apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love these! Unfortunately, I don't have any use for flat files, but if I did...

I hope AT does a similar round up for regular filing cabinets. I've been having a hard time finding a good looking, 1 drawer (for letter-sized file folders) filing cabinet on casters (or a 2 drawer cabinet, if the top drawer is small). Hard to find. If anyone has any suggestions, please do tell!

My household has a crafty wife, photographer husband and typical multi-media 5-year old, so we love the Alex Drawer Unit from Ikea. I wish it were actually a little smaller, but the fact that it's white diminishes its visual impact a bit. We currently have 2 of them: one for junior's art supplies, and one for printer stand/specialty paper storage at the computer. When wife gets her craft room together, we may very well have 3 of them. The units are typical melamine over particle board, but they have a nice mass to them -- heavy enough to feel sturdy, but easily mobile on the casters.

I came to the realization this past holiday break that my love for industrial and otherwise institutional-styled furniture probably stems from my years of visiting my mom who worked for a science lab at a university. That coupled with my current job working for a printmaking department at an art school has left me with the majority of my furniture being both metal and vintage.

I love my flat files (I have 3 sets) and think the small price of paying my friends in beer every time they help me move them is completely worth it. Handy tip - haunt CL for storage units - or better yet, put the word out to people you know in the graphics industry - these things pop up all the time used and if you're patient enough they can be had for cheap or free - especially now as more print and graphics shops are closing / consolidating....

Also - I must say it's a little sad to see a Hamilton Type Cabinet being sold off as storage - but it is awfully handsome in that glossy black. I don't think it's worth $2100 I think, but business is business.

Hrmm, when I saw these, I immediately thought it would inconvenient to file papers in them. But I love the above commenters idea to use them for art supply/craft storage!! Perfect!

we have the ikea helmer in our office. it's pretty shotty in construction. it's made out of really thing sheet metal, you actually form the drawers by bending the sheet metal yourself. It might be worth half what they sell it for.

For the person looking for a file cabinet. we have the ikea galant (can you see the trend in furniture, plus i had to build it all....) It's a pretty nice file cabinet. I wish it were metal, but the wood isn't bad, it's sturdy. i guess that better then really flimsy metal which is what most file cabinet seem to be. it has a big drawer on bottom and a small one on top. but when you open it up it has 2 smaller drawers hidden in the big one.

My husband and I got tired of dragging everything out of our walk-in closet everytime we needed something out of his toolbox. We recently got two 8 drawer bisley cabinets - similar to the ones pictured above. We were amazed by how much stuff fit into the two cabinets. One now stores 3 toolboxes full of small tools (hammer, tape measure, nails) and the other stores all our craft supplies.

These are all great looking storage solutions! But, like Lourdes, I would love to see some modern standard-size filing cabinets. Also, some versions that are fire- and water-resistant would be helpful.

I would love to see some lateral file cabinets that have one lateral file cabinet on the bottom and either a bookshelf or bench on the top - that look good!

Home Decorators has some decent looking home file cabinets- but has anyone tried them- are they well constructed or cheap?
http://www.homedecorators.com/Furniture/Home_Office/File_Cabinets/#paging=1&filters=none&pr=none

I have a different style of the Alex Drawer Unit - I bought it from Home Decorators a few years ago. While the construction wouldn't stand up to serious use, it so perfectly fits a space in my office that it looks like it was custom made.

Metal flat files are also great for storing collections - I'm considering some metal ones for textiles and photos. I have a Bisley for my tribal jewelry collection and another for office supplies and stationary. One of the nice things about Bisley is that you can buy plastic inserts to divide the drawers in compartments that are whatever size you need. Too bad its all so expensive since the dollar dropped...

great post - i've been trying to find some cheaper alternatives to the industrial metal flat files.

a couple questions fot those who bought the IKEA Alex unit:
is it solid/sturdy? would it hold up to multiple moves? how tall are each of the drawers? Thanks...

If anyone is interested in a vintage (aka old graphic art department) flat files, let me know.
mediadiva13 at yahoo dot com

Janella13, If only I lived near Chicago. I'm assuming that is where you are?

Yep, DMstudio - I am on the outskirts of Chicago, northwest burbs.

Our business will be clearing out lots of 'stuff' in March, and I am in charge of finding homes for it.

Craigslist will be one, freecycle the other.

Our original graphics department, from the late 60's kept everything. We are now all computer and we need room.

Once I have a list I will post the items. Somewhere. Hopefully I can get a link to here. Will see.

Janell

Lourdes, make sure you're asking at used office furniture places for "pedestals." Those are drawer units that go underneath countertops or desks in modern office systems. Used pedestals are really easy to find at used office furniture dealers such as Kentwood in Itasca or Arthur P. O'Hara in Bellwood. (ROE just off the Eisenhower on Menard also has nice stuff, but is not so much set up for small sales to individuals.)

Pedestals come in various configurations, including ones with two file drawers, two box drawers and a file drawer, and one of each. Some have finished tops, but many are intended to be under a desktop. You can easily order a small countertop at Menard's, cut a prefinished melamine shelf to size, or put a padded seat on top.