Revamp an Old Filing Cabinet

 

I bought this old filing cabinet from a guy who posted it on Craigslist for $10.  It was dirty and had been stored outside.

 

I took all the drawers out and started cleaning it with soapy water and the water hose.  Then I let it completely dry.



 

I purchased spray paint primer and used two full cans to thoroughly coat the cabinet.  Then I used two cans of regular spray paint in an aqua color.  Afterwards, I sprayed the cabinet with two cans of gloss coating to protect the color.

 

 

My significant other then took the drawers apart so that I could clean and spray paint the knobs and label holders on each drawer.

 

 

I primed the front of each drawer with a light coat of the spray paint primer.  I think I could have skipped this step but I didn't want to risk seeing the black color through the fabric I chose.

 

 

I picked a fabric and gathered some Mod Podge and foam brushes.  I put the fabric on the front of the drawer and used the Mod Podge to adhere it to the drawer and to put a protective coating over the top.  Be sure to fold the corners the best you can and cut off excess fabric because you don't want to add and extra width to the drawers or they will not close in the filing cabinet.

 

 

I spray painted the front label holders white and cleaned the drawer pulls really good.  I was going to spray paint the drawer pulls but they were nice enough when I cleaned them that I decided not to.