Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Hide Your Printer

So as much as you guys gushed over our temporary string handles for our new Effektiv file cabinet (note: this is sarcasm), we did scoop up some actual hardware that we much prefer.

Effectiv Corner Drawers Ang

They’re black glass handles that were originally $9, but Hobby Lobby (aka Schlobby Bobby) was having one of those perpetual 50% off sales, so they were $4.50 a pop instead.

Effektiv Handles Close

As I mentioned here, I was a bit nervous about installing them, since it was up to me to make sure they were all centered and level (Sherry + measuring = meltdown). So I triple-measured and even made myself a little guide out of card stock. First, I figured out that my holes needed to be 6.25″ and 9.25″ in from the edge if I wanted it to be centered (which is why I drew those two vertical lines), and we decided we wanted the handles to be placed 2.5″ down from the top of the door (so I added that horizontal line 2.5″ down from the top fold). I used the crease in the paper to line it up consistently for each handle and some tape to hold it in place while I screwed through it to create guide holes. Maybe I should’ve splurged the $3 or so to buy the little plastic hardware guides that a lot of you mentioned from various places (Ikea even had one), but this actually ended up working really well (and I wasn’t sure the Ikea one would work with non-Ikea handles).

Effektiv Guide On 1st Drawe

Once the holes were made in my guide, it also made it easy to flip the piece of paper over and use it on the opposite cabinet door (ensuring perfectly symmetrical placement).

Effektiv Guide On 2nd Drawe

Luckily all of my holes came out perfectly. But it was only after drilling them that I noticed not all of the handles were perfect. Urgh. Notice how the holes on the right handle are perfectly centered? And the right hole on the left one kinda looks wonky, like it’s raising an eyebrow?

Effektiv Wonky Handles

If Hobby Lobby weren’t on the other side of town (good news, we just heard one is coming closer to us in October) I would’ve driven back and exchanged the two bad ones. But instead I just drilled the corresponding holes in the door a bit longer (you know, taller?) to account for the crookedness. Then we could just tighten the hardware to hold them in place so they were nice and level. That worked out just fine, thank goodness. Note: this all looks very whitewashed, we can’t wait to get some color on those walls.

Effektiv After Handles

They’re definitely a subtle addition from afar, but up close they make us glad we waited to find these outside of Ikea’s big blue doors (or are they yellow?).

Effektiv Handles From Side

Sherry calls them “her lovies” and says things to them like “don’t you look posh today?” when she walks into the room. Gotta admit that I really like them too.

Effektiv Handle Close 2

We especially like how the shape kind of plays off of the caning in our office chairs (which will look a whole lot better when we make some desk upgrades among a thousand other things):

OfficeArrange Before From D

Oh, but no post about a file cabinet is complete without a look behind the doors at the glamorous things that we store in there. A printer & camera bag. Oooooh. Extra paper & hanging files. Ahhhh.

EffektivStorage Top Close

Our wireless printer (an HP PhotoSmart C4780 that we don’t love – let’s just say it’s quirky) fits in there quite nicely (it’s 17 x 11 x 6.5″) since the paper tray folds up when not in use. Of course it still has a wire for the power cord, which I first attempted to slide through the back by drilling a hole. Then I realized it’d be easier just to detach the top shelf of the Effektiv momentarily (since it installs in three vertical parts) and then lift it slightly and tuck the cord through the crack in the back (thanks HP for making a tiny flat cord!).

Effektiv Cord In Back

See, you can’t even see it:

EffektivStorage Top Close

In the file cabinet drawers there are lots of, well, files. Surprise!

EffektivStorage Looking Dow

We bought some colorful hanging ones from Office Depot (for something like $7 for 25) to make filing a bit less manilla. If only there were some green ones in the mix, we could almost call them Sue the Napkin’s more productive sister: Susan the File Folders.

EffektivStorage Hanging Fol

We even decided to store some various printer papers in there for easy access. You know, for that one time a month when we actually print something.

EffektivStorage Printer Pap

So thar she be for now. Effektiv is officially decked out with handles (string, you will be missed) and various office necessities (pile in the corner of the room, you will also be missed). Up next? Perhaps some furniture rearranging and definitely some building/lighting/general upgrades.

In the meantime, who else is obsessed with hanging files? Have you ever ended up with crooked hardware that has a sarcastic eyebrow-raise-thing going on? Did you notice I spelled card stock as all one word in my file tab (Sherry gently mentioned that to me a second ago)?

Comments

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Holy cow! Every time an Aussie tells us the Ikea cost of things there I think someone in the US should ship overseas and split the price difference or something!

      xo,
      s

  4. keri says

    i am incredibly jealous of your straight pulls! i installed new pulls in my kitchen, and whoever installed the pulls the first time around didn’t bother installing them perfectly spaced and straight – so now i have a big issue! very, very annoying – so much better to take the time and do it right the first time!

    Reply

  6. Kathryn says

    We have a bunch of these in our new sunroom/office and LOVE them. I did not like the chunky base of the cabinets, so I made my husband (er, “asked him nicely”) to ditch the plinth base and put on wooden bun feet from a hardware store instead. When he painted them white to match the rest of the cabinet, they suddenly looked WAY fancier and more custom (along with our hardware from Home Depot; I’m with you on the sad IKEA handle options). If I were not so technologically challenged, I would send you a picture… just wanted to pass the idea along in case you ever consider a different foot or base!

    Reply

  7. Leiann says

    Love the Smead Hanging Folders! I work at Smead, so I was pleasantly surprised to see them in your post! The link was sent to the entire Marketing Dept. so hopefully you will have more followers because of it! :)

    I LOVE your blog. Keep up the good work.

    Reply

  9. sara says

    Hey Petersiks!
    Im just wondering.. when purchasing your new house, did you just fall in love with it right away and make it work or did you have requirements before even look at a house? Is this your “forever” home? Would you move if suddenly you decided to have more children than there were bedrooms? (of course this is far off) or ill you just take it as it comes? It seems so hard to make the decision to buy a house if Im unsure of how many children I will have, why buy a 3 or 4 bedroom house if I dont have children for along time? Or what if I have one?… but if I buy a 2 bedroom and have kids soon and 2 or 3? Am I just overthiking it all? haha. thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We definitely had a list of features we hoped it would have and a few must-have stuff (at least two full baths, at least three bedrooms and an office, a good school system, etc). The same thing happened when we toured our first house as our second one – we just got a huge “this is it” feelings. We got butterflies. You really can’t predict your future (and you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out) so you just have to try to keep the pressure down and look around to see what grabs you I think. As for the whole forever house thing, I used to think our first house would be our forever house- silly me. Haha. Now I know that big statements like that aren’t always how life works out – so I’ll never say that again about this house (even though I wouldn’t mind if it was our forever house, haha). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  10. Jer says

    I was wondering if you knew a source to purchase handles from that carry size 1 1/4″ (1.25) handles/drawer pulls. Do you think Hobby Lobby has them? They hold two screws. That size is ctc (center to center of the hole) I also have 3″ handles on the same dresser. I can’t seem to find any in those sizes. I just completed re-finishing the dresser tonight. Took me 2 solid days. Black drawers and wood finished top. Thank you for your inspiration :)

    Reply

  12. Natalie says

    Fantastic look!! My husband will be very happy to know that there are plenty people out there who triple check before hanging or installing anything– it is a small club of men, so he hears.

    Reply

  14. colleen says

    i love the new handles/chair combo too.

    my father in law recently hung a gallery wall i plotted out and used a similar method to the one above, John, but all he needed was a tape measure. i would need a calculator, card stock, a level, and a miracle. he never ceases to amaze me!! you guys are pretty awesome too.

    Reply

  15. VettyV says

    The handles look great! Great job John…I always obsess about getting them straight also…Keep the updates coming :)

    Reply

  16. Cindy says

    Hi! I’ve been reading this blog for a while, just waiting until I got a place of my own to redecorate! My boyfriend and I finally moved into an apartment after graduating and of course, I had to document my first big project YHL-style (video time-lapse, duh).

    http://vimeo.com/cindyhsu/fireplace

    Thanks for the inspiration and motivation (Love the handles and punny titles)!

    –Cindy

    Reply

  19. Tiffany Cruz says

    What an amazing idea! I love DIY! The hubby and I recently purchased a bar for $30 at a garage sale painted it white and added some glass knobs, and aluminum paint on the top of the bar as well as the doors and it looks stunning! Got the idea from seeing all of your wonderful DIY projects! You both are an inspiration!

    Reply

  22. marissa says

    so… i think IKEA doors are glass with a yellow surround hahaha the store is like disneyland for me… or better yet SVEDENLUND!

    Reply

  26. Leigha says

    I love the new look! Reminds me of when we built our new home. The cabinet guy brought out the wrong drawer fronts, I felt bad for him and refused to drill holes in them for knobs! So I had command hooks on ALL of my drawers so I could still use them!! lol! It was pretty comical ;)

    Reply

  27. Kim says

    Love the handles! I also have the wireless HP (was it free when you bought your MAC?) and I’m not crazy about it either. I prefer my Canon which prints awesome color photos!

    Reply

  29. Lori Blalock says

    I love your cabinet! We recently bought and finally assembled Effektiv with drawers on top instead of the doors. I really like the doors and kind of regret (after seeing yours) that we didn’t get that set up. We also purchased some really cool nickel curved handles that were very un-Ikea looking out of the kitchen cabinet section. I tried to find a link for you guys but you beat me to your purchase. Hope you enjoy your purchase. Happy organizing!

    Reply

  30. Molly says

    I’ve been searching the internet high and low for these exact handles, luckily there’s ONE(!) Hobby Lobby in the Northeast, and it’s within driving distance for me. Crossing my fingers, because these handles are just too perfect, that I find them at Hobby Lobby Manchester NH

    Reply

  31. Sheri says

    Hi I bought the same pulls from hobby lobby and I’m trying to install them to the dresser in my nursery. Im a first time DIY and can not figure out how to add them????? Please help with step by step ! I know to measure then drill but the screws are separated do do I attemp to screw the screws from the inside of the drawer? Into the handles? My drawers are a bit thick do I’m nervous about even having the screw go all the way through? Hmm help

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      You can mark the front of the drawer where you want them. Then drill all the way through the drawer (from the front of the drawer to the back, so if it splinters, it splinters on the inside, not the outside). Then insert one of the two screws from the back of the drawer through the front of the drawer (if your screw isn’t long enough for that since the drawer is thick, head to the hardware store and get the same width of screw in a longer length- it’ll cost just a few bucks). Then screw the handle into the screw by rotating it around in the front. Once it’s secure, drill the other one through the back into the other hardware handle. Hope it helps.

      xo,
      s

  32. Tee C says

    I read this post, fell in love, ran to the IKEA website to check availability in my local Centennial, Colorado store–and found that the Effektiv line has been discontinued. Noooooo…

    Their Galant system has replaced the Effektiv series–and the Galant line is kinda stinkin’ expensive :(. Bummer.

    Reply

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