November yard sales in NY usually consist of last-chance junk, with owners clearance-pricing their least-cherished belongings hoping to rid themselves of the obligation to haul their goods back into the attic until next spring. Agreed? I rarely even stop at yard sales after Labor Day, assuming that all yard sales late in the season follow this theory.
But last weekend, I got lucky. I found these filing cabinet treasures at a tiny little yard sale, and happily the seller was a-willing to negotiate on pricing. Even if they weren’t a matching pair, they were exactly the size cabinets I was hoping to find for the office. Check it. Beautiful. Zoink.
Last you saw the office, I was updating the IKEA cabinet and assembling the pegboard, but storage (the lack-thereof) has been quickly becoming an issue. I’ve scoured craigslist and salvage shops over the last few weeks to no avail, although I’ve been more focused on industrial, metal varieties until I saw these; I was instantly sold on them for $5 total. I was planning to paint whatever metal models I found, so these wouldn’t actually be much different, other than being wooden. If anything, I think they operate a little more smoothly than the older metal models that I’ve found and rejected. Less scrapey, no dents like what I found in the metal models, no rust.
A few things though. They need serious help. They’re both Sauder-quality in construction, which is why one of them fell apart as I lifted it into my car (and totally combusted once I carried it into position upstairs, destruction as shown in the first picture). Anyways, nothing a few pops of the nail gun won’t fix.
Spontaneous combustion aside, it also appears that they installed the footer of one of the cabinets upside-down, so that the bevel faces downward. Oops? Charming.
And the top is pretty grimy. The gentleman who sold them to me suggested helpfully that I lay a doily over it and no one would ever know it was there. Gosh, old men are cute.
But I’m getting started, picking paint colors, and am hoping to have them done soon (so I can get piles of paperwork organized and hidden). Look, I even went out and bought filing folders (and very dark gray nail polish). Excitement.
Have you found any lucky end-of-season yard sale finds?
4 Comments
Great finds! I can’t wait to see what you do with them. Do you think you’ll stain them, or paint them? I love nothing more than a cheap goodwill find to Makeover! Fun stuff!!
I’m still thinking paint at this point, but am totally undecided on color. Looking forward to getting started on them (although it was snowing this morning, so I’m hoping for a warmer day this weekend :) )
LOL! I think that is hysterical that he suggested putting a doily over the stain. How about a big fake silk flower pot? Hee, hee. Sorry. I couldn’t resist.
I’m not sure how I haven’t found your blog until now, but enjoyed perusing it for a little while. Now I “have” to get back to my posts ;-).
Haha, the guy was being so thoughtful with the recommendations and I was all “uhhhhh OK, a doily”. Thanks for stopping by, Brittany! Love your site and read it often.