Before & After: Old Filing Cabinet Goes Industrial
comments
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing.
(Image credit: Jordan)
This $10 filing cabinet didn’t look like much, but Jordan had an idea. Its rusty paint job was not up to snuff, so he stripped it down and gave it some style:
(Image credit: Jordan)
From Jordan:
I’ve been searching for an inexpensive piece to try to up-cycle. I found this filing cabinet on Craigslist for $10 and figured if it didn’t work out, I didn’t have much into it and wouldn’t feel bad if I just tossed it, or gave it to my ‘scrapper’ neighbor.The cabinet was in great working order, but the facade was pretty beat from the wear and tear over the years, and had some rust damage to boot. After seeing the cabinet, I decided to go a more industrial look. Instead of trying to hide the rust, I wanted it give the piece character, so I stripped all the paint off (probably 5-6 go’s with gel stripper), sanded the bare metal smooth with 400G, and sealed it.
Then I wanted to do some kind of geometric paint on top. After some contemplation on color, I figured white would be friendlier to most rooms, and decided on a chevron-ish look. (I spent the extra few bucks on Frog Tape, well worth it).
After a half dozen coats of the white, I removed the tape and used 1200G to knock down the edge and make it smooth. Covered the whole thing again with a few coats Satin clear, sanding with 1200 in between.
Thank you Jordan!