How To Make A Filing Cabinet Blend In

*This story was made possible by the generous support of Sauder, and features gifted product for testing purposes. All opinions are my own.

Last month, I was hired again by the Sauder team to photograph some of their amazing furniture, and I wanted to share this little hypothetical styling situation that I came up with. The goal of the photos I was hired to take was to promote their office-specific furniture during back-to-school season, so I was sent a desk, bookcase, and two filing cabinets. I styled the desk and first filing cabinet in my office in a very traditional way, but I wanted to think a little more outside the box with the second filing cabinet.

Sure, I could have styled it somewhere else in my office, but that just felt a little redundant and expected. I wanted to try putting myself in someone else’s shoes entirely and think through where I might arrange a filing cabinet if I were living in a very different sort of situation. Say, for example, I lived in a small studio apartment in New York City. Where on earth would I put a filing cabinet?!

In the end, I decided to style and photograph the item smack dab in the middle of our living room. This felt like a natural spot to put this type of cabinet in a studio apartment where everything’s out in the open together anyway, but I wanted to make sure it served other uses beyond just a filing cabinet. Small spaces generally require multi-functional furniture, so I imagined someone using the drawers for everyday files and office supplies, but the top as a mod bar cart display, perfect for entertaining.

The cool thing about this particular filing cabinet is that there’s actually a small opening just below the tabletop, which meant I got to squeeze a third function into the mix: a book shelf! I love how the set-up turned out, and really feel like this could be a logical use for a filing cabinet like this in a small space.

I hope this inspires you to think about your own creative ways to make a filing cabinet blend in with your everyday décor and furniture. Do you live in a small space, like a studio apartment? Or do you have a dedicated home office? Let me know in the comments! And I have to give a shout out to this particular cabinet. It was easy to assemble on my own, and I love all of the sleek gold details. I’ve never seen a filing cabinet that looked this nice—seriously! Shop the cabinet here if you love it as much as I do.