2 Drawer Filing Cabinet

A 2 drawer filing cabinet can be a perfect storage solution for all your filing needs in your office. Both employees and employers can certainly benefit from organizing their various important documents in such specialized cabinets.

As you can expect, there would be a wide range of 2 drawer filing cabinets from which to choose. Your selection will be based upon a number of factors, some of which include the kind of paperwork with which you are dealing on a day-to-day basis, the interior space of your office, the sensitivity of your information and your personal taste. To give you some flavor of what is available, I’ve written this hub for those interested in finding the right 2 drawer filing cabinet.

One factor that may play an important role on your decision is the nature of the documents you intend to keep in your filing cabinet. Obviously, if they are sensitive client financial data that can impact the company’s stock price, employee contracts or legal documents, then security would be of utmost importance. I should take the opportunity now to point out that not all lockable filing cabinets have good quality locks. If you only want low level of security or if the room in which the cabinet will reside already has sufficient security, then a basic locking system may be fine.

There are 2 drawer filing cabinets that have a single lock system which means that with one turn of the key, both drawers will be locked. You can also get cabinets with individual locks for each drawer, giving you greater control as to which drawers you prefer to be secured (possibly as a form of convenience).

Generally, filing cabinets can be made from wood, metal or plastic. Your choice would primarily depend on a combination of budget, contents, personal taste on which is more visually appealing and level of security. If you only need a cabinet for lightweight usage where you are just organizing various bits of information but won’t be holding any super sensitive information, then a plastic 2 drawer filing cabinet is sufficient. For less than $100, you can easily buy one of these.

A metal 2 drawer filing cabinet tends to be more heavy duty and can suit a modern office décor. They can also be quite simple looking, generally available in gray, black or white. I found that a unique feature of metal cabinets is in the drawers themselves. Rather than a typical handle attached on the front of the drawers as found with a wood 2 drawer filing cabinet, they usually have recessed pulls. These recessed pulls are either located in the center of the face of each drawer or are full-width that stretch across the top end of each drawer.

If traditional style is more to your liking or if you want a cabinet that matches your wooden desk, a wooden 2 drawer filing cabinet may be better. You can choose from various different finishes such as oak, cherry and ebony. Some shops even supply unfinished wooden filing cabinets if that is your preference or if you wish to add your own finish.

An aspect that definitely should not be overlooked is of course the size of the files you’re going to put into your filing cabinet. There’s no point in buying the best looking filing cabinet in the shop when your files won’t even fit into the drawers. The safest approach is to take measurements of the drawers if possible. However, most of the time, the dimensions of the drawers are standardized based on paper size such as legal, letter and foolscap. So if you usually use legal sized papers then check the product specification to see that it is a 2 drawer legal filing cabinet.

Most organizations and individuals handle legal and letter sized files so the two most common types of filing cabinets are the 2 drawer vertical filing cabinet and the 2 drawer lateral filing cabinet. The former type tends to be deeper (i.e. can be 25 inches deep) and files are hung such that they face you as you pull open the drawers. The lateral 2 drawer filing cabinet on the other hand is much wider (i.e. 36 inches) and the files are hung such that the sides face you as you pull open the drawers. Your choice will probably depend on which way you find accessing the files more convenient and the shape of your office room.