Review: 3D-Printed LEGO Organizer Trays for IKEA Alex by Tiago Catarino

[astute]

Review: 3D-Printed LEGO Organizer Trays for IKEA Alex by Tiago Catarino

As an avid LEGO builder, I’ve been using six IKEA Alex drawer units for years to keep my collection of elements organized. Until recently, I managed this with storage bins from Action, a European budget store. That setup worked fairly well — until I came across a video by former LEGO designer and now influencer Tiago Catarino.

In the video, Tiago introduces a modular 3D-printed organizing system, specifically designed for the Alex drawers. While the concept itself isn’t new, this particular system is tailored to the dimensions of LEGO elements. You can watch the video here: YouTube – Tiago Catarino

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A Sponsored Design, but Well Thought Out

The system was developed in collaboration with Bambu Labs, a manufacturer of high-end 3D printers. The necessary STL files are available exclusively through Bambu’s own platform, MakerWorld.

Although Bambu Labs is known for their closed ecosystem, their files remain compatible with open standard 3D printers. Luckily, that means I could print everything using my budget-friendly Creality Ender 3 V3 SE without any issues.

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How Does It Work?

The idea is simple: you print large base trays — six of which fit perfectly in one drawer. These trays are then filled with smaller sorting boxes, arranged like a Tetris puzzle. Separate sets are available for both the shallow and deep versions of the Alex drawers.

(Screenshots from Tiago’s video)

An additional benefit: since without modification Alex drawers don’t fully extend, it’s easy to lift out the front base trays to access those in the back. Clever!

(Screenshot from Tiago’s video)

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But… There Are Some Drawbacks

The large base trays are quite resource-intensive in terms of material, time, and cost. After completing just one drawer, I decided to skip these going forward. Instead, I reused my old trays from Action at the back of the drawer for bulk storage or less frequently used parts.

I also found that some of Tiago’s smaller bins were simply too small — especially when trying to store multiple colors or part types in one bin. The tiniest ones are barely usable; you can hardly reach in with your fingers.

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The Community to the Rescue

I clearly needed larger bins. I had already opened Blender to design some myself, but decided to first check if someone in the community had already tackled this problem. And sure enough: a MakerWorld user named David shared my frustration and created an excellent remix of Tiago’s design — offering three larger bin variants for both shallow and deep trays:
MakerWorld Remix – Larger Bins

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My Current Setup

In the end, I now use four different sizes: two from Tiago’s original design, and two larger remix versions. Thanks to the variety in sizes, the thin walls, and the straight edges, I’m getting a lot more usable space out of my drawers. Parts stay neatly separated, and I no longer need to combine unrelated pieces in one compartment.

By skipping the large base trays, the project has also become much more affordable and less time-consuming to print.

Left: two standard sizes from Tiago’s set
Right: remixed versions that are double the size of those on the left

Not all drawers are filled with the new bins yet, but whenever I replace the storage bins from the Action, I instantly notice the space savings.

Here are a few impressions:

 

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Conclusion

Is this the cheapest way to organize your LEGO? Definitely not. You’ll need a 3D printer, time, and filament. But the result is a flexible, scalable, and visually clean system — perfect for LEGO fans who appreciate order and structure.

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My Setup:

• 3D Printer: Creality Ender 3 V3 SE

• Filament: 123-3D PLA, Snow White

• Models:

  • Tiago’s trays (shallow)

  • Tiago’s trays (deep)

  • Remix with larger bins (shallow and deep)

 

Any questions, advice, or do you have experience with printing organizing trays, do let me know!

[Mylenium]

Honestly sounds like another of those "Solution in search of a problem" things. My personal dislike for most of IKEA aside this is way too specific and yet at the end of the day still inadequate. How long would it take to print all those boxes and what would the real cost be? Also those 3D printer materials tend to be even less durable than actual injection molded plastic, so do you re-print x number of boxes every year when they start to fall to bits? As much as I like neatly organized stuff (I do have pedantic/ OCD tendencies) I don't think this is very practical. And you kind of provided the answer already: Just find a system based on mass-manufactured PE/ PP boxes like they are readily available at drug stores or indeed discount retail chains like Action or kik/ Tedi here in Germany.

Mylenium

[astute]

Thank you for your candid response.
Yes, it is definitely more affordable and straight forward to purchase cheap containers.

I wrote this review for those that want to go the extra mile and benefit of a system that allows you to optimize space usage and flexibility in container size.

As for durability, the containers will last for decades. PLA is not brittle or decay if kept at normal room temperature and out of the sun (which you want for your ABS LEGO as well).
Alternatively you can print these with ABS or Nylon at only a small cost increase. But I really don’t see the need.

But overall, this is for the people who would also enjoy 3D printing and just like creating things over buying them off the shelf.

 

[Paul B Technic]

I tried 3D printing something like this at one point, but gave up.

[astute]

1 hour ago, Paul B Technic said:

I tried 3D printing something like this at one point, but gave up.

Why did you give up?

[Paul B Technic]

23 hours ago, astute said:

Why did you give up?

I was spending more time on this than actually building....

[MAB]

I don't see the point. There are plenty of cheap molded plastic drawers available. And you really need space around the parts to make them easier to pick out, especially if mixing colours in one bin. Where the part is almost the same dimension as the bin, you also need to be neat when putting them in.

[RenLUG - Central Florida]

This may be exactly what I needed. I'm going to print some at school and test them out.