apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is what happens when stars align.

i would love one of these......

I LOVE it.... great idea. Now I need to find one of those and SPACE.

i want one!!!!!! and i want an antique mail sorter like the one they showed in Domino a few months ago. i want it!!! i want it!!! ;)

I want one of these soooo bad. I don't drink wine, but I can think of sooo many uses for one!

That card catalog is so gorgeous. I love the color!

Let see... What to put in draw #17...what to put? I Know! My sticker collection! wait... what is in draw # 22?

Anyway...

Thank you for letting me post a comment,
Melissa with Yourfurniturelink and Mortise & Tenon

booze catalogue. nice.

i could prattle on for hours about how much i love my card catalogue, but i'll spare you, and keep to my favorite ikea solution
http://www.flickr.com/photos/southof290/2420072780/in/set-72157603118897342/

and my man's favorite drawers contain light bulbs, organized by type and wattage

I'd store minerals and crystals! It's the perfect size for smaller ones, and they're deep enough that you could store information on them as well. In fact, if I recall correctly, my grandfather DID store them in something like this.

Spices. An extensive collection of them.

Whoa... i honestly don't know why kitchen storage never occured to me for card catalouge use

and aye, i'd be driven to label...

I've seen them at the Re-store in Seattle several times.

Potatoes, onions, other small foodstuffs that enjoy dark spaces.

Socks and underwear would work in these too...

Wow, I'm a librarian and I wouldn't have one of these for free -- as a matter of fact, at my previous job, when we went digital I could have had two of them. (Sold them to another library. Bet THEY are digital now too!)

Aside from wine collection or a possible future as a really busy crafter, I have a hard time justifying these actually. There are so many uses which don't all belong in the same room, and I think I'd still have drawers to spare, because they're too small for a lot of other things. I'd take one if I could find one, but I guess I'm lucky about not getting nostalgic about academia. Then again, wine doesn't fit in a flat file. This article has given me the first good idea that I'd want a card catalog at all, actually.

Let's see. They only buy what they can drink within a month and there are 60 drawers. Drinking 2 bottles of wine a day makes for a very happy couple.

Ha! Nicely done.

Back in the old days, after you removed the rod, they made great drawers for storing cassette tapes.

jewellery?
old school tapes?
cutlery, cups, servietts, spices, oil, vinegar pantry stuff basically?

turn it into a game and put one single shoe in each of the drawers and dont put the second one right next to it... or you could avoid the hassle and put them next to each other. lol.

Oh, the very BEST junk drawer cabinet imaginable.

I got my kitchen unit at a library clearance a few years ago. The pieces were mismatched and the veneer was ugly. The wood was only plywood - not solid oak. So, I just sanded, primed, and painted the whole thing. It's a perfect vintage red match for the old posters I have hanging in my kitchen.

[IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb99/mbc1963/House%20Pictures/CCDistant.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb99/mbc1963/House%20Pictures/CCLabels.jpg[/IMG]

One drawer has over-the-counter meds. (Advil, Lactaid, Tums, etc.) One drawer has light bulbs. One has pens. One has dog stuff: leash, heartworm pills, brush.

Let's see:

Tape
Glue
Paper
Scissor
Chargers
Batteries
Wood Screws
Small Hardware
Screwdrivers
Needle & Thread
Pliers
Rulers
Keys
Exacto Knives
String
Furniture Glides & Felt Pads
Small Tools
Painting Supplies

If you have even the slightest bit of OCD, the card catalog in a convenient location in your home can make you feel very happy, warm, and calm.

Mary B C

ping Mary B C

What and who by is that terrific color red. Thanks.

Hi, quiltmaster

It is a great red, yes? It's just a Behr Premium Plus at Home Depot. I think the color was either "firecracker" or "poinsettia." I believe the firecracker (150B-6) was just a tiny bit too pale and orange looking, so I went and got the next color deep, which is "poinsettia" (150B-7) and laid two coats over the previous one. I primed with a red-tinted primer, too.

FYI, I originally picked these colors for accents years ago by taking autumn leaves to Home Depot and holding them up to the color cards.

Mary

Mary B C,
I notice something plugged in behind. Did you make a hole in the back so that something small and electronic could charge unseen in one of the drawers?

Thank you Mary B C. Looks like it will go well for the inside of a cabinet we're working on. It certainly is worth getting a sample. I just happen to have some money left on my HD gift certificate. So that makes it free!

Choichie - No... I've just got an outlet set down low on that wall, so I run an extension cord up and hang it in the back of the cabinet - that way, I can set electric things on top and plug them in when I need to. (Crock pot, immersion blender, etc.) But, it wouldn't be too hard to run a plug into these units. You would only need to drill through the back wall - the drawer backs are low enough that the cord could run right up over them and out through the back. You could charge your cell phones and stuff inside the drawers easily enough.

Quiltmaster, I did use the leftover "firecracker" red on the inside walls of a white antique cabinet opposite this card catalog, and it looks great. Makes me happy everytime I open the cabinet. :)

Mary, my little OCD heart weeps with desire.

They have tons of those at Spazio's in Montreal.

http://www.spazio.ca/

We also use ours as the ultimate junk drawer. They're just so handy! I have some empty spots, though, so maybe I'll have a few wine drawers.....

http://lloydandlauren.com/2008/03/26/ultimate-junk-drawer/

I have wanted one of these for sooo long...

You all will LOVE this:

http://www.publicsurplus.com

: )

Enjoy!

These are not too uncommon if you browse both eBay and Craigslist. Craigslist ones come up with insanely low prices sometimes... like $75 for a solid oak antique last summer in Rhode Island. (Missed that one!)

Tricky to search for, though. Try searching, "library file," "card file," and "oak file" in addition to "card catalog." When I do "antique oak file" on eBay, I usually turn up all the cool card catalogs as well as "normal" files.

So, I know it's Sunday at 5:42 a.m. I am obsessed with these things. I way overspent last weekend and bought something I only hypothetically need for my hypothetical crafts room. I immediately buyer's remore - even went so far as to make an eBay listing to sell this and get my money back. No use. I can't bear to part with it.

So now I want to lord it over the rest of the card catalog cravers out there. Another great thing to search for on Craigslist and eBay... ANTIQUE DENTAL CABINET!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb99/mbc1963/FileFrontGood.jpg

That's missing its top, but I'll find a piece of marble at the flea market or architectural salvage place.

And if you crave a card catalog, but can't afford one or don't have the space for one, antique oak machinist's tool chests are a great tiny substitute. Wonderful as desk organizers. You can eBay and Craigslist search under "machinist" or "oak machinist" and these will pop up. If you're more modern, just look for the mid-century steel alternatives. You can get them kind of cheap, and could even paint them funky colors to counter the boyness of them, if you're a female. :)

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb99/mbc1963/machinist1.jpg

I added the little label holders - they were cheap on a woodworking supply website.

A couple listings:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150324765803&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170300722697&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:us

I have a little four-drawer one that I use for storing silverware and canning jar lids. I got it at a Catholic school rummage sale for 25 cents and it has gone through five apartments with me. It's great if you get one of those kitchens with no or not nearly enough drawers, and because it's so small it fits anywhere.