LEGOs! Great Home Ideas for the World’s Coolest Toy

The Australian outback can be a barren landscape, but some full-size LEGO trees and flowering bushes — installed as part of a LEGO marketing campaign — turned these open spaces into a verdant homestead. Plant some real trees and you’ll add cooling shade and increase the value of your property.


Credit: The LEGO Group

If you have 1,000 willing volunteers and some spare LEGOs (3.3 million, to be exact), then you, too, could build a 2-level house made entirely of — you guessed it — LEGOs! This extravaganza includes LEGO sinks, functioning toilet (ouch!), furniture, and an exterior door. Legal issues forced this house to be demolished not long after it was completed. Want to build your own? Use this calculator to figure the number of LEGO bricks you’ll need.


Credit: Paul Rumsey

One of the tallest-ever LEGO creations, this 30-foot-high Christmas tree at LegoLand California, was built in 2011. It was made up of 245,000 green bricks and featured 240 LEGO ornaments. This tree was lit with floodlights, but try energy-saving LED string lights to light up your Christmas tree.


Credit: Flickr user Näystin

You might not have to tell your kids to put away their toys when you furnish their rooms with giant LEGO storage boxes ($40). Pop the top on these plastic bricks to uncover the hidden storage compartment. They come in six colors and, yes, they snap together so you can build with them, just like regular LEGOs.


Credit: APlaceforEverything.co.uk

If you’re looking to repair and maintain your masonry walls, you might brick them up with LEGO blocks. After all, they’re waterproof. You’ll need to set the blocks with epoxy glue for a permanent solution. The more traditional fix would be to repair this stucco wall using an acrylic latex patching material made for stucco ($7/qt.), but what’s the fun in that?


Credit: Flickr user ilovememphis

When Irish design firm ABGC was given the job of designing a new look for an agency called Boys and Girls, the directive was to create something “playful but not juvenile.” LEGOs to the rescue. This 4-by-9-foot boardroom conference table features 22,472 pieces and is covered with safety glass. Watch the table being built. How about for your dining room?


Credit: abcg architecture | photo by studioseventyseven

These LEGOs are just like the real thing — only a lot bigger and heavier. They’re the creation of artist Andrew Lewicki, who casts each 15-by-7-by-5-inch block out of concrete. They fit together like the real thing, if you can lift them. They’re available from the artist as a set of 12 blocks.


Credit: Concrete Legos by artist Andrew Lewicki / Joshua White, photo

Lamps ($695 to $895) from certified LEGO designer Sean Kenney add a playful touch to everyday rooms. There are 5 styles and 10 colors to choose from. The base of the DeVoe style shown here is 10 inches in diameter and 19 inches high and features a steel base covered with LEGO blocks.

Credit: Sean Kenney

Who says you have to play on the floor? This kid’s paradise features walls completely covered with LEGO bases — and plenty of loose blocks so they (or you) can express your inner Picasso and Warhol. Because they’re covered in plastic, you won’t have to repair these walls until you pry off the LEGO coverings.



Credit: I-Beam Design

Not too many folks are certified LEGO professionals, but a few — like Nathan Sawaya — are able to build anything you can imagine using those tiny plastic bricks. Sawaya’s creations include models of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Seattle Space Needle, and a 3-foot-tall house as part of a fundraiser for Homes for the Homeless, the nation’s largest provider of residential, education, and employment training centers.


Credit: Nathan Sawaya, freelance brick artist

The problem with LEGO creations is that when playtime is over, you have to put away your toys. Self-described LEGO geek Mike Schropp solved the problem by glueing LEGO base plates to his basement walls and ceilings. The 26 10-by-10-inch plates Schropp used would have cost about $130, but thanks to the many gift cards he’s received from sympathetic friends and family, he only spent $20.


Credit: Mike Schropp

LEGO motifs rule the day in this cool kid’s room. LEGO-inspired pillows, rugs, and custom-made storage cabinets make this a child’s dream come true. Each LEGO-y item is custom-made by the designer and isn’t available at retail, but you can inquire about pillows through PebbleDesign.


Credit: PebbleDesign / Çakıltaṣları Mimarlık Tasarım (Neslihan Pekcan)

With a bagful of LEGOs and a bit of spare time, you can put together some snappy DIY projects that’ll make your household more efficient — and fun. This utensil holder adds colorful functionality to the kitchen; other ideas include: toothbrush holders, drink coasters, placemats, and checkerboards.


Credit: Photographer Lisbet Spörndly

These free-spirited home owners covered standard lower kitchen cabinets with 10,000 LEGO blocks to create a one-of-a-kind, conversation-stoking island. They bought the blocks used on eBay. The cost was about $1,000, but the results are priceless. If you don’t have the patience, try new cabinet hardware and other inexpensive but classy cabinet updates.

Credit: Céline Clanet

If you like these, you may want to take a spin through HouseLogic’s library of slideshows.