Project File Cabinet

Over the past few months "file cabinet" has been at the top of our list of home improvement projects to tackle. When we first got married we put all of the important documents and papers about our life into an "important papers binder". That binder turned into a binder and box of important papers, and more recently a binder, box, and drawer of important papers. Needless to say it was getting out of control. So I began browsing around Craig's list for file cabinets. The most inexpensive filing cabinet from Ikea is $99 - yet in an anti-Ikea spirit I decided to try and find something more attractive. Who says they have to be made of ugly, gray metal and pinch your fingers? I found this wood filling cabinet on Craig's list for $30. It belonged to a nice old man who recently passed away. He collected all kinds of antique things and is donating his house to the city. But they were trying to sell some of his things and after 2 unsuccessful trips of trying to pick the cabinet up we bought it for $30! I thought it had great potential.

Ugly wood and ugly handles - but great structure!

Nate's Dad has an awesome wood shop. Wood working is his hobby so we had access all kinds of tools and expert help for every step of the process! The wood was pretty old and dirty so it took a lot of sanding to get it smooth. Luckily Nate's Dad had an electric sander...



I didn't take pictures of every step of the process but we spent a whole afternoon working on it. It took sanding, one coat of shellac, 2 coats of paint, cleaning the old hinges of the drawers, and lots of other work. It was so fun!

Laying on the first coat was so fulfilling. We bought Martha Stewart paint in the color "egg shell". These pictures don't really capture the color because some of them were taken on Nate's phone but it turned out a nice Robin's egg blue.

We also knocked off those ugly handles and got some pretty ones from Anthropologie with mother of pearl embellishment.

The finished product! I'm happy with how it turned out. It will take the place of Nate's bedside table in our apartment. We also got a piece of glass and put it on top to keep it nice. All and all I think we spent under $100. And got a much cooler result than an Ikea filing cabinet. Now I have to do the not so fun part and fill it up with all our "important papers". Up next is project Armoire...