When choosing office furniture, from a store like Desks, Inc., to add to your home office, you want to use pieces that are functional and visually appealing. One of the most useful pieces of furniture you can add to your office is a filing cabinet. However, it is often not the most attractive piece of furniture you can buy. Fortunately, updating the look of a filing cabinet may be much easier than you think. The following guide walks you through a quick and easy way to update the look of a filing cabinet with some paint and intricate details.

Prepare to Paint

Remove the handles off of the front of the drawers of the cabinet with a screwdriver. Pull the drawers all the way open and then depress the small tabs located on either side of the drawer near the track that the drawer moves on. When you depress the tabs, you should be able to pull the drawers free from the cabinet.

Prime the Cabinet

Next, you will need to spray the entire cabinet and drawer fronts with a paint primer. The primer will allow you to easily paint the cabinet any color you choose without the original color of the cabinet showing through.

Paint the Cabinet

Use a bold color of spray paint to paint the entire cabinet. Be sure that you apply the paint evenly to ensure that there are no drips showing when you are finished. Allow the paint to dry a few hours before you continue.

Add Fabric to the Drawer Fronts

Measure the front of the drawers and buy fabric that is designed to look like cowhide or cheetah at a fabric store. While you are there, buy imitation nail head trim. It has the look of nail head trim without requiring you to actually hammer any nails into place. Cut the fabric to the exact size of the front of the drawers and use epoxy glue to adhere the fabric to the front of the drawers. Be sure to use a credit card or other flat-edged surface to flatten out the fabric so there are no wrinkles.

Add the Nail Head Details

At the edges of the fronts of the drawers, use the epoxy to secure the nail head trim to the drawers. Be sure to hide the edges of the fabric under the trim so that no one can see where the fabric starts and stops when you are done.

After a few hours of drying time, you can poke holes through the fabric on the drawer fronts and then add new handles to the front of the drawers. You can then place the drawers back into the filing cabinet and start using it right away.