flat files

Image via The Container Store.

I've been on the hunt for flat files for quite a while now. I was an art minor in college and kind of took for granted the enormous metal drawers they let us use for storage each semester. Now all of my artwork is lying underneath our bed in stacks, some in portfolios, some in tissue paper, and some just shoved under there. The problem is that the art's too large to fit anywhere else in our house (especially my screenprints). Thus the flat file hunt.

Yesterday I came across these brightly-colored metal flat files at The Container Store ($99 each), but they're just slightly too small at 11x16 in. Why can't they add one more inch? :( Isn't 11x17 kind of a standard size?

Image via Sears.

Thinking it over, though, I'm probably more a fan of wooden files, anyway, especially if these guys are gonna be any kind of focal point in our house. That's why I've focused in on these files from Sears, of all places ($290). I like that they're unfinished so that we could stain them to match whatever other furniture ends up surrounding it. They could even be painted later if that's the direction I end up wanting to go. Since the woodgrain isn't anything fabulous, I don't think I'd feel all that awful about it. At least I don't think so. :)

Photo by Erica Pellaca.

One of the reasons I've hesitated to spring for flat files is because I'm not sure where we'd put them. Our place is too small for a home office and flat files can be a little awkward-looking since they're fairly low to the ground. Then I found inspiration in the way Jordan Carlson used her flat files as a coffee table (via Design*Sponge). Genius! They're the perfect height for that, and it wouldn't break my heart to sub these in for what we're currently using for a coffee table-- a battered black trunk.

Have you seen any other flat files you think are prettier? Cheaper? Any other ideas for displaying the flat files? Or maybe you have other ideas for easy art storage. I'd love to hear what you think!