I love office supplies of all shapes and sizes, and older steel case cabinets and desks are some of my favorites. I adore the idea of resuscitating them and painting them jubilant colors. Bringing an old file cabinet into the kitchen? I'm intrigued...
Leave it to Life Hacker to lead us to some of the more interesting projects. Today they pointed us to Curbly, a great home site that regularly features fantastic DIYs.
I really love the look of this rolling kitchen cart, and think that the size might be just perfect for a versatile surface that doesn't take up too much room. My kitchen is not very large, but I would definitely have the space (and the need) for a cart of this scale.
Take a look at the step-by-step---it doesn't seem like too much to handle! And regardless of whether a filing cabinet works for your aesthetic, it ought to get your brain working to think of other non-traditional items that might be transformed in kind.
Images: Curbly
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Yes I like this very much! :)
BUT, my kitchen is already full and I have no room for one. Boo. :(
I love the chopping board top and side rails, but how are the drawers used?
i love this! in fact, i love it so much i think i just may have found my weekend project!
@YoNella, I would use the drawers to file all my recipes, cookbooks, etc. You could also keep dish towels folded & stacked in there.
@YoNella, you could use tall jars to store dry goods in the drawers and label the lids so you can quickly see what's what. Or get dividers to stash cutting boards and pot lids upright.
If you are going to do this, I'd suggest finding a high quality steel file cabinet, the cheap ones are just that, cheap, they don’t hold much weight and the drawers are flimsy. Find a vintage Steel Case and add some weight to the bottom rear if you plan to use the drawers while the new cart is on wheels, this will ensure the cart doesn’t tip when a drawer filled with cookbooks or whatever is pulled open.
I'd line the drawers and use them for potatoes and onions. Also maybe for my dishtowels, since they don't all fit in any other drawers.
All of the steel filing cabinets I've ever come across need a good tug to get the drawers open. It seems with the casters that getting the drawers open on this unit might be awkward; say you store kitchen towels and need one out; you'd be struggling to hang on to something for leverage. Awkward.
I would like to see this without drawers and filled w/cookbooks:) Boxspring's idea really appeals to me (of course I, too, do not have room for it and have a stainless and butcher block trolley from IKEA).
Would like to see someone do that and perhaps more creative endeavors with the often old and ugly filing cabinet.
I'd probably put a piece of plywood over the bottom and connect it it many places and then connect the casters to that. The edge metal isn't made to take the stress, and these kinds of cabinets bend very easily.