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Personal Item Storage System

Requirements

I have a lot of Legos, Tools, cables, electronic components, computer components, screws, tabletop/pen and paper stuff, board games, 3D printing replacement parts, audio equipment and so on. Therefor a structured system for storing them in an organized way.

To build a sustainable solution I have some requirements:

  • good, future and broad availability
  • fairly priced (yes this one is subjective)
  • stackable
  • lid
  • easy to move
  • good quality

I was able to find two box/storage systems which fits my needs: IKEA Samla and Euronormbox. I bought Euroboxes from the german hardwarestore "Bauhaus" and from "Obi". Obi sells boxes from "Surplus Systems" and "Bauhaus" from their brand. Currently, I am invested in Euroboxes and Samlas with multiple hundreds of euros.

Samlas have been very cheap before covid when I started using them. Now they are pretty expensive. I have a lot of them and do not need new boxes frequently. They are also great because they are clear/transparent, Euroboxes are not available in clear, only in milky. To keep the color consistent with different manufacturers, I decided to buy gray. Speaking of different manufacturers. Pay attention on the Eurobox Compatibility. Only the outer dimensions of Euroboxes are standardized. The Surplus boxes do not fit onto the Bauhaus lids. Especialy big Euroboxes have therefore become more attractive. Nevertheless, choose your storage system wisely to not become dependent on one manufacturer you do not trust to stay in business or to sustain prices.

How do I store stuff in it? Each box only contains stuff specific to a topic, Legos, cables, you get the idea.

Special Solutions

But what to do with special items for example miniatures or small parts? Lego is sorted by brick type according to bricklink and stored in zip bags in my Euroboxes. But miniatures can become more difficult: There are these awesome but expensive "Feldherr" foam boxes. But they are big and do not fit within my storage system.

Therefor I created a storage system for them based on a 5L IKEA Samla: Samla Mini Storage You can find information on how to build your own at the Printables Listing. Spoiler it is customizable for different base sizes and will fit on a standard 22cm cubed printer. This is based on a great OpenSCAD IKEA Samla Insert design, also customizable. To store my resistors I remixed a simple Box storage system, I modified the base plate to fit the 5L Samla bottom perfectly. Resistor Storage

Type Trays

For IKEA Samla it is best to just use the inserts mentioned before, because they have such a strange shape. Also IKEA offers for 22L boxes a tray for bigger items which is also more stable than the inserts. But in my experience I need to enforce them with for example this insert stabilizer. But what to do with the Euroboxes? I measured them and decided to cut boxes.py part trays with a lasercutter. It was difficult to get the internal dimensions, because they become wider/more flexible to the top. For the "Surplus Systems 60x50x22" I decided to use 50.57*7 x 50.8*5 within the generator. I like to use the trays not only for sorting but also for temporary storage of Lego Bricks while working on a project. I can easily find relevant bricks for building a set and store them away.

Final words

I am very happy with my custom off the shelf extensions. Object management will be included in my homeserver post in the future.