How to pick the right File Cabinet

You can find file cabinets in varying styles, sizes and of course – degrees of quality. Besides their obvious utility as an organizational tool, file cabinets can be used for many types of storage and can be attractive in many settings – almost any room in your home.  

The most popular types of file cabinets are metal and wood; wood is by far the more attractive of the two. Wood file cabinets are very durable and attractive and can be a great addition to your office or your home.

Common styles of solid wood file cabinets include Traditional, Mission and Contemporary, with many sizes available including:

• Letter sized file cabinets, which are typically designed to hold only 8.5” x 11” paper, but can also used for 8.5” x 11” legal size files as well;
• Legal size file cabinets, which can usually hold both 8.5” x 14” and 8.5” x 11” paper;
• Lateral file cabinets, which will have either 2 or 3 drawers and generally hold 8.5 x 11” and 8.5” x 14” paper;
• Personal file cabinets, which tend to be smaller and hold only 8.5 x 11” letter files.
  

By moving the metal brackets inside, letter and legal file cabinets can be used interchangeably (in most cases).

A file cabinet may have anywhere between two and five drawers. Consider how much storage you need when you are looking at file cabinets and trying to decide on the number of drawers you will need. Remember that there are a plethora of possible uses for a file cabinet, including as an end table with built in storage, a nightstand, coffee table and more – all offering the additional utility of storage.

You can use even a 2 drawer cabinet to place items above desk height by positioning it on your desk, which gives you a 30" platform. You can also create a large work surface by lining up several file cabinets in a row. You can achieve the same effect by using a lateral file cabinet – which eliminates the seams created by lining up several vertical files cabinets.

A 3-drawer file cabinet offers another solution for both storage as well as a surface to put plants, statuettes or other lighter items. These stand about three and a half feet high.4 drawer file cabinets, at a height of about 55" provide even more storage, or you can opt for 5-drawer file cabinets for a very large amount of storage; but only very light items should be placed on top of such a high cabinet.

SAFETY FIRST!
Remember that any piece of furniture can be dangerous if it is carrying a lot of weight. Tipping can be a hazard, especially with heavily loaded drawers. There are some steps you can take to minimize this risk.   

• Fill the bottom drawers first and work your way up.
• Never open more than one drawer at a time.
• Attach your file cabinets to the wall – this can prevent them from tipping.
• Always place the heaviest items in the bottom drawer; this will act as a sort of anchor to prevent the cabinet from tipping over.
• Unless you r file cabinet is securely anchored by being bolted to the walls, never put anything on top of your file cabinet (and even if you have done so, this is not recommended) that children or pets will be likely to climb up on top to get to – this can have tragic results.

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