Custom LEGO Table

Hosting a lot of play dates this summer, I quickly realized our makeshift LEGO setup wasn’t cutting it. I also felt judged by a five-year-old boy who clearly was less than impressed with it. And since the kids always had to dig and dig and dig in the bin to find what they wanted, I knew it would make my life easier if I found a better way to sort through the LEGOs. So, I decided it was finally time to do something about our LEGO problem and make a table with storage. I wanted room for several kids to build at once, and I wanted them to have an easier time where everything was accessible.

Step 1: Decide on size and cut pieces. I wanted even small kids to be able to reach across to the other side while they build, so I decided on a 20-inch wide tabletop. And to make the table long enough to accommodate several builders, I went with 48 inches long for the tabletop.

Using my table saw, I cut down a large piece of leftover MDF to 20×48 inches. This would be my tabletop. I then took 2 wood 1x4s and cut them to 45 inches each. These would be my braces, where I’d attach the legs, and also how I’d attach my gutters/containers.

Once these pieces were cut, I sanded all the corners to round them smooth.

Step 2: Attach the brace pieces and table legs. Next, I flipped the tabletop piece upside down and positioned the two 1×4 wood pieces so that each end was 1.5 inches in from the edge. I also positioned the boards 1.5 inches from the sides. You want the braces a little under the table, but not too far, so that the attached gutters run under the table just a little bit – this hides the screws.

I marked the corners where my 1.5 inches needed to be, and then I double-checked that the boards were right before using 1.25-inch brad nails and nailing the boards onto the tabletop.

With the braces on, I next positioned the 20-inch table legs that I’d purchased. These I brought 6 inches in from the ends of the table, and it was easy to screw them onto the 1×4 braces.

Step 3: Paint. I flipped the table back over and rested it on sawhorses just because I didn’t want to bend over to paint. 🤷‍♀️ You could more easily set the table on the floor, but I wanted a little elevation.

I initially had grand plans about drawing map-like scenery on the tabletop that the kids could use to play while building, but my girls requested that the table just be blue instead. That made it easier, but it’s another idea if you’re not sure how you want to paint your table! Taking my blue paint, I brushed it on the MDF tabletop and also along the sides, going a little bit under the table as well.

Once that was dry, I used a light coat of clear gloss spray just to help protect the paint a little and make the surface smooth.

Step 4: Attach side gutters. If you get new gutters, or if your leftover gutters are longer than mine to begin with, you could just run a gutter the whole length of your table. I, however, had small sections of gutters to work with, and I liked how they let me make different divided sections. It’s a good idea to use vinyl gutters so the corners aren’t sharp and the material is pretty light.

Basically, I measured out my gutter sections until I got enough to make a 48-inch stretch for the length of each side, plus two 16-inch sections for the ends of the table. (These end gutters will be used later.) I needed to cut down one section a little, and this was pretty easy with a small hacksaw. I then took sandpaper and smoothed out that cut side.

After cleaning the gutters, I positioned them one at a time along the length of my table so that the taller side of each gutter was against the outer side of the 1×4 brace underneath the tabletop. I marked 3 places where the gutter could screw into the brace, and then I drilled 3 little holes into the gutter where I’d marked.

Holding the first gutter back in place along the brace, I had to use a handheld screwdriver because the gutter’s angle didn’t leave room for a powered screwdriver. This was easy enough, though. I used a simple drywall screw through each of the gutter’s drilled holes and screwed it into the side of the 1×4 brace.

I repeated this for each gutter along the sides. (They didn’t meet perfectly, but this isn’t a problem because of how I made dividers in a minute!)

At this point, I decided to hold off on attaching the end gutters. It’s easier to do the ends a little differently, so you might want to do the same.

Step 5: Cut and attach foam ends. First, I took 4 sheets of colorful foam and measured for 8 rectangular pieces that would cover the ends of the gutters. You want a little overlap around the gutter edges, but not so much that they’ll be in your kids’ way when they’re building. My rectangles ended up about 5×3 inches. I made each end of my long gutters a different color, then made each end of my – still unattached – end gutters a different color, so I had 2 rectangles from each color.

Next, I cut 6 round foam circles for each of my 8 colored rectangles. (I also made sure to cut 3 more circles of each color for my next step when I’d decorate the dividers.) After warming up my glue gun, I glued these circles onto the rectangles so they looked like LEGO pieces.

Once these rectangles were ready, I spread hot glue along the end edges of each gutter, one at a time. Positioning each rectangle in place, I pressed them into the glue so they stuck on the gutter ends.

I also did this for the unattached end gutters (pictured below), and I’m glad I did things this way for the ends because it would’ve been more difficult to get them on correctly if I’d waited until the end gutters were attached. You might have a little more wiggle room with your spacing, but mine were pretty close.

Step 6: Cut and attach dividers. Using the rest of my foam sheets, I cut a strip of each color about 2 inches wide. These I used like tape by spreading hot glue along one side and then wrapping them to connect one gutter section to another, folding the strip down over the front edge of the gutters to cover the uneven edges.

I had 3 gutter sections along each side, so I used 2 strips for each side of the table.

Next, I cut rectangles about as big as before, but these I trimmed and tested until they sat like dividers in the gaps between the gutter sections. Once they were the right size, I glued them in place.

Again, I had 3 gutter sections for each side, so I needed 2 dividers for each side of the table. I made sure to match each divider to the color of the strip they connected to.

As a finishing touch for these dividers and strips, I took those extra foam circles and glued them down along the strips. This added a nice little LEGO detail and also helped cover any uneven parts showing under the strip.

Step 7: Attach the end gutters. With all my details glued on, I could now attach the end gutters without having to worry about getting my glue gun in the smaller space at the end.

Similar to what I’d done before for the long-side gutters, I marked where each gutter could be screwed into the ends of the 1×4 braces. Then I drilled holes in the side of the gutter. Finally, I held each gutter and screwed it into place.

Done with that, all I had left to do was sort LEGOs (for over an hour 🤪) and put them in the waiting sections!

Now my kids (and the five-year-old LEGO expert) have a table where they can all fit, get to the LEGOs easily, and reach everything with ease. I like that the gutters fit all the blocks without being so deep that the kids have to dig forever, and the little foam details look pretty cute.

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