Ombre-hey-ho
Psssst… this post *might* contain affiliate links: see my disclosure here.
Painted Metal File Cabinet
Are you ready to ombre? One of my favorite things about the new lavender dining room is this re-energized file cabinet. I bought it off of Craigslist (natch) from a lovely gentleman who had been using it for his fossil collection (don’t you love knowing a little history about these pieces?!).
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I considered lots of different ways to paint this girl, but ultimately landed on the epitome of non-prep… chalk paint. (Another option that I toyed with was spray primer and then latex paint… but that involved lugging the whole thing outside AND the temperature was still too cold for spray paint.) Before I even touched a paint brush, I went over the whole thing with a big ol’ wire brush to get any flaky paint or rust off. Wanna know what I learned? 1) the sound of a wire brush on a metal file cabinet will make you question your will to live. 2) the paint flaked right off the drawer pulls to reveal the original metal… #winning! (Before… and after.)
Once the cabinet was spiffed up, I went in with the chalk paint. I used Annie Sloan’s Emile, Henrietta and Old White and a 1″ basic foam craft brush (affiliate). The file cabinet has 10 rows so I figured two rows of each color would be feasible without looking crazy. I used straight Emile and the straight Henrietta for 2 colors in the gradient. Then I mixed them equal parts for another shade. And lastly played around with the Old White to get two more tones that fit the ombre.
The handles on these drawers didn’t unscrew so I was forced to paint around them. No biggie.
I knew this was going in the dining room and when I googled images for other similar storage cabinets (e.g. library card catalog drawers) the one thing I noticed was that the ‘fancier’ looking ones were elevated from the ground. Obviously a purple ombre file cabinet will never be considered ‘fancy’ but I wanted it to look like a legit piece of furniture and not just an old metal set of drawers that I slapped some paint on. So I went into our scrap wood pile and found some 2x4s. I cut them to size and using the Kreg jig, made a platform like so:
I love simple plates like this (affiliate) for threaded prefab furniture legs. Makes adding legs to anything crazy easy. Not the most sophisticated option, but mad simple.
To cover the 2 x 4s, I then used my nail gun
(affiliate) to attach these 1x2s along the edge after mitering the corners so they’d fit nice and pretty. I stained the whole thing using some leftover Minwax Provincial.
The file cabinet is pretty heavy so it’s just resting on the base, but I definitely recommend screwing it in through the bottom of the file cabinet to secure it and anchoring it to the wall.
And a few more glamor shots. Because let’s face it… this fossil cabinet just got the Cinderella treatment.
I haven’t tested the chalk paint by running jagged nails up and down the surface, but this file cabinet has been moved around a couple of times and the paint is holding up great.
Update: See how this ombre makeover made its way into BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS!!!
Update UPDATE: I shared this file cabinet again after we moved. See how it looks in it’s new location at our NEW HOUSE! It’s been almost two years since I painted it and it’s still got a FLAWLESS finish. I’m SO impressed!
What do use the cabinet for? Looks good.
Hi Jill,
I haven’t fully moved into it yet :), but I plan on using if for napkins, extra silverware, maybe extra tea light candles…. and I’m sure plenty of junk!
I love it! Your ombre cabinet is making the rounds this #thriftscorethursday – we’re ALL in love with it! 🙂 I’m usually not into anything in the purple family, but your lovely dining room is definitely helping it grow on me!
Brynne, THANKS to all of you! 🙂 I’m usually not a fan of purple either, but for whatever reason I’ve been loving it for this room! Hope I don’t wake up one day and change my mind?!
Super jealous of this find!!!
I have been looking for a wood card catalogue for ages, but a metal file drawer like this one would do nicely too. Freaking love it. Nice touch with the base and the ombre too!!
Right?! I love a card catalog! (I have another in the basement to spiff up…) Thanks, Pat!
Another one!! Man, you have been scoring some great items.
Wow, this is gorgeous…and I just LOVE lavender!!!!
Thanks, Lisa! I wasn’t so sure before, but I find myself grabbing lavender more and more often!
Great job!!!
Thanks, Vanessa!!
I just picked up a plain jane 4-drawer file cabinet this weekend that someone had built and then didn’t want to move. It’s going is BF’s office and I was just going to go a nice solid black color (they built it out of melamine boards but not all of them match and it’s been scratched up…) but I think you’ve convinced me to do a purple ombre look on the drawers on this one too. His favorite color is purple so maybe I’ll get away with it…haha… Your cabinet looks awesome! Thank you for sharing and the inspiration!
THanks!! Your BF will LOVE it! I love a good chalkboard paint file cabinet too. 🙂
Thank you so much for this post! Your cabinet is beautiful! I found this by doing a Google image search. I have an old metal cabinet just like this that I got from my Grandma. I’m using in my craft room and love it but it’s so darn ugly! What kind of paint brush did you use? The Annie Sloan brushes are so expensive!
Thanks, Jennifer! I just used a regular ol’ craft store 1″ foam brush for this. 🙂 And painted around the label holders with a smaller equally crappy brush!
Thanks Charlotte! I’ve got plenty of those crappy foam brushes. 🙂
I was also worried about having to tape all those label holders so I was so glad to see you didn’t have a problem with that!
Wonderful job on this piece!
Thanks so much! It still makes me happy when I go into our dining room. 🙂
So beautiful! Did you wax finish the chalk paint?
Hi Chris! Thanks! I did wax the surface. Just clear wax to bring out the colors a bit. I didn’t buff it too much so it’s not super shiny.
Hope this helps!
Have an issue w storage. Being an artist..paint, beads, crochet, and such…
I need organization. Love ur finished project. ♥
This sort of thing would be PERFECT! I have a smaller version that I use in my craft area that’s similar with all the drawers. Makes it MUCH easier to wrangle the little things like you’re describing!
Thanks!
Hi Charlotte,
I wanted to come back and show you my project that was inspired by you! The lighting is horrible here, but you can get the general idea.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tworiverssoaps/14083129457/
I used the Annie Sloan Provence paint with the clear wax.
Here’s a better photo of the drawers:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tworiverssoaps/14129176139/
I store all of my craft supplies in mine. Its amazing how much fits inside.
Oh my goodness, SO glad you shared this!! The color is AMAZING!!! I hope you love it and it holds up as well as mine has! And yes! I still have empty drawers in mine… just waiting for the stuff! 🙂
wow, just cleaned our office after 20 plus years one of these was on top of a short file cabinet, empty like new never used and very clean, what should I do with it, sell it on Craigslist, now after your post not on your life! Lots of ideas running thru my head, thanks for the motivation.
Ha! Lucky!! I’ve had more questions about where to find something similar! It was a pretty easy job, but what a difference!
Just saw this post on hometalk website. I’m thinking it would be ideal for storage of my quilting and patchwork notions. Rotary cutters, Pins, needles, smaller templates,tape measures and and various sewing machine accessories. Hooks or hangers on the sides for rulers and cutting boards. I’m inspired, now to find a preloved cabinet.
Yes! Would be perfect for that! I see these cabinets fairly often at my local flea market so they’re out there! Love your ideas for making it work for you!!
It looks great! I think you can say that an ombre purple filing cabinet is fancy 😉
Heehee. Yeah… I mean, it’s certainly not boring. That’s for sure! I mean… purple. 🙂
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the
pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and both show the
same outcome.
Thanks! I’m slowly filling in old posts… hopefully all are up and running at this point!
Hi, I love the Purple cabinette. I have one in dark green for 40 + years and I want to redo it. What did you do about the sides and bottoms and the insides? Did u also paint the inside and back 8 the cabinette ? I’m semi OCT so I have to make it perfect. Oy. I saw it in bh&get and saved it all this time . Thanks for your help ?????
Hi there! Because these drawers don’t easily come out I did NOT paint the insides… I also don’t mind the gray but if they’d been in bad shape I might have considered it. And I did paint the sides and the back. Good luck!!