Look, I’m just going to say it.
We have all done it. You spend a whole weekend—scratch that, a whole month of Sundays—building that huge ruined cathedral. You glue every single brick. You paint every window. You dry-brush that thing until your wrist hurts.
And then what do you do?
You shove it in a cardboard box. You put that box in the closet. And you cross your fingers.
Then, next game night rolls around. You pull the box out. You open the lid. And you just stare at it.
Your cathedral is now a pile of rubble. But not the cool, “battle-damaged” kind of rubble. The “I just broke my favorite piece and want to quit the hobby” kind of rubble. The spire snapped clean off. The paint is rubbed raw on the corners. And somehow, a piece of flocking got inside your dice bag.
It’s a tragedy. And we’ve all been there.
If you’re into Warhammer, D&D, Frostgrave, or any game where the table actually matters, your terrain is not just “stuff.” It’s the story. But here is the thing nobody tells you when you start this hobby: terrain is the worst thing to store. It’s awkward. It’s heavy. It doesn’t stack neatly. It has pointy bits that hate each other.
So, let’s actually talk about how to keep this stuff alive. Not the “theoretical” way. The way that actually works for real people with limited closet space and a cat that wants to destroy everything.
First, You Gotta Accept the Reality of Dust
Let’s get one thing straight. That open shelf you have above your desk? The one where you display your favorite terrain?
It’s a dust trap.
I know it looks cool. I know you want to show it off. But that soft flocking on your grassy hills? It’s like a magnet for dust bunnies. And you can’t just wipe it down. You try to dust a pine tree and it either bends or you accidentally flick it across the room.
So you have two choices here.
You either get a glass cabinet with doors. The IKEA ones are great. They keep the dust out and they look professional. Or, you accept that 70% of your collection is just going to live in boxes most of the time.
That sounds depressing, I know. But honestly? It’s freeing.
Once you accept that you don’t need everything on display all the time, you can actually start organizing properly. You rotate your terrain like a museum rotates exhibits. Right now, your “ruined city” stuff is out. Next month, your “dungeon” stuff is out. Everything else goes away.
Stop Using Trash Bags. Yes, I’ve Seen You Do It.
Okay, let’s talk about what you’re actually putting your terrain in.
If you are using plastic grocery bags or garbage bags, we need to have an intervention. I’ve seen guys wrap their resin buildings in old t-shirts and throw them in a tub.
Stop it.
You need real stuff. Here’s what actually works, broken down by what you can afford.
The Cheap Way (Paper and Boxes):
If you’re on a budget, raid your recycling bin.
- Use cardboard boxes, yeah, but line them with a thick layer of bubble wrap or crumpled packing paper on the bottom.
- Here is the secret trick though: don’t just toss everything in. Take each building and wrap it loosely in plain tissue paper. Not the shiny gift wrap, the cheap stuff.
- Why? Because when you wrap it loosely, the paper takes the impact if you bump the box. It rubs against the paper, not the paint job.
- Then, stuff crumpled newspaper in the gaps between your terrain pieces. You know the gaps I mean. The empty spaces where they would knock into each other. Fill those gaps. It stops them from sliding around.
The “I Love My Stuff” Way (Foam Cases):
You know those foam inserts you see for camera gear or guns?
Yeah, buy that. It’s called “pick and pluck” foam.
It’s pricey, but listen to me. I have a foam case for my most expensive resin fortress. I plucked the foam to fit the exact shape of the building.
It is suspended in that foam. It doesn’t move.
I dropped that case down a flight of stairs once (long story involving a dog). The building inside survived without a scratch.
The downside? It takes up a ton of space. You can only fit one big piece in a case like that. So you have to be choosey. This is for your “centerpiece” stuff. The stuff you would cry over if it broke.
The Magnet Trick (For Modular Nerds):
Are you a modular terrain person? Do you use those walls that all clip together?
This one changed my life.
Get some small, strong magnets. The neodymium ones. Glue them into the base of each wall section. Then, go to the dollar store and buy a cheap metal baking tray. A cookie sheet.
Now, store your walls standing up on that cookie sheet.
The magnets hold them in place. They are standing vertically, leaning against each other, but they aren’t stacked. Stacking is what kills modular terrain. When you stack heavy pieces on top of modular walls, the weight pushes down and breaks the connectors.
Let’s Talk About “The Pile”
You know what I’m talking about.
That corner of your room. The “Pile.”
It’s where all your extra trees, scatter terrain, and random bits of foam live. You tell yourself you’ll sort it “later.” But later never comes.
Here’s my rule. And you don’t have to follow it, but you should.
Separate by game or theme.
- Get one tote for “Fantasy Nature” – trees, rocks, hills.
- Get another for “Dungeon” – walls, doors, floor tiles.
- Get a third for “Sci-Fi” – containers, pipes, barricades.
And label the boxes on the side, not just the top. Because in three months, you’re going to stack these boxes three high, and you won’t be able to read the top labels.
The “I’ve Run Out of House” Problem
This is the real talk part.
Eventually, your hobby just… explodes.
You buy that giant board game with the huge box. You add another army. You build a massive 6×4 table of terrain. And suddenly, your closet is full. Your spare room is full. Your partner is giving you “the look.”
This is where the rest of your life has to meet your hobby halfway.
Sometimes, the collection just gets too big. And you have to make a call. Do you sell stuff? Do you get rid of furniture?
Or do you accept that your terrain needs a home outside of your home?
We actually see this a lot with our storage units. Guys will come in with their entire collection, not because they are quitting, but because they need space to breathe. They put the big stuff—the boards, the massive fortresses, the extra tables—into a unit. Then they just rotate what they keep at the house.
It sounds like a big step, but honestly? It saves relationships. And it saves your terrain. Because you aren’t cramming it into weird corners and knocking it over every time you open a door.
One Last Weird Trick (For Trees)
I have to tell you this specifically because trees are the biggest pain in the hobby.
They are top-heavy. They have fragile branches.
Do not store them flat on their side.
Seriously. If you lay a model tree down, the weight of the trunk pushes against the branches. They will bend and snap over time.
Store trees upright.
Get a tall box, put a heavy base in the bottom (like a brick or a heavy book), and stick your trees into some foam or sand at the bottom to keep them standing up straight. They need to stand tall. If you do this, they will last for years.
Don’t Be a Hero
Look, the main thing is this: stop being lazy with your terrain.
I know it’s boring to pack stuff away properly. It’s way more fun to build and paint. But future-you is going to curse present-you if you keep throwing things in bins without thinking.
Take an hour this weekend. Just one hour. Get some boxes, some bubble wrap, and some tissue paper. Wrap your most fragile pieces. Get them separated by theme.
It feels so good when you open a box and everything is exactly where you left it, ready to hit the table.
And if you honestly don’t have the room to store all those boxes? Well, you know where we are. We’ve got the climate-controlled space so your resin doesn’t warp in the summer heat. You play the game, we’ll hold the terrain.
Now go wrap that cathedral before I have to come over there and do it myself.
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