LEGO Display Shelves

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LEGO display shelves for your minifigures are a lifesaver! Check out this easy and affordable, low budget tutorial to learn how to wrangled all of our kids’ LEGO minifigs into a cool display shelf. It’s a great organizing hack!

LEGO display shelves
LEGO display shelves
LEGO display shelves

Henry’s first LEGO set was one of mine from when I was a kid. I thought he’d like to start learning to build.

Fast forward a couple of years and he can outbuild me any day, either from an instruction booklet or from his imagination. He loves them so much he talked me into making him a LEGO Halloween costume.

We’ve also spent a ton of time figuring out these really great LEGO storage ideas for his sets and collections.

I love the creativity, problem-solving, and spatial awareness that LEGO helps foster in our kids. What I don’t love?

Alllll of the LEGO pieces and minifigures, everywhere, all over their rooms. Henry particularly loves minifigures, so we decided it was really time to build some LEGO display shelves as an organization idea for his LEGO.

Psst — if you love this idea, check out more this other easy organization idea too!

DIY LEGO Display shelves

Henry really wanted something so that he could see his minifigures all at once. So right away we knew that a bin, box, or cabinet wasn’t what we were trying to create.

I wanted something that he could manage and organize all by himself. We also wanted to create something that was easy and fast to make, and affordable too.

So we came up with these DIY LEGO display shelves!

They solve all of our problems so far, and they’re holding up really well.

We hung them in his room at kid height so that he can mix, match, trade, organize, and play with his minifigs all by himself. And the best part was that Ryan was able to make them in about an hour.

The Best Materials for Building LEGO Display Shelves

I love this project because it’s extremely affordable, with a minimal supplies list for a woodworking project.

If you’re new to woodworking, this is a great starter project. It’s simple and easy to attain. And if you take time to measure your wood properly, it’s pretty much no-fail.

Here are the supplies that you’ll need.

Materials

Although there are other types of the self-adhesive LEGO tape that you can find if you do some searching, I like this particular type. It has held up really well for us and stays put perfectly.

How to Organize Your Lego Minifigures

Make Time: 1 Hour

Instructions

  1. First, cut the trim pieces. To make LEGO display shelves like ours with mitered edges, cut two 29″ long pieces with 45 degree angles, and 2 19.5″ pieces with 45 degree angles. (If you don’t want mitered edges, cut 2 29″ pieces and 2 18″ pieces.) Next, cut 5 18″ pieces.
  2. Then, line all of the pieces up. The mitered edges should create a frame (or the 2 29″ pieces should frame all other pieces if you don’t miter the edges). Then the other 5 pieces should fit inside, equidistant from each other.
  3. Next, screw all of the pieces together, applying screws from the outer sides of the 29″ pieces, in toward the center to affix the shelf pieces.
  4. If you didn’t miter your edges, you’ll want to paint the unfinished edges of your 29″ pieces to match the paint color.
  5. Finally, apply the adhesive LEGO tape to each shelf. You can also add it to the top rail to get a little extra LEGO organization and storage.
  6. Attach the d-ring picture hangers to the backs of either side of the shelves and hang on your wall as you would a picture frame, using a level to ensure accuracy.
LEGO display shelves
LEGO display shelves

Ways to Categorize and Organize LEGO Minifigures

Because these LEGO display shelves have lots of different levels, it’s really easy (and a lot of fun!) for the kids to keep their minifigures organized.

We’ve found that sometimes Henry likes to organize his minifigures by type, collecting each type on a different shelf.

Harry Potter will go on one shelf, Marvel characters on another, LEGO people on another, and so on.

Other times, he’ll just toss them up there with no rhyme or reason. During these times, the shelves really just serve the purpose of keeping the minifigures together and off of the floor.

There’s no right or wrong way to use the LEGO display shelves, as long as they’re helpful for you!

LEGO Display Shelves Save The Day

Henry couldn’t be more pumped about these! (See evidence in the early photos of this post.)

As parents, we love them too. They were an easy solution to a problem that was pretty annoying. And now we never lose minifigures, and they’re pretty much always organized.

Cost Breakdown for This Project

All in all the LEGO display shelves for his minifigures cost about $30. The most expensive part was the LEGO tape.

Also, we already had all of the tools and hardware that we needed, so the only new materials we bought were the pre-painted trim and the tape. But if you have scrap wood laying around you could also use that and paint it to save some cash!

Hope you try this out. Let me know if you do, and send photos of your version of the LEGO display shelves! xoxo

LEGO display shelves
LEGO display shelves
LEGO display shelves
LEGO display shelves

LEGO Display Shelves for Minifigures

Yield: LEGO Display Shelves
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $30

These LEGO display shelves are perfect for storing and organizing minifigures!

Materials

  • Pre-painted white trim: 2 pieces, 8′ each. Find this at your local home improvement store. Try to find something that’s about 1/5″ x 3/4″, painted on all sides, and flat on all sides (no curves).
  • LEGO self adhesive tape
  • Screws
  • D-ring picture hanging kit

Tools

  • Miter saw
  • Level
  • Measuring tape

Instructions

    1. First, cut the trim pieces. To make LEGO display shelves like ours with mitered edges, cut two 29″ long pieces with 45 degree angles, and 2 19.5″ pieces with 45 degree angles. (If you don’t want mitered edges, cut 2 29″ pieces and 2 18″ pieces.) Next, cut 5 18″ pieces.
    2. Then, line all of the pieces up. The mitered edges should create a frame (or the 2 29″ pieces should frame all other pieces if you don’t miter the edges). Then the other 5 pieces should fit inside, equidistant from each other.
    3. Next, screw all of the pieces together, applying screws from the outer sides of the 29″ pieces, in toward the center to affix the shelf pieces.
    4. If you didn’t miter your edges, you’ll want to paint the unfinished edges of your 29″ pieces to match the paint color.
    5. Finally, apply the adhesive LEGO tape to each shelf. You can also add it to the top rail to get a little extra LEGO organization and storage.
    6. Attach the d-ring picture hangers to the backs of either side of the shelves and hang on your wall as you would a picture frame, using a level to ensure accuracy.

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