DIY File Cabinet Transformation
DIY File Cabinet Transformation
When I think of a piece of office furniture that rarely looks pretty, I immediately think of the file cabinet. It is usually some dull metal color & basically a necessary evil for file storage. I knew we would need one for our big office renovation project, but I could not let it become an eyesore in my brand new room! So I decided I would find a cheap one & see if I could pretty it up with some paint (my go-to method for all things hideous). Yall I am so happy with the results & it was super easy!!!
Heres how I transformed this from eyesore to oh la la
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Supplies:
- Filing Cabinet (I found mine at a garage sale for $20)
- Spray Paint for cabinet & hardware (I used Rust-oleum deep blue & Krylon metallic gold)
- 4 Table Legs (I found mine at home depot)
- Drill/Drill bit the size of your table legs threaded bolt portion (mine were 5/16 for example)
- Measuring Tape
- Pencil
Process:
- Wipe your file cabinet down really well, mine was kind of yucky. Remove the hardware from the front of the drawers & pull out the drawers themselves. I struggled with removing the drawers for 5 minutes before I decided to let YouTube help me out! Most models have little latches on the sides by the rollers you simply pull up & the drawer releases. Mine has a metal clip type thing on the bottom of the drawer, so I had to lift the drawer up then pull it out. Heres a little clip to help you out if you get stuck like me!
- I spray painted all the hardware & feet so they could dry a bit while I was working on the cabinet.
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After the drawers are removed flip the cabinet over to mark your holes for the feet. There’s no real trick here, I just measured about an inch in from the sides & made sure all my holes were in line with each other. Also, make sure you will be able to easily screw on the nuts from the inside. Then I used a 5/16 drill bit to drill the holes. ***Normally you would want to go a size lower & tap into your metal, but in this situation that would ruin the threads on the feet.***
- Once the holes were drilled I flipped the cabinet back over & tried to figure out a way to cover the thumb latch. For the life of me, I could not figure out how to detach it so I came up with a two-step process that wasn’t great but hey the job got done! The first thing I tried was taping the thumb switches off so I could spray paint them. This part sorta worked, but some gold did get on the cabinet & I had to sand it down. Then, I had to figure out how to spray paint the rest of the cabinet without getting it on them. I’m going to blame the Alabama heat & lack of food on this next “brilliant” solution. I tried to saran wrap them… Yes, it looks like a mess because it was! You cant always have million dollar ideas though right?! That wouldn’t be fair to everyone else. In hindsight, I should have just painted them blue & been done with it because at the very end I had to use a little sharpie magic to color over a blue spot. If you read my framing in a builder grade mirror post you know this wasn’t the first time a sharpie saved the day!
5. My cabinet is a little longer than the average bear so it took me 2 1/2 cans of spray paint to achieve the look I was going for.
6. Finally, when it was all dry I inserted the feet & attached the nuts to them from the inside. Then, I put all the hardware back on & sweet talked Mr. White into carrying my finished project upstairs to the office!
Ta-Da my beautiful file cabinet!!
I love it but it’s
still not as cute as my helpers…
Avery is giving me that “mom do we really need this” look & like I told her yes we do! 
Its functional, beautiful. & budget-friendly, you can’t argue with that! Don’t forget to drop me any comments, questions, or the secret magic trick that removes that darn thumb switch! Have a fantastic week yall!
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It’s adorable! I especially love the way you added feet!
Thanks Amy I love the feet too ?
You just inspired me.. I am going to do this to mine so it matches my brand! thanks
Oh good, I’m so glad! It was a fun project!
Cute! It looks good! I love the cold accents on the feet.
Thank you, Kristin!
So cute! I have a file cabinet in my basement…Thanks for the idea!
It was a super easy project too! I think you will like it!
I adore this! I am in need of a file cabinet and this is motivating me to get one and spruce it up. I love the little feet on there!
Oh good I’m so glad Jen!
Oh good, I’m so glad Jen!
This is so cute! My husband absolutely loves this color! You did a great job 🙂
Thanks Madison! It was my first time experimenting with that dark of a blue & I’m in love ?
Beautiful colours ? I’d never have thought to add feet on but it looks amazing!
I’m so glad you like it Lauren!
Wow it’s so pretty. I admire people like you who are very creative and handy around the tools.
Awe thanks Joan! It’s a lot of learn as we go!
Excellent write-up. I certainly love this site.
Stick with it!
Thank you Jeffrey! You can never have too many pumpkins!
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We are glad to have you Jeffrey!
We are a gaggle of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community.
Your web site offered us with valuable info to work on. You have
done an impressive job and our entire neighborhood shall be grateful to you.
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this is great, just what i needed to redo mine ..i have two and yes they are so plain …i have seen where others had used wall paper like finish ..didn’t like the look but this is wonderful and i plan on adding wheels to mine so the next time i want to move, them they are hard to move i can just roll them around …again thank you very much keep coming up with such great ideas…have a great day …
Wheels are a great idea Madeline! They can definitely be hard to move.
Thanks for the article