January 2023 LEGO Room Update

I have been thinking about updating my LEGO® room for a couple of years now. You know, collecting renovation ideas, taking measurements, looking at different furniture options, etc. I am still a year or more away from actually doing anything though. As homeowners know, there is always a list of things that need to get done. Sadly, my LEGO® room is not top priority when updates are needed for things like house siding. However, one aspect of my LEGO® room recently got bumped up in terms of priority. My 20 year-old build table collapsed and needed replacing. Consequently, I did a minor January 2023 LEGO room update!

As it stands, my LEGO® room is mostly a mismatched collection of hand-me-down furniture. It’s all the odds and ends my wife and I collected when we first moved in together and didn’t have disposable income for something as extravagant as new furniture. Truth be told, as much as I don’t like the mismatched furniture, I had no intention of buying anything new until I settled on a renovation plan and decided what the room would finally look like. Fate had other plans…

My LEGO® build table collapsed, forcing me into a January 2023 LEGO room update.

This past week, my build table collapsed. It was an old IKEA desk with telescoping legs. While I was working on my latest MOC, I put my hands on the table as I was getting up. The downward force in conjunction with all the LEGO® on the table caused one of the legs to give out. Thankfully, I caught it before anything major slid off (the Lion Knights’ Castle was on there). Table surfaces are something I can’t do without in the LEGO® room, so I was forced into buying something new. I decided to get some shelves at the same time, and finally get my pile of shame off the floor.

In my years of building, I have noticed a few things about LEGO®-purposed furniture. Firstly, telescoping table legs are a no-no. Despite adjusting to match the height of other mismatched tables, they don’t hold up to the weight of a LEGO® city over the long run. If you want to go this route, you need something really heavy duty with locking pins, similar to the bench used in weight training. Mine was the rotate-to-tighten style from IKEA. That was no good. While the desk was 20 years old, I had used it for LEGO® during the last seven. So, it still lasted a while, but who wants to wait for a collapse?

Many tables bow under the weight of a LEGO® city.

Secondly, you need a really solid, stable surface for displaying LEGO® sets and MOCs. The weight adds up, especially with part-heavy MOCs. For years, I have built on an old dining room table and two IKEA desks. The IKEA desks have both bowed in the middle under the weight. Even the dining table bowed a little, though the center supports underneath are not in the best shape. For these two reasons, I decided I wanted metal for my January 2023 LEGO room update. Additionally, I want my LEGO® room to have a workshop feel, and the metal frames suit that concept.

Originally, I thought of buying workbenches and garage shelves from Canadian Tire or Home Depot. However, metal ones are super expensive. Additionally, I am building and storing LEGO® here, not flipping houses. I found IKEA has a collection of metal-framed workbenches and shelves designed to organize garages and workshops called BROR. It is also cheaper than anything at the hardware store. Consequently, I decided to give it a go.

I settled on the BROR line from IKEA.

Let me just say that BROR is not your typical IKEA building experience. If you don’t like building IKEA furniture, or you struggle with the usual modified wood products, you probably want to skip BROR. I have built a lot of IKEA stuff over the years, and I don’t mind doing it at all. However, I found BROR a little challenging. The metal frames are far less forgiving than IKEA’s wood products. You have to hammer some of these parts into place with considerable force at times. It is loud and it made me uncomfortable to have to use so much force to make things fit and line up. I was worried about damaging parts. You also cannot build the workbench alone. You need a second set of hands. I managed the shelves alone, but two people make that process easier too.

With that said, the result looks great. And is it ever sturdy. At first I was worried the shelves would not be stable enough. However, they include wall brackets and extra screws. You can attach each to the wall if you want to for added stability. Alternatively, you can use the extra screws to attach different pieces of BROR furniture together. I bolted both shelves to the workbench, and those things are not moving anywhere. My pile of shame has now evolved into a nicely organized shelf of shame. And these shelves are large. They accommodate even the largest LEGO® boxes I have.

I am happy with BROR so far.

My preliminary impression of IKEA’s BROR line is pretty good. Despite the challenges in mounting the furniture, it looks great. I really like the workshop feel of the setup. Additionally, the shelves are sturdy and large for ample storage space. Even the largest LEGO® boxes fit (depending on how you set up the shelves, of course). I’ve only just set everything up, so I will have to see how it works over the long term. But so far, I like it quite a bit. What do you think of my January 2023 LEGO room update? What furniture do you use in your LEGO® room? Let me know in the comments below or reach out on social media.

Until next time,

-Tom

Want to support True North Bricks?

If you like the content at True North Bricks, please follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, or TikTok for regular content. Additionally, you can support True North Bricks by making your LEGO® (and other) purchases using the links below. As an affiliate of those retailers, we earn from qualifying purchases. These earnings come at no extra cost to you but help to keep the content at True North Bricks free. Thanks for your support!