On Permanent File

So this week has been designated Scott's Office Week. It's going to be all about the projects that we are doing in there to get ready for Saturday when someone will be using it as a second guest room. I started out by rectifying a wrong (looking) piece of furniture that has been sitting around for a while. Our file cabinet came from a garage sale for $5 when Scott moved into his first apartment, so it's been around for a couple of years. Since then, it hadn't been touched.

We like having it in there because it acts as both storage and as a side table for our small couch/guest bed. It's a really small space, so there aren't a lot of options.

I dragged it out to the garage and took a scrapper to it's many flaws.

I then roughed it up with just a regular sanding block so the paint would stick better. This also included removing the handles by prying them out of the holes in the aluminum.

My tools of choice

Primer

Done with the drawers open so I could get all sides. If you really cared, you could tape it off for crisper lines, but I didn't mind because I knew that the drawers would be close 90% of the time.

I threw some of the gray that I used from the coffee table on the handles in one coat.

Then started in with the fire engine red. Two coats in all.

I put some poly on it to protect it and then placed it back inside next to the couch (after letting it dry, of course).

I liked it, but I felt like it needed something. I ended up getting some of the cork self adhesive shelf liner you can buy anywhere.

Flipping it over, and marking it after measuring the top of the cabinet.

Then it just cuts with scissors.

After lining it up, I slowly pulled off the paper backing as I went and applied it to the top of the cabinet.

I actually coated the cork in poly, too, just to help keep it together since cork isn't known as a strong material. After letting it dry, we placed it back in the office.

The cork ads a nice texture to the room. I really like the fact that you can set anything down on it and it won't scratch. The best thing is that after it wears down or starts to look ratty, I can always just peel it off and replace it. It's a much cooler way for us to store our files, now!