Before and After: Updated Rolling Drawer File!

Today's Agenda:  Organizing the office a bit. You know, trying to keep the stamps, embossers, colored pencils, tracing paper all in a check. Pretty fun, when I think about it!  

Over the weekend I mentioned I was rearranging/reorganizing. Well, I did and I'm pretty happy with how things are turning out -- full pictures soon, I promise!

I'm working with one of my smaller (literally) projects today.  I have had this red metal drawer system for years now. 

It was one of my earlier Ikea purchases and they used to be close to $80 but I found it in the "As Is" section for only $50.  I was psyched (and clearly remember this from maybe 7 years ago!).  It is a really functional piece -- fits full 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper so you could have each drawer be a different type of paper.  It also fits shallow bowls/organizing trays so you could also use it to organize binders, clips, pens, etc.

But our upstairs loft is black/white/yellow/gray.   And while I tried to just ignore the red and put it under the desk or in the corner, it was a shame because it wasn't as functional and then it just looked like I had stuffed things away! 

No longer! I thought about spray painting it a white, yellow, black or gray.  But THEN thought about chalkboard paint! 

There isn't a ton of room to take advantage of its chalkboardness but it is a great, stylish way to label each drawer instead of a label (which just ends up being crooked or not exactly right).  Bonus is that husband can now find all of our stuff a little bit easier!.  And if I reorganize or repurpose, I can just erase the label and not have to worry about taking off any sticky residue from a label.  

This project is easy and inexpensive.  Here is what I did:

1.  Lightly sand the metal surface and wipe with a wet rag.  Dry the surface.

2.  Lay a drop cloth down and if you are spraying near other items or over a railing I would prop up a large piece of cardboard over the item or railing to keep the spray from getting on it (it does tend to have a far misty reach!!)

3.  Spray the paint in even strokes with a pretty quick tempo so that it doesn't gather in one place. 

4.  Let dry fully for 24 hours before using it -- just to be safe!

I used the Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Spray Paint in Black (but you could do green as well!).