Building Fun Lego-Inspired Desk Upcycle - Before & After

Base Colour 'Negotiations'

Being a typical boy, my son wanted 'blue' as the base colour.
Being a typical furniture artist and refinisher, I wanted something a little more 'timeless'.
And being Mum, I made the executive decision to go for the dynamic, versatile grey base of Ash from Fusion Mineral Paint.

Naturally, we simply had to have the drawers looking like real Lego blocks for this upcycle to be true-to-purpose. Being idea-rich but budget-poor, I put my natural resourcefulness to the test and came up with a rather unique way to achieve the look. I have a collection of champagne corks. No judgement, please. I just do, okay? :-) And good thing too, as they worked brilliantly as the Lego studs. Cork is far more durable than you think, and after cutting the discs, they proved to be strong enough to serve as the Lego studs on the drawers. (Reduce, reuse and recycle for the win!)

I carefully measured and marked the studs placement on the drawers to make sure that when all glued in place they would line up perfectly, but also leave enough space to attach some Duplo blocks (bigger than Lego) as the handles. After some fiddling, drilling, glueing and screwing, our drawers now had the classic Lego block shape and sported a theme-appropriate handle for practicality.

Blocks of Colour!

The drawers were painted individually in bold primary colours. At the time, I didn't have access to my full range of Fusion Mineral Paints so these were of a store bought variety.

If I had to redo this upcycle today, here's what I'd recommend from Fusion Mineral Paint for the drawers:

• Park Bench green,
• Fort York Red,
• Liberty Blue, and
• Yellow Little Star

To bring the theme together, I painted each of the stool legs in each of the drawer colours, then took some Lego blocks and wheels, dipped them in the yellow and green paint and stamped them on the stool base painted in Ash.

Fusion Mineral Paint has a built-in top coat and I don't usually use a separate one. In this particular case - knowing my son and that this desk was bound to see plenty of action-packed hours and the drawers weren't painted in Fusion - I chose to coat it in Polyvine Heavy Duty Varnish to safeguard it for many years to come. Fast forward 5 years and I'm pleased to report it's still going strong, with no signs of wear and tear, despite ultra-heavy use!

Finishing touches to this Lego desk upcycle included a Lego building mat that I hot-glued to the top of the desk and handy storage boxes placed in the drawers to keep the Lego blocks organised, easily accessible and - most importantly - hidden from barefoot feet!

My son has long outgrown the smaller display unit and his bedroom walls are now full of shelves that showcase his Lego masterpieces. But one thing is for certain, that plain old pine desk definitely found a new, reloved life as a Lego station. To this day, my boy absolutely loves his Lego desk and I can honestly say it's brought us many happy, fun-filled hours and special quality time together. And ultimately, that is priceless!