Vintage and reproduction cabinets are not only beautiful conversation pieces, they are infinitely practical, providing an original a way to organize anything from arts and crafts supplies to tax documents. Many are display cabinets and shop shelving systems known in England and Commonwealth countries as "shop fittings." Others are vocational artifacts and equipment originally designed for a specialized trade…
Apothecary cabinets were used by apothecaries, a now obsolete term for medical professionals who formulate and dispense medicines and supplies for caregivers (today's pharmacists). Other pieces were originally used to store and organize items ranging including blue prints, machinists' tools, sewing supplies, printers' materials, and library card catalog systems. Some lend an industrial, medical or manufacturing edge to your decor, while others evoke the well-worn coziness of that archetypal shop around the corner.
FIRST ROW
• 1 Primitive 64 drawer apothecary cupboard. Handmade and custom-made. Red Rooster Bab on Etsy, $899.
• 2 Illusorio Cabinet. This reclaimed pine cupboard looks like antique drafting trays, but actually has three roomy drawers and on three hidden shelves. Anthropologie, $1,698.
• 3 Vintage blue cabinet. ABC Carpet and Home, $395.
• 4 1940s vintage industrial library drawers storage cabinet. Made of steel with a time-worn patina. Modern 50, $445.
• 5 Urbn sideboard. ABC Carpet and Home, $2,395.
SECOND ROW
• 6 Quin cabinet. Home Decorators Collection, $499.
• 7 Early 1920's vintage medical heavy gauge steel compartmentalized operating room supply cabinet. Urban Remains, $995.
• 8 Walnut and pine 12-drawer collectors cabinet from the late 19th century. Ruby Lane, $950.
• 9 8-drawer golden tiger oak cabinet. Described as an "antique stacking blue print cabinet/artist paint cabinet/pocket watch collectors cabinet." Burchard Galleries.
• 10 Made for a Victorian printing shop in the 1890's, a signed "Hamilton" 25 drawer type file cabinet. Harp Gallery. (SOLD)
THIRD ROW
• 11 In the style of an early 1900 toolbox from a French automobile factory. Handcrafted of iron and held with exposed rivets. Restoration Hardware, $1,595+.
• 12 Collectors cabinet. Cottage Home Maine, $1,495.
• 13 Vintage library card cabinet. eBay, $399.
• 14 Vintage 1950s SteelMaster index card catalog/file cabinet from a recently shuttered machine factory. Austin Modern on Etsy, $325.
• 15 Antique large apothecary cabinet in white. This 18-drawer cabinet is made completely out of wood and came from an old pharmacy in Pennsylvania. The Corner Store BK on Etsy, $975.
Images: as linked above
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I am obsessed with these. They are ultra-practical and look nice in any room. Thanks for posting this.
Oh! Ohmygod. Tiny drawers. I *LOVE* things with little drawers. I organize my beads in an old card catalog and I absolutely love it. Sometimes I think I picked up jewelry just to have something to put in those little drawers...
I bought this from Target from a few years ago and I love it:
http://www.target.com/Library-Style-Media-Rack-Oak/dp/B0001XSK08/
I love these! If I ever find one I can afford I will snatch it up in a heart beat! Soooo beautiful!
Cabinets like these are a design obsession for me, but have no practical use in my life. Thanks for feeding the need!
i bought this recently from the dulton company and it is really great for storage and not to mention the retro looks
http://www.boyleindustries.com.au/E6157::45673:10-DRAWER-CHEST-ON-CASTORS
For those who like to hunt for vintage pieces, as well as for find/negotiate for better prices, pieces like these are usually common at antique fairs and stores. Why get a repro, when you can get the real thing? Usually made better!
I have a large set of oak drawers that I think was previously used in a machine shop. It has about 100 drawers in it and stands about 4' x 8'. I found it in a antique junk shop and bought it off the owner (who I believe was swigging a bottle of gin and juice at the time of the sale) for a mere $200!
Lots of character. I also think that a low map chest would look good storing art paper/unframed prints and serving as a coffee table.
That medical cart would make an awesome side table or bedside table... definitely love the aesthetic, fairly practical too.
I love tiny drawers, but it makes me sad that often the original and irreplaceable letters for letterpress are dumped out and disposed of so people can use the drawers for other things.
Save the letterpress!
These are my obsession. I had to stop buying them because I have enough drawers for any tiny thing I could ever think of storing.
If you love these, steel two-drawer metal card files are really common at yard sales and such. I often pick them up for a dollar. You can then get creative and stack them, attach them, and put casters on them to create whatever you might want. If you don't like yard saling, they're all over Etsy for under $20.