Recommendation: Try singing the title of this post to the
Subway $5 foot long theme song to set the mood.
Our files have been out of control lately. Between getting married, buying a house,
paying bills, and just generally wanting to keep certain papers for record,
things were getting crazy around here.
I had been using a plastic file box from my college years
which was exploding with papers. All the
exploding papers made me less apt to file items as they came up and I began to
acquire a stack of papers to file. A
stack of papers grew into 2 stacks of papers and so forth…
I had searched for solutions to my file problem online
and found that new file cabinets can cost anywhere from $100-300+….Way too much
money for some let’s-face-it-UGLY
file storage.
Then I stumbled upon a $5 file cabinet at Goodwill.
Inspired by DIY-ers before me, I jumped on this $5
opportunity.
Steps to file cabinet rehabilitation:
1.
Sand current state filing cabinet
Focus on sanding down any scratched areas, rusted areas,
or areas missing paint.
2.
Wipe down file cabinet
First, wipe down all sanded material with a dry
cloth. Then wipe down with soapy water
to prep for painting.
3.
Prime file cabinet
You may be able to skip this step based upon the color
you are going to be painting over.
Because I transformed a black file cabinet to a white file cabinet,
primer was essential.
I recommend watching YouTube videos about how to use
spray paint before jumping in. I jumped
in with no prior spray paint experience and I ended up with some drips in my
primer that I sanded down later.
4.
Paint file cabinet
I recommend doing this in a well-ventilated area,
preferably outdoors. I also recommend
purchasing a mask. I did not have a
mask. I found myself spraying and
running to take breaths of fresh air. It
wasn’t optimal.
5.
Assemble drawer inserts
I wanted to defer to Hubs for this but he insisted that I
try using some mechanical aptitude. I
was able to assemble them on my own after all…imagine that!
6.
Re-organize your life!
I have so much extra space in my file cabinet! I love it!
I know I’ll be more organized moving forward with this filing system!
The total cost for this rehabilitation was $42. This is my estimated breakdown of cost:
|
File Cabinet
|
$5
|
|
2 Cans of Spray Paint Primer
|
$7
|
|
2 Cans of Spray Paint
|
$7
|
|
Sandpaper
|
$3
|
|
File hanging drawer inserts
|
$20
|
|
Total
|
$42
|
