A Small Space Design Coach Tried This LEGO Storage Method, and It’s Completely Ingenious

If your kid loves playing with LEGOs, you likely understand the joy that comes with watching them figure out how to put together a LEGO set — and the dread of cleaning up all of those little pieces. You might think: If only there were a quick, practical storage idea that works in kids’ rooms and small spaces. Well, one New York City mom has the cleverest idea. 

Khrystyne Jaspers and her husband, Nic, are pros at small-space living in the most functional way. Two years ago, I wrote about how the couple and their two kids, Zeke, now 8, and Taliyah, now 5, share a one-bedroom apartment in New York City, and the kids split the primary bedroom. 

One of Nic’s favorite childhood memories was when his parents refreshed his room for Christmas, so this past Christmas Eve, the couple let Zeke and Taliyah sleep in their bed in the living room while they quietly made practical upgrades to the kids’ bedroom. That meant toy storage enhancements, including a super-fun custom LEGO storage solution.

First up, the parents tackled the main piece of toy storage furniture: “The majority of the kids’ toys are housed in our IKEA KALLAX with eight boxes,” Khrystyne says. “I redesigned the layout of the toys and how they were distributed in the KALLAX by adding drawer inserts to divide cubes for more specific types of toys.” 

To further personalize the KALLAX, Khrystene used peel-and-stick wallpaper to differentiate the drawers for each child. Khrystyne also swapped in Anthropologie hardware and added legs to it to give the storage piece a fresh look. 

Then Khrystyne and Nic focused on the kids’ LEGO collection. Nic and the kids love free-building with LEGOs on the floor, but the family didn’t have a solution for putting all of the LEGOs away. “I searched high and low for creative LEGO storage options, but many of them were either impractical or were just too big and bulky for the size of their room,” Khrystyne says. “At first, I thought about a more micro-organizational system to store the LEGOs by color, but my husband was insistent that the kids be able to swoosh the LEGOs while having space to build and store the things they were creating.” 

So Khrystyne drew inspiration from another parent, who had created a rolling under-the-bed LEGO tray. Brilliantly, it allowed the kids to look through the pieces without first dumping them on the floor (such simple cleanup!). To make their own version, Khrystyne and Nic used the base of their former mini crib as a tray, added castor wheels to the bottom for easy maneuvering, and installed peel-and-stick wallpaper for a zhuzhed-up look. 

“As a small-space design coach who frequently works with families to build systems that work for kids, I have found this more macro form of organization for LEGOs works so well for the whole family,” Khrystyne says. “It has fostered more creativity in their play and willingness to clean up because storage is simple and there is a place for unfinished projects.”

The new thoughtful, personalized toy storage has given Zeke and Taliyah a sense of ownership in their room. Khrystyne walked in to find her kids organizing their toy bins without even being asked to. And because the LEGOs are now more readily available, the kids are using them in new ways, like building a house with Magna-Tiles and furnishing it with LEGOs.

“As a mom, this makes me so happy because they are not only creating and imagining more, they are learning those valuable skills that I know will serve them for the rest of their life,” Khrystyne says. 

To see more of this thoughtful home, visit the full House Tour on Apartment Therapy.