Download these printable LEGO labels and organize your kids’ brick collection with the best easy storage cart idea!
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We have a lot of LEGO bricks in my house. That’s probably an understatement. We have a silly amount of LEGO pieces and they are frequently on the floor. Or they were until I came up with a smart LEGO storage idea with printable labels to keep them organized.
Now all of the LEGO pieces have a home and when someone is looking for a specific one, it is pretty easy to find. This is perfect for creating a designated LEGO play area in a small space too.
This post was originally published in January 2014; I updated it in 2025 to make the labels easier to read and improve the post photos.
LEGO storage containers
When my kids were little, we started out using a giant plastic storage container that held something like 30 gallons. It was full and if someone wanted a specific piece, they had to dump out the whole thing.
Scary, right?
Then I upgraded our LEGO storage to a pair of rolling drawers and some clear plastic shoe boxes. This made it easier to sort and label the bricks by color and theme.
This photo is from my original organizing system. It worked fine, but I learned that the smaller your drawers are, the easier they are to dig through.
Here is our current LEGO storage system. It’s a pair of scrapbook carts with 14×14-inch drawers. I bought them a few pieces at a time when they were on sale at Michaels. (At full price they are quite expensive.)
I’ve seen similar type shelving at Ikea, Target, and elsewhere.
The carts are on casters, so they can roll around. The height is perfect for using as a building table. We have a large green base plate that fits on top, but a couple of smaller ones would work too.
How to organize LEGO pieces
Sorting LEGO from scratch can take a while. We dumped them all onto the living room floor and sorted them into the containers over about two days on a long weekend.
Divide them into categories that make sense to you, and more importantly, your kids. If nobody knows which container a piece goes in, they will just get mixed back up.
First, I sorted by color. Then I divided the odd-shaped pieces into a few categories based on how they’re used.
LEGO storage labels
My printable LEGO labels include standard colors, less-common colors, and several categories like people, animals, plants, vehicles, and buildings. There’s also a page of blank labels, so you can write whatever you like.
They print on 8.5×11-inch paper and each individual label is 4 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall. You can trim them shorter if needed to fit your drawers.
I printed them on card stock, cut each one out, and taped them to the front of each container using clear packing tape. Of course, you could also print them on peel-and-stick labels.
If you would like to use my printable LEGO storage labels, you can download them below.
Get the printable
Print on 8.5×11-inch paper, card stock, or label/sticker paper. All printables are for personal use only.
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
Great idea for the rolling carts! Ours are stored in the clear bins without lids and in Ziplock bags (extra pieces from sets) but we do need a new system. I like your idea but am not sure I’d have the patience to sort by color. I have thought about sorting by “type” though…like 2 brick, 4 brick, etc. since my Lego builder son is usually looking for a very specific Lego in the chaos.
It took us a long time to sort them the first time. It helps that I’m pretty OCD. However you sort them, if they are in smaller containers, that it makes it easier to find a specific piece. I don’t mind my son dumping out a whole box when it is one of the shoe box sized ones.
My 7 year old receives multiple sets of Lego’s for each Birthday and Christmas and they are starting to really add up. He doesn’t seem ready to let me sort them though. I don’t want to do it until he is ready to keep them that way. I too am a bit OCD when it comes to organizing things and I know how annoyed I will be if they get all mixed up again the first time he plays with them! I like the idea of the rolling organizers. Before long I may need something that big.
Yeah, we have the Orient Expedition sets from about 10 years ago and I’m kind of kicking myself for letting them get mixed in. What about those scrapbooking storage carts they sell at Michael’s? The have shallower drawers because they’re meant to hold paper and small things, but I think each cart has like ten drawers.
I love the Lego display tree!
Thanks! My husband made it with scrap wood. I’d seen a few on Pinterest that were over $100! I showed him and said, “Can you make this cheaper??”
Hi I really like your labels!! I am a teacher and I could use a page of blank labels for a class i am teaching using legos. Any chance you could post one for me? My class starts this Friday….eeek! I would love to label the kids’s projects with their names on your labels…shameless begging to begin now…Oh please, oh, please 🙂
Absolutely! I have everything saved, so it should take about 2 minutes to put together. I’ll post it here and email it to you. 🙂
Pinning for future reference! Thank you for sharing…this is fantastic!
Glad you like it! It has really helped us keep the LEGO stuff organized and NOT stepped on!