UPLIFT 3-Drawer File Cabinet

Before anything else, the disclosure: UPLIFT Desk sent me this file cabinet and its drawer fronts free to review, along with the MoPac cabinets on the other side of my desk and the UPLIFT V3 4-Leg Standing Desk in the middle. They get no edits and no say in the rating when it lands, and this cabinet finishes off the office.

The Two Pound Cabinet

The need here was the same one behind the MoPac. I wanted closed storage: things out of sight, out of mind, and away from kid hands.

What I had before was a generic filing cabinet from Target, and it felt like it weighed two pounds. The UPLIFT Desk 3-Drawer File Cabinet is considerably better in quality and construction. It is formed and welded steel with a powder coat finish, and it weighs 51.5 pounds.

Basically Built

After the MoPac cabinets, this one was easy. It basically came built and ready to go. The cabinet body arrives assembled, with the casters and hardware packed inside a drawer, so setup is putting the casters on and deciding where your organizers go. A pencil tray and a set of drawer dividers come with it, and the bottom drawer takes hanging files.

It came pretty traditional, all black. UPLIFT also sent drawer fronts to match my MoPac.

The Wood Fronts

The steel cabinet wearing its wood fronts, with the printer riding on top.

Those are the File Cabinet Drawer Fronts by UPLIFT Desk. The only change I had to make was a couple of screws on the drawer faces, swapping the black steel face for the wood finish. In my opinion, that doubled the feel of quality and doubled the look.

It also brings the whole office together. MoPac on the left, the V3 4-Leg tabletop in the center, filing cabinet on the right, and it all looks like one setup. For a room I spend this much time in, that cohesiveness matters.

If you do the swap yourself, empty the drawers first and leave the support caster off. Each front comes off with a few screws and bump stops on the sides, and the wood front goes on with the same ones. The bottom drawer has two more screws underneath, so you tip the cabinet on its side for that one. Keep those two, because the swap goes back the other way too.

Its home: tucked beside the desk leg, under the wall shelves.

Know the Trade

Worth knowing before you order the fronts, and UPLIFT spells it out on the product page: the wood fronts cover the drawer lock, so the cabinet no longer locks. They also rule out the optional front support caster, the fifth caster that helps keep the cabinet from tipping forward when a loaded drawer is pulled all the way out.

Either way, UPLIFT's manual says to open one drawer at a time and keep the top two drawers at 11 pounds or less and the bottom at 22.

If you need a drawer that locks, keep the steel fronts, since the key lock in the top drawer secures all three.

The Math

The cabinet is $319. On the cabinet page, pick the 3-Drawer Kit option and the laminate fronts are $54 more, or $64 for bamboo, so a matched cabinet with laminate fronts lands around $373. Buy the fronts later on their own and they are $64 a set, so if you know you want them, add them up front.

What the extra money buys is a steel cabinet with full-extension drawers that meets the ANSI/BIFMA storage standard, with the UPLIFT Desk 15-year warranty behind it.

Who should skip it: if all you need is a place to drop paper and nobody is going to see it, a basic cabinet will hold paper just fine.

So thank you, UPLIFT, for being generous enough to send it.

Every Dad Carry is reader-supported. UPLIFT Desk sent me this file cabinet and its drawer fronts free to review; they get no edits and no say in any rating. Links go through our UPLIFT affiliate account at no extra cost to you.