Giving New Life to an Old File Cabinet with a coat of paint! Home Office Decorating. Jennifer Woch 10 years ago I was in need of a new file cabinet, but instead I found an old one…. Old file cabinet found at Re-Store for $40 Using an electric sander, I lightly sanded the surface of the entire unit. After wiping down the excess dust, I sprayed the cabinet with even overlapping strokes in an Avocado colour spray paint. This is how it looked after the first coat. I probably could have stopped at 2 coats, but I did a 3rd just in case! Here is my end result! Out of sheer impatience I painted over the hardware as well, however I actually like the monochromatic effect. Functional and super fun against my pale lavender walls! File cabinet and magnet board all in one!! Gotta love a good Saturday afternoon project!