The inspiration came from this "Family Fun" magazine project: Lego Table. The smartly designed table uses three plastic drawer units on wheels, a 4-foot board, stools and Lego bases to create the perfect building center.
I love how the table can easily be moved to different rooms or taken apart entirely. The third drawer unit can be tucked underneath when not in use, and quickly pulled to the side to open room for seating. In addition, the top can be moved to the floor for play or even flipped over to create a smooth writing surface. What's not to like?
We gathered up supplies around our house (Legos, drawer units, blue paint, etc.) and at Menards. I had to special order the large Lego bases, but found them at both Amazon.com and Diapers.com. My sister picked up two stools at Ikea for me too.
To help the kids with keeping their blocks organized, I printed out online images of colored Lego blocks. I cut them out and stuck them to the drawers with laminating sheets. I labeled the smaller drawers for instruction booklets, Lego Magazines, etc.
To top it all off, we scored a $30 tub of 1,600 Legos from Wal-Mart on Black Friday.
What do the kids think?
They love it!
78 comments:
It's not quite clear here, how did you attach the large bases together to form the table?
That's the beauty of it - they don't attach. Simply set the board on top of two of the bases, one at either end. Use a piece of padded shelf liner to keep the board from slipping. Now, you can easily turn over the board to the plain side to use as a desk or other play, and flip it back to reveal the Lego bases.
Can you explain the 4 foot board a bit more? What is it made out of? Did you paint it or was it already painted? How much do you think you spent total? Thanks!
Be sure to click on the link in the story (or right here at http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/built-for-building-1027109/) to see the directions from Family Fun Magazine. They're the ones that created the project and outline the details.
With the board, I first bought and painted a pine board. But our crazy cat knocked it off the table and it split. So I returned the store and bought a laminated particle board used for closet shelving. It works so much better and saved me the step of painting.
Hope that helps!
Love your Lego table-great Job!
Wonderful idea for a Grammy's house like mine. Usually the Legos are in tubs till the grand children come over or Christmas for everyone. This would be convenient to store with all the legos my child collected over 30 years. TARGET has the large lego platform in there store right now.
I cannot find it on amazon or diapers. Our Target and Target online does not have the Lego platform. Can someone postsome direct links to it please. :) Iwould greatly appreciate it! :)
Here's a link to the extra large base plate. I used three on the table.
http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Extra-Large-Building-Baseplate/dp/B0015VOP4U/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1348757328&sr=8-15&keywords=lego+plate
Very cool Lego desk!!! I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to feature onbe of the pictures of your creation on http://www.squidoo.com/lego-storage-solutions along with a lot of other creative Lego storage DIY ideas.
Great idea!
Love it! Just pinned it for future use!
Hi there
I love your table! I am going to make it!! Your table looks a bit different from the one at Spoonful, how did you create a lip on the board working surface part? Is there a lip to keep lego pieces from falling off? It looks like it, please explain! Many thanks
Lara
Hi Lego Lara,
Our table is very similar to the one at Spoonful, which was first posted in Family Fun Magazine. They get all of the credit for this creation.
There isn't a lip around the table. Honestly, it's so big that most of the creations stay right on there, especially with the base to hold everything down.
Two years later, the kids still use this table regularly. Just the other day, they flipped the top upside down to use the smooth surface as a desk.
Happy building!
Amanda
thanks for sharing. i've bought fancy lego bins to store them in and they still end up all over. this would be perfect for our play room and then they have somewhere to build instead of on the floor and losing pieces in the carpet. i'm thinking this might make a good christmas gift as we are trying to avoid buying more toys.
What size are the base plates?
What do you mean when you say smooth side? That you can turn over to make a desk? This is so cute and I want to make it for my great-grandson who is a Lego addict. Beautiful.
It looks like my original urls for the Family Fun Magazine article are all broken. Bummer! I can't find the article online anywhere else either - and the idea was ALL Family Fun Magazine, which is why I didn't include the instructions, just a link to their site.
Here's the best I can do today - a pin of the page from the November 2011 issue of Family Fun Magazine:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/272116002457386233/
The bases are 15-inches by 15-inches and can be ordered online
And yes, our board has the Lego bases attached on one side and nothing attached on the other. It forms a smooth surface that the kids use for playing school, doing crafts or playing with small toys.
Hope this helps. Happy building!
What did you use to attach the Lego plates to the shelf?
I just used glue dots. I think the Family Fun Magazine instructions called for a glue gun.
We used liquid nails...but I think a hot glue gun would have worked fine!
Could you tell me how tall your rolling drawer units are? Thanks!
They are the standard Sterilite 3-drawer units sold at Walmart and Target, about 3-feet tall.
What brand of glue dots did you use. Or what can you explain more about gluing the base plates to the shelf.
Hi Jan,
Any brand of glue dots will work. Just purchase a box of them and add to the backside of the plates. Every few inches on just the outside boarder should be enough. Be sure to space the plates so Legos can attach between them (ie: use a Lego between plates when spacing.)
Happy building!
Amanda
Is there any way to use just your regular lego blocks to make the table ? ...my boy had hundreds of lego all over the place and is driving me crazy with it all ...is there a website I could go on to make this table ?
Hi Sarah,
You'll want to use materials other than Legos to build the table. Family Fun Magazine used to have online instructions to build the one I featured here, but they no longer offer it online. It's pretty straight-forward with organizing drawer units, a shelf or board for the top, and large Lego bases attached with glue dots. Happy building!
Amanda
The links did not go to the page. They went to a Disney page that didn't have any Lego projects.
you can get 4 10"x10" plates for $22.95 on amazon, no idea how to post the link, but its 'creative builders' baseplates. the ones listed are like, $25 each, waaaay too high for MY budget. hope this helps!!
I love this idea for my 5 year old! I am constantly finding Legos all over the floor.
One quick question....Once you have glued the Lego bases down, will they be able to be removed easily in the future?
Thanks so much for the great idea!
Love this idea for my 5 year old!
Quick question...once you glue the Lego bases down, will they be able to be removed easily in the future? The bases are kind of expensive to just glue them and not be able to remove.
Thanks for your help and for the terrific idea!
Apparently the link for the Pinterest pin doesn't work either... at least it didn't for me :(
My concern is that as awesome as this is, the way kids are, the board could get knocked around or pushed on too hard and flip as they are playing or the wheels on the bins could roll out as the kids are playing. The wheels are great for moving the bins back and forth but there needs to be a way to 'break' them for safety as well as anchor the table.
Some one was inquiring earlier about the lip around the edge. You could easily hot glue down legos along the edge of the base plates to create the lip. If it were me I might do only 1 lego height so the lip doesn't interfere with smaller kiddos reach.
Thabk you, Amanda for your pics and instructions
Great Idea's
Phyllis
Great Idea.
Sorry for the broken links. Family Fun Magazine is the mind behind the design, so they get all of the credit for the table. I used an article in the magazine to build ours. As for the bases, attach with non-permanent glue dots and you can remove the bases later. As for attaching the table to the drawers, we've only had a crazt cat knock ours off once.It'S never moved from the kids playing Legos. We don't use brakes on our wheels either and have never had a problem. Happy building!
The 15 x 15 size are only 14.99 on Lego.com
Thank you
What top did you use? It appears to have a edge to prevent Legos from slipping off.
Good morning! I threw you some love on my facebook page today! What a great idea for your kids. Can visit us! :) https://www.facebook.com/alwayswearahelmetfolks
You can get the drawers without wheels. Where going to do it with drawers we have that don't have the wheels. It doesn't matter to us if you can move it. The drawers are only an inch or 2 shorter. I found them a few years at Wal-Mart.
For the most part, the wheels on these drawer things either come separately, or can be removed, if you feel that rolling is a problem. I use them in my craft space and they can be rolled, but I've never had them glide away easily.
If you are worried about an edge or lip on either side, I'm pretty sure you could pick up a small size of quarter round molding at your local home improvement store and just glue it to the edge after you mount the lego plates on with glue dots. Mounting these with the glue dots makes them more removable than glue-gunning them down.
You could also use small wood pieces on the underside around the sides and back of the drawer tops to keep them from sliding off However, that would make taking the tabletop off, to flip it over for the smooth edge (AKA the side without the lego bumps on it, which makes coloring on it a bit tricky) sort of not good, because now you are dealing with the glued on pieces of wood that prevent the top from any sliding around. I'm pretty sure that either the padded shelf liner or the mesh-y grid stuff that you put under a rug to keep it from sliding on the floor would hold it... unless your kids are really shoving it around...and then, well, ....
I know you said board is 4ft long but how wide? If a add a lip of legos around border it would have to be certain width so when flipped over it fits on drawers.
Love this idea great job! I gotta try this for my boys.
Here is the original article (without photos, of course) from Family Fun:
It starts small, with a single Lego set received as a gift. But inevitably, the collection grows, and soon a tide of colorful plastic bits and pieces is threatening to swamp the house. FamilyFun crafter Kimberly Stoney, mom to 10-year-old Lego fan Elliott, knows this story all too well. Undaunted, she devised a simple, inexpensive building bench that provides a work area, display space, and plenty of drawers for keeping track of all those treasured little bricks.
Materials
paint
brush or small roller
3/4- by 16-inch wood board (ours is 48 inches long)
glue dots
3 (15-inch-square) Lego plates
3 standard-size drawer carts*
2 (12-inch) squares of nonslip shelf liner
electrical tape in several colors
kitchen-drawer organizers (optional)
Instructions
Paint the board on both sides and let it dry. If needed, apply a second coat, then let it dry.
Using plenty of glue dots, adhere the Lego plates to one side of the board.
Line up the carts and cover the tops of the first and third units with the shelf liner. Set the board in place.
null Work with your builder to color-code or label the drawers with strips of electrical tape. If you like, use drawer organizers for special pieces.
Make it a Desk: To turn the bench into a desk, roll the center cart aside. Individual drawers can be pulled out during use, then stowed away again.
Get a Move On: Need to free up some space? Casters make it easy to push the units into a closet or corner.
Tips:
For securing creations to the bench top, we used extra-large Lego base plates. At around $15 each, they are pricey. Feel free to sub in smaller ones (around $5 each); your young builder may even have some on hand!
Notes:
* Drawer carts, sold at many large retailers, cost from $10 to $25 each. Look for units that are 12 1/2 inches wide and 14 1/2 inches deep; for the most flexibility, use a mix of three- and five-drawer models.
Love your idea. Thanks for sharing
The edging is lego bricks or that what they look to me
Lego brick look like the edge to me
It seems to just lay on top. Hence, real easy disassembly. But I suppose you could use velcro.
You could possibly velcro the Lego bases to the board. Then they would be easily removable.
How did you do the top? Please put the site & product(s) information. Also explain step by step instructions & info! Where did you get the 4ft board?
Again where it says to click to the link ect. Nothing to click!
How & where to do the 4ft board?
No link to click! Please let me know where to buy & how to do the top?
Can't find the outline from Family Fun Magazine? Everytime I click on it to get outline ect. Always brings up Disney page & has nothing @ all to do with Legos! I even searched lego and nothing! I'd love the outline & instructions on how & where to buy items to make this lego table!?
This may have been answered already but I didn't see in when reading. What is the lip sound the plate made of? Are they just Legos? My son has fire trucks and cars too that need to be included.
This may have been asked already but I didn't see it when I scrolled back. What is the lip made out of? Are they just stacked Legos? My son has vehicles that roll that need to be secured as well. Thank you
Maybe someone already suggested this:
On the flip side of the Lego table, I would consider painting it with chalkboard paint. The kids could have fun drawing!!
Happy New Year, everyone!
My grandson would just love this.....
Where can I buy one of these,
I really think this Lego Table you & your Husband Created is absolutely Awesome!! What a fantastic way to be Lego organized and have the Play area right in the same Local! I can just see my two Youngest Grandsons now if they had a table like yours to play on and their organized & easy to put away Legos right there with them! I can't say enough about what you and your Hubby created! You Two Rock!! :)
Roll carts are on sale this week at target for $9 each!!!!
The Lego plates are way high.. not sure how you got by so cheap...
I'm not sure how you got by so cheap... those Lego plates are $25 a piece...
Hi how many lego sheets did you use??
Hi how many lego sheets did you use???
Hi how many lego sheets did you use??
My wife found this and sent this to me to build. While it seems simple enough, I'd like to caution anyone else reading this about a discovery that I made:
As it turns out, trying to make furniture utilizing cheap, flexible, plastic drawers as a base is an exceptionally foolhardy venture that will only end in tears.
Those drawers -- and I went to every single store in the area and put hands on every drawer until I could find, with and without wheels -- are simply not rigid enough to utilize as the base for a table. While this table, as built above, would provide you with a very cheap and quick surface for Lego, it isn't going to hold up very well.
Here's what I wound up turning this in to: http://putrescence.org/wordpress/?p=448
Once it was complete, we actually stopped short of attaching the Lego baseplates as we felt it would reduce the overall utility of the work surface. As it sits right now, it's a great table for Lego, of course, but it also works for playing games, wrapping presents, drawing, playing with something called "Shopkins", whatever those are, and doing other miscellaneous crafts. The Lego-branded baseplates are also mostly available as 10"x10" just for reference.
Hi everyone,
Thanks for all of your comments and for checking out the Lego table. As you can see from the post, we built the table 4 years ago already! I'm so sorry the links to the original are broken, but hopefully through my descriptions and the photo you can create your own.
As for a lip on the table, we've never had one. The Legos stay in the drawers until they are snapped into a creation on the table. It's one of the beautiful features of this piece.
The large Lego bases were purchased four years ago, so I'm sure the price has gone up. Keep searching for a deal online. I used three of the large bases for the table top, which is just a white laminated shelf from Menards. We originally used a painted pine board, but the cat knocked that one off.
Surprisingly, a table built from plastic drawers and a shelf has held up incredibly well. My kids play with it every day and we've moved it all around the house - upstairs, downstairs, bedrooms, etc. They still flip the top over to use it as a desk. Our first set of Ikea stools broke this fall (after 3.5 years), so we spent another $12 total to get new ones.
Happy building and thanks for visiting!
Amanda
I bought a Lego coffee table from a resale page and when I tossed the table but removed the lego plates they just popped off. I had to peel glue residue off, but it wasn't hard. Coffee table was damaged though. You could use the 3m removable strips if you wanted damage free surfaces.
3, three , III, tres - read the third paragraph of post right above your post!! Please people read the above questions already asked and answered! Unbelievable how many times Amanda has already answered so many of the questions asked over and over :| Good grief! Thank you Amanda, very cute useful idea ;)
3, three , III, tres - read the third paragraph of post right above your post!! Please people read the above questions already asked and answered! Unbelievable how many times Amanda has already answered so many of the questions asked over and over :| Good grief! Thank you Amanda, very cute useful idea ;)
Hi Amanda, you mentioned labelling the smaller drawers for putting instruction manuals & magazines in... where are these small drawers? I can't see them (sorry I am sight impaired)
Can the drawers pull out from both sides, so that the lego can be accessed by both children?
Hi Meg,
The small drawers are part of one of the drawer-units. You can buy them with three large drawers, or one large drawer and four small drawers. Those small drawers work well for sorting pieces or storing instruction booklets and magazines. The drawers only pull out from one side of the drawer units. But you could turn one drawer set around, so one drawer set would be available for each child on each side of the table.
Hope that helps!
Amanda
Thank you! Thank you!for the directions! i made it for my sons for Christmas tomorrow. I can't wait to see their faces.
Amanda, can you do a step by step tutorial with photo for each step? I would love to make something like this for my kiddos to play with {my kiddos and husband :)}
Best carts/drawers are at Target:
http://www.target.com/p/3-drawer-medium-storage-cart-white-room-essentials/-/A-16644154
I want one how can l get it
I got my baseplates to glue onto the top of the wood at the $10 tree...got the 8 I needed for $8 in a variety of colors...Amazon has them as well, but for much higher price
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