Sow's ears and silk purses

Recently I purchased a stack of used flat files from an admirable young man. He is a fellow member of the Seattle Print Arts group, and he has a knack for finding used flat files which he then resells using the proceeds to fund trips to New Orleans to help with post-Katrina demolition, (jeez, do I feel lazy). For several months I would email him immediately after seeing his ‘for sale’ posting in the SPA newsletter but, as he told me later, I was always the second person to contact him. grrr. My luck changed in late December and I’m now the proud owner of this used flat file, (it’s the big grey thing under the gaudy dollhouse):

It’s banged up a bit, it has dried up tape stuck to the outside, but the drawers work fairly well and the inside is clean. And it was relatively cheap. Where to put it had me flummoxed. My studio, at 100 square feet, is too small. My bedroom, the next option, has the space but putting it there required negotiating the flat files up a flight of stairs and around a corner. Too difficult. So I decided on the living room. Enough space, easy to install, but there is a definate clash with the decor. The room now has an artsy, bohemian feel, no? And the flat files are barely noticable under the dollhouse, right?
I spent the morning filling the drawers with print editions and paper, freeing up shelf space in my tiny studio. The rest of the day I continued working on the print i referred to in my last post. (Meant to be a simple little print but I have made it difficult.) Tonight, I will sharpen tools.