File cabinet come in many sizes, styles and levels of quality. In addition to offering a way to organize and access your documents, file cabinets can also become versatile and useful items of furniture that can be used in virtually any room of your home or office.

However, when you begin buying file cabinets, it could be a bit overwhelming due to all of the different styles and selections. In an effort to assist you in your shopping endeavors, let's start with the fundamentals :

Paper sizes - This size of the paper that you are planning to store will perform a part in the kind of filing cabinet that you are going to need.

* Letter - This is the most common size as it's engineered to hold standard 8.5' x 11' paper.
* Legal - this kind is intended to fit the larger legal size paper which is in general 8.5' x 14' and 8.5' x 11' paper.

Cabinet design - This refers to the orientation of the cabinet itself. Now, there are really just two variants of cabinet design.

* Vertical cabinet - this kind of cupboard is the more normal of the 2 and the more common. In this variation, the cabinets are positioned one on top of another vertically.
* Horizontal Cabinet - A horizontal style has cabinets that are positioned horizontally instead of vertically. Horizontal models are sometimes shorter than vertical models, but take up more floor space.

Drawer Configuration - Filing cabinets come in a multitude of different configurations re the amount of file drawers.

* Two drawer - The 2 drawer models are most fitted for either under the desk use or for personal use in a home office. Often 2 drawer models are available only in a vertical configuration.
* Three drawer - The three drawer model has continued to gain recognition as it is not as large as a four or 5 drawer model, but bigger than a 2 drawer version. For the SOHO office, or an office with space limits, it is a perfect choice.
* 4 drawer - The four drawer models are really considered the industry standard for filing cabinets. This is the most well liked size for businesses and corporations. These are available in both vertical and horizontal configurations.
* Five drawer - The five drawer models are generally considered the biggest sort of commercial filing cabinet that is available. Like the 4 drawer model, the five drawer versions are sometimes only used in businesses.

On a personal level, I am a big fan of the 3 drawer file cabinet as it offers more storage per square foot of floor space than other size. Most 3 drawer models stand around 43' high, so they're the perfect height to for the average joe yet they're short enough where you can still put plants or other light items on top.