A few weeks ago, Michael volunteered to help out a friend who was moving into a new work space, a space previously occupied by a builder.  The former tenant had left some of his custom-built furniture behind and the owner of the building told her to use what she needed and get rid of the rest.  So Michael helped her retrofit an old desk to suit her needs and when all was said and done, he left with this:

drawers

A custom-built mahogany two-drawer filing cabinet.

We’d always planned on having a built-in desk in the corner of the living room, tucked away in a little nook left for that purpose at the base of the stairs.  This wasn’t to be a major workspace, but just a spot to keep the laptop, sort mail, and write checks.  Our idea was to modify a classic Stickley desk for this purpose, maybe with a drop-front to help make the most of the space (and to hide our “important papers” in an emergency guest situation).  Or maybe with lots of pigeon holes (for more of those “important papers” and possibly some “important rubber bands”).  We hadn’t really worked out the details yet.  But in any case, our plans didn’t involve a filing cabinet.  But…custom-built.  Mahogany.  Shiny.  Pretty.  Who are we to argue?

completedesk

We also were given some mahogany plywood for a top.  A quick trim and a few screws later… ta-da!  A desk.

Clearly, this isn’t a permanent solution.  The cabinet in that small space doesn’t leave enough legroom for a chair and it doesn’t have any of those all-important quick hiding places.  But for now, it works pretty well.

So what’s the problem?

Well, having these pretty new filing cabinets around means that we need to fill them with the aforementioned important papers and rubber bands.  And before we can do that, we need to sort through our current storage situation.

paperwork

Right.  We’ll see you in a few months.

(Cat not included.)

(Or is she?)

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