Alert! Alert! I'm a loser! At the very least I'm losing the battle of how to move forward on my antique hardware cabinet.
You may remember this slick looking antique hardware cabinet from last fall. I dragged it home from a flea market, cut it down to size so it would fit on this wall and then pledged to get the drawers filled up and handles switched out once Christmas was over and I had more time.
Aren't I hilarious? We're all hilarious actually. Future time is WAY more abundant than real time. Ditto for future money! We always think we're going to have more of it than we have right now. That almost never happens. O.K., it never happens, ever, I just didn't want to sound like a downer.
When Christmas rolled around and I had a week off after it, I had WAY better things to do than figure out my hardware cabinet. I have absolutely no recollection of what those things were but they definitely weren't figuring out what to put in my tiny drawers or what kind of handles I should have on it. I have a blurry memory of me alternating between sleeping and napping for a full week but that can't be right.
Every so often I try to shove something in one of these drawers. Very little fits. I bought a box of microwave popcorn thinking I could fill a couple of drawers with bags of microwave popcorn because that's the weird kind of thing I think would be fun to keep in there. That and doll heads.
But the bags of popcorn don't fit ... and this is the important part ... by about a quarter of an inch. EVERYTHING doesn't fit in these drawers by about a quarter of an inch. Each box measures 4 ¾" wide x 5 ¼" long by 5 ¼" high on the inside.
I KNOW there are things I should be keeping in here. I know these are the BEST drawers in the world for ... something. Like they're seriously perfect for holding 4" by 5" boxes. I thought for a time I'd keep my seeds in the drawers but that's dumb. I do all my planting in the basement so having my seeds upstairs doesn't seem very practical. And I like to be practical. I say that with all the confidence of someone who cooks her pizza in an outdoor wood burning oven that requires chopping wood and stoking for 3-4 hours.
AND I STILL NEED TO FIGURE OUT A GOOD SYSTEM FOR INDEXING THESE DRAWERS. We've established I have no ability to remember if I own avocados or not, I'm never going to be able to remember what is where in these drawers without some sort of a list or index.
One of the suggestions you gave the last time I was whining (about this) were to keep one drawer for alphabetized index cards. Someone else said to hang an antique clipboard on the side with everything itemized. I think that would look good actually.
As far as handles go I still don't have a clue, but I think I'll probably get something basically like what I have now only not so ugly. Just a round, worn brass knob that looks authentic. I just realized something and now I feel bad for you. I'm basically just thinking out loud putting zero thought into making this post entertaining for you. In keeping with that poorly executed writing style - I just lifted my head from the computer to the television and thought I saw a young girl with a massive black beard. Turns out she was just holding a doll with black hair in the vicinity of her face.
Back to this cabinet. I need help. Am I missing something? Is there something that I should be putting in those drawers that's painfully obvious that I haven't thought about?? Don't say spices because I don't want to have to open 34 drawers to take a look at all of my spices. I'm a spice browser so I like them all to be in one big drawer for easy eye access.
I realize not knowing what I own is likely to make this difficult for you, but I probably own the same things you do. Scissors, paper, elastic bands, a guinea pig merry-go-round, those sorts of things. I'd want to make the best use of the drawers possible which at this point is making any use of them.
As a last resort I do have one thing I can put away in all of those drawers - all of my hopes and dreams for this hardware cabinet. Just kidding, I still love it, it's beautiful. It's just a bit of an asshead.
Have a good weekend!
Susie Meadows
I’m not a great help because I’m a crafter- I’d have buttons, safety pins, scrap fabric, hot glue sticks, office supplies, canning jar lids (you know the ones that you’ve already used for canning once so can’t can with again but can’t bear to part with because they’re so handy?), ummm * looks around the house *, thread, crayons, random collected supplies for That One Art Piece... candy that I hide from my kids... you know, all that little shit you know needs storing but can’t ever find space for.
Mary W
Glad it's your problem and not mine. I love it - but love it to look at not to use. I definitely would do what one suggested - open a few random drawers and put little plants in them. I thought of Christmas decor but not all would fit and then you'd have it scattered between storage places. Time capsules are a great idea but who is the unlucky person to inherit that? A massive junk drawer that takes longer to look up stuff than grabbing it out of your current junk drawer. Face it, elephants are wonderful creatures but in some other person's home. It is gorgeous - just look at it and marvel. I have a room full of craft supplies that is basically the same thing. Too busy looking at Pinterest to go in and actually do something in my craft room. At lease you have a beauty that only takes up one wall when me and many others have a whole room.
Lynne from Design The Life You Want To Live
Karen!
The old fashioned label makers... black and white ticker tape thingy... great for labeling everything, they look great and are cheap. Woot woot !
Can I come over and make them for you? I'll bring my label maker, and you make me pizza. Deal? :)
PS. I can't promise what I will label each drawer ha!
Karen
I wanted a label maker *just* last night! I was labelling my new outdoor speaker charging plugs. I just remember how sticky those labels are, lol. Hmmm ... I'm gonna think about this one. But pizza? YES! Don't need to think about that at all. ~ karen!
Sboo
I like the ideas others have shared about small baking items that are not used on a daily basis: cupcake liners, decorating tips and frosting bags, sprinkles, cookie cutters, food dye bottles, specialty molds or ramekins.
Tea bags and coffee beans would fit nicely!
I have a drawer stuffed full of kitchen towels, aprons, oven mitts, and hot pads, maybe those would work?
Karen
Tea towels don't work great because you have to fold them up so many times to fit, lol. But things like kitchen J cloths would fit. ~ karen!
David in Oakville
I hope the Easter Bunny has been busy making babies because they will need a platoon to deal with that bad boy.
Pamela Marshall
Stop stressing, they will fill themselves in time. Meanwhile it looks beautiful just the way it is!
NinaMargo
Riffing on Dane and Judy, I’d write down a beautiful quote I found: a meditation, a poem, a memory, a remembrance of someone I loved now gone and stow it away in one of the drawers. Maybe a stone, a dried flower, a small antique toy, something embedded with a fragrance that brings a tear to my eyes. Each day I get to open a drawer and relive that joy that lives there. No need for labeling that drawer, it holds a sweet surprise.
Oliver D Coker
Use these to hold labels for your drawers:
Mike
Legos. Legos will fit.
Julia
Was also going to suggest combining drawers to make useable space....but maintaining the original look of separate drawers. .Otherwise I'm afraid you're going to have to face the sad fact that, while beautiful and perfect to look at, it's not working for storing anything.
Brook
Blasphemous, but have you considered removing the fronts from the boxes and converting the mini-boxes into larger shelves or drawers? You'd still have a card catalogue facing, if you remounted the fronts, but it could be functional for your storage needs on the inside.
Vicki
My thought, exactly!
Karen
I have, but that's a big job and wouldn't help with the storage issue all that much I'm afraid. ~ karen!
Judy
Because I would rather look at it than use the drawers every day, I'd fill them with my Christmas tree ornaments -- and other small holiday decor. I wouldn't need to label anything, as I'd be hauling everything out and putting it back at the same time. Plus it might clear some space in your basement...
Cheverly
I love this idea!!! Plus it'd be like opening a bunch of 5 1/4 x 4 3/4" pre-Christmas gifts... it'd be so long between packing and unpacking, every drawer would be a surprise!
K
The piece is beautiful. Why the need to fill the drawers and complicate life? Less is more.
Karen
Because they're drawers. That's literally their job. Nothing gets away with just being pretty in my house. ~ karen!
Ashly
Potatoes. Definitely, absolutely, potatoes.
Karen
I know, the bigger drawers are perfect for potatoes! I kept onions in there for a while. But I like to climate control my potato storage. I really do have a LOT of potatoes. :/ ~ karen!
JackieVB
Divide the piece yet again and leave 1/2 of it in your kitchen and the other 1/2 in your basement - or 1/3 kitchen to 2/3 basement etc. You could do this in conjunction with the suggestion above to combine the drawers to make them bigger with a false front, making it easier to decide what to store in each of the places you now have this gorgeous piece of furniture in. Plus now you get to enjoy the piece in different settings, you could decide to paint one of them and leave the other as is... The possibilities are now endless.
Oh, and I love the suggestion to use the card catalog type of drawer pulls.
Shannie
Get more chickens. A lot more chickens. Start semi-commercial egg farm in your backyard.
Use the drawers to catalogue eggs by date.
Sell your eggs for extra cash to buy fancy drawer pulls and more super pretty if not particularly functional antique stuff. 😀
Sandra
How about a tea and coffee cupboard.
Jen
I think it would be perfect for tea lights, birthday candles, cake decorating stuff, toothpicks (I purged recently and found that I have enough for an entire drawer!!), spreaders (I have a collection of these), mini salt and peppers for fancy dinners, cocktail napkins, bottle openers, cocktail stirrers, and a lot of etc.! Also, don’t worry about filling all of them. It is good looking enough to just sit there!
Karen
It is. But like me, being good looking isn't enough, one must also be useful. HAHAHAHA! ~ karen!
Sarah McDonnell
I would totally fill it with vintage fountain pens, correspondence cards, letter writing stuff, and junk journal ephemera. Pots of ink, stamps and ink pads, twine, postage, coloring pencils, lightly rolled upcycled paper that needs to be saved. Tape. Washi, invisible, double-sided, and packing all in one reliable spot. I'd put tiny jars in to hold paper clips, tacks, bits of jewelry making stuff, things I find on the ground, and save a drawer for things that would look good in a fairy garden. And a drawer for bottle caps for when I make a checkers game and epicycle those, too. And a drawer for bullet casings which would be fabulous vases for single violets. A drawer for those cheap craft paint bottles that are so addictive to buy. And Dollarama has tiny little canvasses that will fit in there. No transferring stuff. This is the time to get more stuff!
Christina B
Here is a sentimental and totally non-practical idea... each box represents the next 34 years. Fill each one with keepsakes, photos, things from the year. Things that come to mind are ticket stubs, running bibs, special cards, small gifts or trinkets that have no where to go. Each box is a time capsule you can revisit with a pull of a beautiful brass knob, no need to label! In 34 years from now you will have an interesting piece of art work!
Lynne
I LOVE this idea....!!!