Friday, January 20, 2012

Our new LEGO table!

Thanks to the wonderful world of Pinterest, the hubby and I thought up a plan to finally organize the many tubs of LEGO's we have around the house. We also wanted the storage area to double as a play area, because, the farther the kids have to go to play with the blocks, the more likely they are to end up all over the house again! I found a post over on Ikea Hackers that really got the gears in my brain going. We have two boys that both want to play at the same time, so we wanted something that was free standing, could be accessed on at least two sides, and that we could move to a different area of the house if we wanted. Here is what we came up with.

First, here are the materials that we used:


1 - IKEA Trofast Frame, White
9 - IKEA Trofast Storage boxes
3 - LEGO X-Large Gray Baseplates
You will also need some contact adhesive, and make sure it is for plastic. They can be found at craft stores, Lowes, Home Depot, etc.



Next, I will walk you through the assembly.....I took notes while the hubby did all the work! ;)

1. First you will need to assemble your Trofast system. Simply follow the instructions that were provided by Ikea.
2. Once the Trofast is assembled, you will need to get out your LEGO baseplates.You will be using two full plates and one that will need to be cut. Please see the pictures below for the measurements.


This is the size we cut the third plate to.

3. Now it is time to line up your plates as they will sit on the top of the Trofast. You will also need to make sure to leave the proper gap in between each plate to ensure that LEGO's will be able to be used across the entire surface. To do this, please see the pictures below for explanation.

Mark where your base plates are going to sit on top of the Trofast.

This is how much room we had on either side of the plates.

There is a raised lip on both ends of the Trofast. The plates will butt right up to them.

Make sure you leave a gap in between the plates so that LEGO's will snap into this area.

The best way to get the correct spacing for your gaps is by using LEGO's! =) Just keep pulling the plates away from each other until you can get a LEGO to snap in....do this all the way down the base plate

4. Now that you have your plates cut, setup and marked on the table, it's time to make it permanent. My husband glued the two end pieces first and then placed the center piece down. While the adhesive still allowed some movement, he repeated the step above with the LEGO's to get the proper spacing. This time though, he left the LEGO's snapped until the adhesive dried to ensure that there was no shifting. Your dry time will depend on the adhesive you use.

5. While the glue dried, my kids and I sat down and sorted the LEGO's by color and placed them in their bins.


6. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR NEW LEGO TABLE! =)


My boys couldn't wait to start building on it!





Well, I hope I explained this well enough for someone to be able to make it themselves. This was my first time posting a how to =)

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try and answer it as quickly as I can.

21 comments:

  1. This looks so fun! May I ask how you cut the Lego plate?

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  2. Yes, I was wondering the same thing as BetsyE.

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  3. How nice sharing. I am really wondering as same thing BestyE and Jim. For more info lego storage and display .

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  4. I know this post is old, but FYI for anyone still finding it and reading the previous comments, you can cut Lego plates with kitchen shears (strong scissors). You may also be able to score it with a strong craft knife and then snap it apart on the score mark, but the shears worked well for us.

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  5. Any idea how to attach wheels on the bottom?
    Also- what age kids would be good for this height?

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    1. I'm doing the same thing. This particular Ikea table has a void underneath perfect for mounting wood blocks, then screwing in wheels available at IKEA. They have them in the organization section. They have both small ones without breaks, and larger ones with breaks. They have a plate at the top with holes for 4 screws (provided) that you screw into whatever you'd like. Enjoy!

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  7. I love this idea! No matter how many buckets or bins I buy, my 6 yr. old still has Lego's EVERYWHERE! But I want to try this, I'm ordering the shelving today (nearest IKEA is 2 hrs away) and I just seen the gray plates in target the other day, so I will pick those up. We have a couple of the green plates and I wonder if I cut and place them to fill in around the left over space.

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  8. What adhesive did you use to secure the plates?

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  9. My husband and I just put the whole thing together in less than 2 hours for a Christmas present for our 6 year old daughter. Thanks for the easy to follow directions and great idea!

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  10. I am copying this lovely table for my nephew. How did you screw the casters on the bottom? There is a 2" gap under the table which looks like I have to buy wood blocks to fasten to the table? I need to screw holes in them but what type of glue should I use? Thank you.
    David

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  11. Hi I am keen to place castors on too. HOw did you do it? I am conteemplating turning the table upside down as it is a flat surface? the drawers wont work as well but the table
    will move then.
    RedSkirrel

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  12. Dear Julie,
    After some 50 hours of work and multiple trips to IKEA and the hardware store, I finally finished my lego station for my beloved nephew, Kai. I would love to share with a photo of my completed project. I would never have been able to do this if I had not stumbled upon your blog. Thank you, Julie!

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  13. I see the greatest contents on your blog and I absolutely love reading them.best lego tables

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  14. Love the table idea. Just wanted to share that I create custom LEGO decals to sort items like colors, minifigures, baseplates etc. You can see my product here and they are specifically designed to adhere to the trofast IKEA units. Best thing is that they are also 100% removable so the can save your furniture for future use after it is no longer a LEGO table! https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/PeeWeePeels

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  15. Hi just wondering what size is the extra large base plate you used?

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  16. The LEGO base plates are 15 inches X 15 inches. I built a lego station very similar.
    https://www.ikeahackers.net/2017/02/build-lego-station.html

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  17. Made one for my kids, and convinced a friend to make one for his kids. Excellent idea and execution.

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