We made an IKEA side table into a Lego table because Thomas The Train is no longer a crowd pleaser in our house. We have now become the House of Lego. My 6-year-old son is acquiring Legos by the gallon and we are constantly looking for new places to put them all. We loved our precious train table that our son got for his second birthday, and we were sad when it fell apart. I started looking for something similar to build Legos on and realized that Lego tables are pricey.

Your little Lego lover might also like these Lego tattoos. If you are having a party these Lego Cupcake toppers would be super fun.

Lego Table

Lego Table

My husband kept coming up with the next big “brilliant” idea for  Lego tables but never followed through. He was going to build one out of wood but had to draw up plans, cut the wood, built it, etc. While we were shopping at IKEA one day, I had an epiphany. Why don’t we use one of IKEA’s inexpensive tables and build our Lego table out of that? We chose the Lack Side Table in black. We didn’t want to build a huge Lego table because we have a small house, and Lego Baseplates can get expensive.

Because we’ve been busy with our full-time jobs, Angry Kid, Little League, and several other projects, our Lego Table got put on hold for about a month. I politely asked (nagged) Angry Husband if we could work on the Lego Table this past weekend.  For the love of Lego at our house, we need a great table to build and play on!

Lego Table Supplies

  • IKEA Lack Table
  • Lego Baseplates (1 Extra-Large Gray Lego Baseplate and 4 regular green Lego Baseplates)
  • Exacto knife
  • Level or ruler
  • Sharpie or other permanent marker
  • Spray Adhesive or Contact Cement (We used spray adhesive, not suggested, we had to fix it)
  • Painter’s tape (for temporary securing of the Lego Baseplates to the table)
  • Dremel or Laminate Cutting Tool (to trim the edges of the table)

IKEA Side Table

We started with the IKEA Lack Side Table (I have no pictures of ours, but here is the stock photo from IKEA).

IKEA side table

DIY Lego Table

We then centered the gray Lego Baseplate in the middle of the table. This Lego Baseplate is extra-large. You could use all green Lego Baseplates, but we made the center look like a “street” and surrounded it with green Lego Baseplates for “grass”. After the centerpiece was measured out, we taped it down to the table with blue painter’s tape.

Lego Tables Tutorial

We then took the green Lego Baseplates and placed them around the edges of the table. We temporarily secured the green Baseplates to the gray Baseplate with Legos. Angry Husband then went underneath the edge of where the green Baseplate comes up to the edge of the table and took a Sharpie to mark the area to be cut (excess Baseplate). Angry Husband then used a level as a straight edge and cut the green Baseplate on the backside (non-bumpy side) with an Exacto Knife. He said that he did not cut all the way through, but scored it. He then snapped the plate to break it into two pieces.

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After each cut was made, Angry Husband placed the cut pieces of green Lego Baseplate around the edges of the table. He secured them with Legos to the gray piece. This may not seem important, but it is VERY important to the layout of this Lego table. You have to secure the pieces with Legos for proper spacing. If you butt the pieces of together and just tape them, they will not line up. Angry Husband showed me this. It is very easy to make a mistake during this part of the process. We had a box of loose Legos nearby that we used for placement.

DIY Lego Table Tip:

When laying out the baseplates it important to secure them with Legos for proper spacing to make sure the legos will snap to the plates properly when kids are playing.

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We left a little extra of the green Lego Baseplate hanging off the edge of the table. Angry Husband said that we needed it, just for error and placement after the glue was laid out. The excess Baseplate will be trimmed at the end of this project. After all the Baseplate has been cut and laid out, the table will look like the photograph below.

Lego Table Tutorial

Angry Husband then taped butcher paper around the edges of the table to project is from the glue, and well excess glue.

Lego Table Tutorial

We then removed the Lego Baseplates from the table (gently holding them together). We sprayed the IKEA Lack Side Table with spray adhesive. We also CAREFULLY flipped over the Lego Baseplates and sprayed the back of them with spray adhesive. We recommend you use contact cement. We had to fix some edges that did not firmly glue down.

Lego Table Tutorial

Lego Table Tutorial

We left the Lego Baseplates and table sit separately for thirty minutes for the glue to set up. Angry Husband then cut up some cardboard strips to help place the Lego Baseplates onto the table. Angry Husband laid them out and we gently flipped over the Baseplates.

Lego Table Tutorial

Lego Table Tutorial

We then carefully removed the cardboard strips after the Baseplates were centered on the table. After each strip was removed, we pressed down on the Baseplate of that area. Angry Husband said that we needed something heavy to place on top of the table to hold the pieces together until the glue was firmly set. We were very tired as it was late. He grabbed the first thing he saw, a bucket of screws.

Lego Table Tutorial

After two days, Angry Husband removed the box of screws from the table. He also removed the blue painter’s tape that he had on the table for precautions. He then used a laminate cutter (you can use a Dremel or similar tool) to cut the excess Lego Baseplate from around the edges of the table.

Lego Table IKEA Style

Can you believe it? A cool DIY Lego table made out of an IKEA side table.

Lego Table Tutorial

The Lego table IKEA style has been a big hit at our house.  It is small enough that it doesn’t require storage space but plenty big enough to build and play on top of.  Now we need a great design for Lego storage!  That will be our next project.

Random Trivia and Information Related to This Project:

  • The word “Baseplate” was used 28 times in this blog post.
  • I need to let my husband move Lego City Fire Departments. I went to move my son’s Lego City Fire Department for the staging and pictures for my post and dropped it. It literally crumbled into hundreds of tiny pieces. My son would have been traumatized if he had seen the condition of it. Angry Husband had to re-build the entire Fire Department.
  • KEEP your Lego Kit instructions. You never know when you have to rebuild something.

We are lucky to have Julie also known as Angry Julie guest posting today. She lives in Orange County, CA and works full-time in the legal sector taking photographs. She is married and has a 6-year old son. When she isn’t busy taking pictures of her son, she is photographing her food. Sometimes, Julie attempts to be crafty so she can be friends with Cindy, from Skip To My Lou. Find more of her photographs and ramblings on her blog at Angry Julie Monday.


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Comments

  1. What a great idea! Perfect for a fire station or police station.
    If it makes Angry Husband feel any better I did the same with my son’s Lego Police Station and my AH had to rebuild:)

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