 plate of course. I was fairly happy with what I had last year, probably bringing about the same amount this year again, maybe a little more since I'm more experienced with setting up a dorm room to be space efficient. Last year I was really lucky and actually had a double room all to myself though so I just put all my Lego on what would have been the roommates desk.

[The Green Brick Giant]

Keep your LEGO space small, you will be living in the dorm (alone?! So not fair!) for a few months and you will realize that you will need the space to take up painting or some other new hobby, and classwork. You never have enough space as you think you have, less really is more.

Also... this part no one here will like...

You aren't in high school, it's time to grow a little, try new things and expand your views. Having a dorm room with random LEGOs on the floor will get in the way of that. I have discovered people secretly love LEGOs, but that there is a limit to wait they can take when you first meet them. I'm not saying change to fit it in, I'm just saying you will hopefully be busy with your studies and new friends and dates. Having new experiences will need the space and time for new things.