When it comes to buying a new filing cabinet you probably instantly think about what size it needs to be. You should certainly measure up your office to see where you can fit your new cabinet and the maximum size it can be to fit in. But have you considered how many drawers it should have?
This can be another good way to think about what size cabinet you can get. Most filing cabinet drawers are pretty much the same size, since they have to be able to hold the files inside them. Depending on the height of the cabinet you will be able to get a certain number of drawers in each design. Two, three and four drawer cabinets are typically the most common of all.
But which one would suit you?
To answer this question you need to think about why you are buying a filing cabinet in the first place. Which files need to be stored in there and which ones can safely be kept elsewhere? Depending on your needs and the size of your business you may decide that you only need a couple of drawers to keep all your files in. On the other hand you may need considerably more.
Thinking about different combinations can be useful if you want to get quite a few drawers for your office. For example, let’s say you need six drawers to hold all your necessary files. If this is the case you could buy three two drawer filing cabinets, or two three drawer ones. Either one would work, but you may be restricted to going for one or the other depending on how much room you currently have available.
Two drawer cabinets can occasionally be easier to use than taller ones because of the ease in which you can reach into them. If you are sitting in an office chair you can access your files without having to stand up and reach into the highest drawer available.
As you can see it is worth thinking about the number of drawers you need very carefully before making your final decision. It is easy to buy the cheapest filing cabinet you see, or just go for a tall one because you haven’t thought about it in any other way. But you don’t have to go for this plan – consider your needs first and go from there.