how do you organize LARGE amounts of legos?

[hillview]

I am dealing with 1,000 of lego pieces. How do you organize them? I saw this and thought it might be a good way to go. Other ideas?
http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2011/10/organizing-legos-part-3-creating.html (http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2011/10/organizing-legos-part-3-creating.html)

[SnuggleBuggles]

By color in plastic shoe box sized bins with lids. A misc bin for when you don't have time to sort too.

[hillview]

thanks -- like this
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10024250&N=&Ntt=shoe+bin
/hillary

[SnuggleBuggles]

No, like the cheap ones at Target :)
http://www.target.com/p/Sterilite-6-qt-Storage-Box-Lapis-Set-of-12/-/A-11861811#?lnk=sc_qi_detailimage

We put them on a bookcase.

[Meatball Mommie]

No, like the cheap ones at Target :)
http://www.target.com/p/Sterilite-6-qt-Storage-Box-Lapis-Set-of-12/-/A-11861811#?lnk=sc_qi_detailimage

We put them on a bookcase.

This is what we do too. I also have a few special containers purchased at a hardware store that hold all the really unique tiny pieces sorted out. It all started when my son wanted to re-build a set and thus we began the massive lego sort!

[kristac]

I'm concidering this-
http://pinterest.com/pin/45669383691681244/

more ideas on my lego board-
http://pinterest.com/my_three_sons/lego/

What I really need is more ideas for projects they are currently working on.

[MissyL11]

I did the trofast lego storage and love it. It is easy for my ds to find the piece that he is looking for.

[Tondi G]

all of our legos are in sterlite carts with drawers .... wish we had this one with the more shallow drawers. Ours only have 3 drawers each. We have 4 of these units ... 2 of them are full of legos, the other 2 have hotwheels/cars, small stuffed animals/zhu zhu pets, assorted smaller toys (yo-yos, bakugan, beyblades etc.).

http://www.target.com/p/Sterilite-5-Drawer-Storage-Cart-White-Set-of-2/-/A-11861801#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink

[lizzywednesday]

No, like the cheap ones at Target :)
http://www.target.com/p/Sterilite-6-qt-Storage-Box-Lapis-Set-of-12/-/A-11861811#?lnk=sc_qi_detailimage

We put them on a bookcase.

The cheap ones at Target might be on sale this week (week of 5/13/12) as well; I'm a blur today, so I can't confirm.

[craftysierra]

all of our legos are in sterlite carts with drawers .... wish we had this one with the more shallow drawers. Ours only have 3 drawers each. We have 4 of these units ... 2 of them are full of legos, the other 2 have hotwheels/cars, small stuffed animals/zhu zhu pets, assorted smaller toys (yo-yos, bakugan, beyblades etc.).

http://www.target.com/p/Sterilite-5-Drawer-Storage-Cart-White-Set-of-2/-/A-11861801#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink

We have something I have had forever like this. Mine is a group of 9 drawers so it is tall. I agree I wish we had more smaller drawers though. So for us If I was starting from scratch I would want more smaller drawers. With a few bigger places to store built things or things in process. We sorted our bricks by type (flat, wide, people, weird, cars and castle) Mostly kid guided categories on the hope they would be better at putting them away. The is still a work in progress.
Sierra

[kristac]

I'm concidering this-
http://pinterest.com/pin/45669383691681244/

more ideas on my lego board-
http://pinterest.com/my_three_sons/lego/

What I really need is more ideas for projects they are currently working on.

Update- we bought 2 sterilite 5 drawer carts like in the top link. I haven't added a top yet but the legos are sorted into all the little drawers and each kid has a big drawer to keep projects. The kids LOVE it. My almost 5 year old could take or leave lego before and mostly only played because it is what big brother wanted to do, has spent the past 2 days making legos- only coming out for meals. They are doing a good job putting everything away as they are done with it and I haven't stepped on a lego in days. Big sucess! Highly recommend this method.
ETA- currently they are sorted by color and then 1 drawer for tiny pieces (I am using the inside divider from the Lego Advent calender (cut down to fit in the drawer)- another idea would be egg cartons); 1 for men, wheels, and special pieces; and 2 for instructions (we have some think brickmaster books otherwise 1 drawer would be enough I think). I printed out labels here: http://pinterest.com/pin/45669383691736820/

[niccig]

We have 2x 6 drawer rolling cart to put the legos in - similar to the ikea idea - organized by colour, which was DS's preference. Problem is we have a nilo table beside the carts and over time the nilo table is full of lego. DS and I periodically go through and put it all away. I think I need to start a weekly clean up of the table. DS prefers it when the lego is in the carts as it's easier to build, but when there is too much on the table he can't deal with it himself. A smaller amount on the table is fine and I've found him cleaning it off himself. It's when it's inches deep that it's overwhelming and he needs help. We each get a baking tray and choose a colour, pick up all the pieces with that colour and then put them in the carts.

[o_mom]

We bought this: http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=prod1450040&navAction=

We have standard brick sorted by size (1x1 flat, 1x2 flat.... 2x4 brick, etc.) along with larger bins for 'plates' (anything 3x3 or larger), 'long pieces' (1 or 2 wide and more than 4 long), 'minifigures' (and accessories) and 'wheels' (any wheels or axles).

In addition to that we have the Iris Lego cart: http://www.amazon.com/IRIS-6-Case-Workstation-Storage-Plates/dp/B0031P85VC
and two of the larger bins: http://www.amazon.com/Iris-Lego-Medium-Mixed-Plates/dp/B0031QI8D6/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_1

The larger bins are our 'catch all' bins for clean up. From there we sort out the standard bricks into the bin rack. What's left is run through the Box4Blox (http://www.box4blox.com/) and then stored in the Iris cases sorted by size.

I also have a 6 drawer sterlite-type cart (http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/551048/Office-Depot-Brand-Medium-Plastic-Storage/)that holds instructions sorted by series (City, Creator, etc.).

We also have two long shelves (IKEA Lack (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00011013/)) where they can display built models.


That all sounds so pathetic now that I have written it out. :bag

[hellokitty]

We have thousands too, and basically I have one of large 3 drawer sterilite stacked drawers that are full of lego, plus one of those lego shelves with different colered containers, I think there are six of them. My kids refuse to keep up with any sort of system of color/shapes (trust me, I tried this before, my work was a waste of time). So, they just dig for what they want.