File Cabinet Makeover

We adopted a four drawer metal file cabinet from a fellow military family (thank you Tracy!) prior to our move to the new house.  It provides just the right amount of storage for our papers, documents, photos, and extras but it doesn't blend well visually with the rest of my crafty nook:

The drawers are wonderfully deep, creating a large magnetic surface for display.  With my return to teaching still a few weeks away, I have had the time but not the energy to repaint the cabinet.  Emptying the drawers, moving the cabinet (it's not light), painting it, then returning it the crafty nook and re-filing everything isn't a plan that has appealed to me at all since our move.

Can you blame me?

Not surprisingly, being a paper addict who has a drawer full of spray adhesive has its advantages.  Ta~da!  A partial solution.

Not in the mood to collage the surface, I looked through all of my paper before deciding upon a thicker-weight roll of Christmas wrap:

Turns out I didn't need a lot of Alene's spray adhesive.  Thankfully it remained tacky enough that I could reposition the paper and smooth out trapped air as I worked:

I even covered the top of the cabinet:

Once two sides and the top were covered, I used a blade to trim the paper around the edges of the cabinet:

The pulls, knobs and frames on the drawers make me think that it'll still be easier to paint them, but since the cabinet is positioned so that I don't have to look at them, it's a project for another day.

The teacher in me appreciates a nice frame or border around displays, so I cut white cardstock into two-inch wide strips and used the spray adhesive to position them around the surface:

I have touches of black throughout the room, so ribbon was a nice addition:

Now I have a surface suitable for an inspiration board and magnetic display!

Come back tomorrow and see my post for this year's Where Bloggers Create party... even the file cabinet was ready for its close-up!