Painted File Cabinet Makeover
Two of my all time most viewed posts are my file cabinet makeovers. I’m assuming that there are a lot of people out there with ugly file cabinets.
My own file cabinet wasn’t terribly ugly. Hubby and I had invested in a two drawer oak cabinet when we got married. My problem was that we had outgrown it. I really wanted a four drawer cabinet. Now I see them ALL the time, but back then I couldn’t find one anywhere…at least not for the price I wanted to pay.
For some reason I was discussing my file cabinet woes with my sister who just happened to have a four drawer file cabinet she was looking to get rid of and was looking for a two drawer. A trade was in the works.
Before I show you my file cabinet, here is a reminder of my last two file cabinet makeovers.
First there were these mismatched metal file cabinets (notice the two different heights). With the addition of a top, they are now two ends of my youngest son’s desk. You can find how I made a desktop here.
This file cabinet also got an extreme makeover. Can you tell this used to be a metal two drawer file cabinet? This went to my oldest son.
What I have never shared with you was my own file cabinet, mainly because he got his makeover several years ago, before I had a blog and before I took tons of pictures of my projects in progress. I did manage to take just one picture.
While I had been looking for a nice sturdy metal file cabinet, this was not quite it. It did have four drawers, but for a four drawer file cabinet it was short, standing only 48 inches high, and it was made of particle wood, not the sturdiest of woods.
To make the file cabinet taller, I added 2×4 boxes to the top and bottom hiding the seams with molding.
Additional molding was nailed and glued on to each drawer like a picture frame. All the gaps were filled in with paintable caulk.
Drawer handles were switched out and painters tape was used to create stripes on the front of the cabinet.
For the sides, the background was painted with a semigloss black paint. With a ruler I drew on a harlequin diamond pattern then filled in the diamonds with red paint.
Because I was mainly painting with flat acrylics, the entire cabinet got a clear coat of polyurethane.
I have a lot of neutrals in my house but I do enjoy a pop of color here and there.
Have a great week. Stay inspired.
Shared at Metamorphosis Monday,
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Fantastic job! I have a file cabinet that could use a makeover. Pinning this for inspiration! Thanks!