Tuesday, November 27, 2012

DIY Lego Table


What Lego loving child doesn't need one of these?  Or their Lego loving parents for that matter?...  I saw a small DIY Lego table on Pinterest (here) a while back and knew something like this would get used ALOT in my house.  Of course with 3 children I needed something bigger though.  I had an old laminate coffee table that I brought when I first went flatting too many years ago to count now.  I was planning on giving it away.  I am so glad of my hoarding issues sometimes, as it was perfect for this project.  The kids are loving it, and I hope it solves my problem of having Lego spread in all corners of my house.

Want to make your own? You will need:
  • An old coffee table
  • Sandpaper or a sanding mouse
  • Filling putty (if you are fussy)
  • Primer (talk to your paint specialist about the table you are using and they will let you know what you need)
  • Paint
  • Paintbrush
  • Lego mats
  • Glue (I just used liberal amounts of PVA)
So my humble old coffee table started its life like this.



I didn't take photos of the process, but its really simple.

Being a laminate table,  I brought a special primer for glossy surfaces.  If your table is laminate you must use the correct primer.  Using the right primer there is no need to sand down the laminate surface (unless your husband intervenes like mine did).

I applied two coats of primer, giving it a light sand between coats.  Read and follow the instructions on your primer on drying times etc.

I then gave it its first coat of paint.  This is when my darling hubby came along and intervened.  There were a few small bubbles on the surface of the table where over the years its had things spilt on it and the MDF underneath had expanded.  I figured these were not bad enough to worry about and would be under the Lego mat anyway, but the hubby had different ideas. 

He chiseled them off, sanded them back, put putty in them and then totally re sanded the whole surface till flat. 

Back to me again.  I then gave it two more coats of paint, again giving it a light sand between coats.  And again read your paint instructions on drying time.

Once it was fully dry, I measured and positioned my Lego mats onto the table, applied masses of glue and glued them on.  I piled heavy books onto the mats and left it to dry overnight.

It was really simple to make.  The only time consuming thing was waiting for the paint to dry overnight between coats.









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