Finished! (for the time being)

Well, I say 'finished', if you mean everything has been thrown in there, in some semblance, then yes 'finished'! If you like your Lego well organised and built, then actually I've still got loads of work to do! With help from my family, we managed to move most of the shelving and Lego into the room one day last week! (Yes, we did sort out the light in the end, the last but one possible combination of wires worked, there was much cheering and back-slapping!) Below is a 'fast-build' video my sister made while we were moving everything. It's not easy to see what we did on the sides, but I'll post some pictures too for a fuller view!

 

Many sisters put their hands on their hips to bring us this video...

 

Now everything is in, I just need to try and build the 100 or so sets that are in the crates and boxes on the shelves and rearrange everything into themed areas, I'm probably gonna go for a Tatooine shelf, a Hoth shelf, a Pantom Menace shelf (at the bottom) etc. to help make the most of the space! I also need to build lots of Spiderman stuff and fins a way of organising and displaying my poly bags which are currently just in more boxes! I have a few shelves to put up and I'm also getting some frames for the posters! Phew! There is still a lot to do and will post again once I have started to organise it a little more - The worrying thing is I'm already thinking how easy it would be to move a few feet further down the garage now...



 

 

 



How many men does it take to change a light fitting?

At least 3 so far.

Managed to get the carpet laid surprisingly easily yesterday with the help from family, but what we thought would be an easy 30 minute job of fitting the new spotlights into the garage became a 4 hour ordeal of failure! The problem was that the old bulb was wired to work on two switches, one either end of the garage, this meant there were more than 3 wires to fit into the new light fitting. 5 to be exact. And 3 of them were red. We tried endless combinations, with some blowing the trip switch in the house and some meaning they came on but wouldn't go off or came on then blew the trip switch immediately, or when flicking a switch! We have since been on line to find the solution and will hopefully fit them correctly later today!

 Too many wires!

 



Will they ever work?

 



Whilst waiting I have fitted the curtain pole for the curtains partitioning the two halves of the garage, am going to fit a wall a later stage. (When I've edged down the garage a few feet more - shh! - don't tell the wife this is the reason!) this lead to a whole new set of headaches when the ring things (do they even have a name?) were having the holes drilled for them.

 

What are these called?

 



I marked them up but broke 3 drill bits - the correct type for brick - and made about a 1/2inch deep hole. Back to the drawing board. Now i have the pole attached from teardrop shaped brackets hung from the ceiling. (tightly - I didn't want any more problems!) Next stage is deciding how to organise the Lego! Have sister and her boyfriend coming over for two days now to help finish lights and then start transplanting the Lego from the shelves upstairs into the room! Bought two new free standing shelving units so now have five, a bookcase, a desk with shelving above it plus other bits and shelves if needed! Now, surely nothing else can go wrong - can it?

And it's all 'white' now...

Finally had some time to get more work done on the room! The whole place is sealed, coated several times, the ceiling is painted and the door glossed! Got a week off now and I'm determined to get the room finished by next weekend! My sister's boyfriend has helped with the painting so now all that's needed is the new lights, partition curtain and carpet fitting, which will all hopefully be done tomorrow afternoon when the family come around to help! (Oh and it is my mother's 65th birthday, so I think we had better go out for some food too...)

Going to start the big 'move' on Monday, dismantling the shelves and units upstairs, then moving them down on Tuesday with an eye to start putting stuff in on Wednesday! Going to have to start putting some thought to how to organise the different areas of the room but I feel once the stands and shelves are there I'll prob play around with a few layouts until I'm happy, any ideas after my first attempt are welcome! At the moment I'm going for 'planet' themed scenes for the Star Wars stuff and separate areas for other lines! Got so many sets still to rebuild from our last move of house 4 years ago, I think it'll still be a squeeze even having loads more space! Oh well, better go and wrap my mother's presents or she won't help with the carpet! ;-)

 

At least the 'Hoth' scenes will fit right in!

Step 1.5 (1 forward, 2 back)

It feels like an age since I last blogged, been delayed due to snow, a broken dishwasher and just being a bit lazy! But finally carried on today and got the walls sealed and the first coat of paint on the walls! Well, I was only going to put one coat on but it looks like I'm going to have to buy another can now as the walls are just sucking the paint in, even after being sealed :( Was hoping the ceiling was fine too, but now I've painted the walls I have realised what a dusty shade of brown it is! Fortunately already got a suitable can of paint and roller, but hope that doesn't need 2 coats too! Just feels like everything is taking too long and having the carpet rolled up ready to lay is tormenting me! I just want to start the Lego organising part! Which has got me thinking, do I organise the Star Wars by planet, film/series or year of set release? I'm going for planet at the mo but could change my mind! Hopefully gonna give the ceiling a coat and the walls a second tomorrow!

When one coat isn't enough...

Stage 1 Complete! Dust!

Spent the morning clearing the garage space for my Lego room, went to the tip and got rid of 100's of old videos and other rubbish! Space is ready for me to now treat and seal the walls before painting. Got some masonry paint and primer stuff today. Decided not to panel walls as they will mostly be covered by pictues, hangings and posters collected over the years! (pics below!) Fitting everything else into the other half of the garage was a squeeze but will be getting rid of more things soon! Will probably curtain off other half as there will be bookcases facing inwards too! Think it's time for a cuppa now and a bath!

Space cleared! (Bikes to go soon!)

 A 4ft/1.5ft canvas print picked up for £15 from Memorabilia! Bargain!

Silkscreen bought a few years ago. (Wife grudgingly modelling!)



Day 1 of Project... The task ahead!

 

First time blogger here! Just wanted to chart the progress of turning part of my garage into a dedicated Lego display room! My collection is currently taking up the wall, floors and shelving of the guest bedroom of my house, but as my collection grows, I am running out of space to display all my sets. My main collection is from the Star Wars range, but I have recently begun to branch out into other franchised lines such as Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit, Indiana Jones, Marvel Superheroes and Collectable Minifigs. I presently have over 250 sets but have never been able to display them all due to moving several times a few years ago and taking forever to reassemble them! My wife, quite rightly, wants the bedroom back so I have struck a deal and I am allowed to convert part of the garage space, leaving enough room left for the lawnmover, tools etc but partitioning off a 5m square area to display my Lego! Over the next few weeks and months I will blog and photograph the steps taken to do the conversion and hopefully also talk more about collecting Lego in general! Any tips or hints appreciated!

 

Current home of Lego

 

Garage to be converted