Storage

Storage is BrickSuite's digital representation of the places where your loose parts physically live. A useful Storage hierarchy should answer a simple question: Where do I go in the real workshop to find this part?

The hierarchy is intentionally flexible. You can model cabinets, shelves, drawers, bins, dividers, and other containers in the arrangement that matches your actual workshop.

Understanding the Storage Hierarchy

The Storage page presents locations as a parent/child tree. Expanding a location reveals the locations contained beneath it. The Type column identifies what each location represents physically.

BrickSuite Storage hierarchy

In the example above, Cabinet Bricks contains a drawer named Basic Bricks, which is further divided into Black, Other Colors, and Red sections. Other branches represent shelves containing category-based bins. BrickSuite does not require every branch to have the same depth.

Locations marked (Inactive) remain visible in the hierarchy so historical information is preserved, but they are no longer treated as active storage destinations.

Storage Location Types

BrickSuite provides the following location types:

Area, Cabinet, Shelf, Case, Drawer, Bin, Tray, Compartment, and Divider.

The type describes the physical location; it does not impose a rigid hierarchy. For example, a Cabinet can contain Drawers, while a Shelf might contain Bins directly. Choose the type that best describes the real container.

Design guidance: Model enough detail to lead you to the part quickly, but avoid adding hierarchy levels that do not help you find anything. The digital hierarchy should remain as practical as the physical workshop.

Adding a Storage Location

Select the location that should contain the new location, when applicable, and choose Add Location. Enter a descriptive name and select the physical location type.

Add Storage Location dialog

Names should make sense when viewed in the hierarchy. Category names such as Curved Bricks, Technic Beams, or Wheels & Tires can be useful when a physical drawer or bin is dedicated to that group of parts.

Choose OK to create the location or Cancel to leave Storage unchanged.

Editing a Storage Location

Select an existing active location and choose Edit Location. BrickSuite lets you update the location name, type, and parent relationship.

Edit Storage Location dialog

Changing the parent lets the digital hierarchy follow a physical reorganization without requiring the location to be recreated. For example, a drawer can be moved under a different cabinet while retaining its identity in BrickSuite.

Important: Editing a Storage location changes the description of the physical location. Moving inventory between storage locations is an inventory operation and should be performed from My Inventory.

Deactivating Locations

BrickSuite uses deactivation instead of simply deleting storage locations. This protects inventory integrity and preserves historical references to locations that existed previously.

A location cannot be deactivated while loose inventory is still stored there. If you attempt to do so, BrickSuite explains why the operation cannot continue:

BrickSuite warning that a storage location contains loose inventory

Move the loose inventory to another active storage location first, then return to Storage and deactivate the old location.

BrickSuite also protects hierarchical integrity: a parent location cannot be deactivated while it still has active child locations. Reorganize or deactivate the child locations first.

Reactivating a Location

Inactive locations remain in the Storage tree and are identified with (Inactive). When an inactive location is selected and can be used again, choose Reactivate Location to return it to active service.

This makes temporary storage changes reversible without losing the history associated with the location.

Storage and My Inventory

Storage and My Inventory work together. Storage defines the physical destinations; My Inventory records which loose parts are stored in those destinations.

When adding, importing, editing, or moving inventory, choose an appropriate active storage location. If the workshop is reorganized later, use BrickSuite's inventory movement workflow so the database history reflects where the parts went.

See My Inventory for adding, editing, moving, filtering, and reviewing loose inventory.

Practical Example

A simple hierarchy might look like:

Cabinet Bricks
  Basic Bricks
    Black
    Other Colors
    Red

Shelf Bottom
  Technic Axles
  Technic Beams
  Technic Bricks
  Technic Gears

Another workshop might organize the same parts very differently. BrickSuite's goal is not to prescribe the organization; it is to create an accurate digital twin of the organization you actually use.

Related Help

Getting Started | My Inventory | Rebrickable Import