Introduction: The Humongous Card Catalogue

About: Hi I'm Copperhead Makes and I spend my time creating items that I, my family or friends can enjoy. I love trying out new crafts and I'm always on the look out for my next big project.

I love card catalogues but because they are so expensive I never thought I could own one. Until one day walking around IKEA I saw the Moppe set of drawers and I realized they would, with a bit of work, make a perfect card catalogue. I bought one Moppe unit and using the dimensions from the set of drawers drew up plans for the Humongous Card Catalogue.

Supplies

Supplies

Black self tapping screw with washer M2 x 3mm x 144 - AliExpress.co.uk

Pine D-Shape Moulding (L)2.4m (W)21mm (T)4mm x2 - B&Q

Hairpin Table Legs Heavy Duty Set of 4 - Amazon.co.uk

Metal Furniture Straps, Baby & Pet Proofing Anti Tip Furniture Locks Kits - Amazon.co.uk

Hardwood Plywood Board (L)2.44m (W)1.22m (T)18mm - B&Q

Moppe drawer set x 12 units - IKEA

7mm chipboard screws - B&Q

Dark wood filler - B&Q

Dulux walnut stain and varnish 750ml - B&Q

Old books wallpaper - wonderwallfashions.com

Old map craftpaper - hunkydorycrafts.co.uk

PVA glue - The Works

Panel pins 3cms x 50 - B&Q

Archive handles x 72 - AliExpress.co.uk

Candle - B&Q

80 x 80mm Flat Corner Triangular Bracket Fixing Repair Plate Brace x 4 - B&Q

Acetate - Amazon.co.uk


Tools

Jigsaw

Electric drill

Electric Sander

Measuring Tape

Paint Brushes

Step 1: Painting

I ordered 11 Moppe sets of drawers from IKEA, plus the one I already had at home, which made 12 units altogether. I was also very lucky as when I went to buy the Moppe drawers they where on sale. To give the drawers an antique look I used an electric sander to remove all the sharp corners on the drawers. I bought a 750ml tin of Dulux Woodsheen for interior and exterior surfaces. This stain also had a varnish included. I highly recommend using a paint that has a stain and varnish in one as it saves you having to paint the drawers twice saving time and money. I painted all the drawers and the Moppe box itself. To save on paint I only stained the shelves that the drawers rested on and about 5-10cms around the outside of the unit. The set of drawers will eventually be encased in plywood so the sides of the Moppe will not be seen. 

Step 2: Attaching the Moppe Units Together

Once I had finished painting the units I was finally ready to attach all the Moppes together. I wanted three across by four down. I simply screwed each together using standard 7mm chipboard screws. I countersunk the screws and filled in the holes with filler which when dried I then sanded and painted over.

Step 3: Attaching the Handles

The drawers had a hole on one end that acted as a handle. I flipped the drawer ends round as I wanted to use archive handles. To ensure that all the handles would be uniformly placed I created a plastic template from acetate and using a gouge poked pilot holes into the drawers. I used an electric drill (to speed the process up) and Black screws M2 x 3mm to attach the archive handles. I chose these handles as they had a label holder so I could write what was in each drawer once it was being used to store all my paraphernalia.

Step 4: Decorating the Drawer Bases

I had some old map craft paper lying around so I decided to use it in the card catalogue. So for each of the drawer bases I created a cardboard template (13.5cm x 16.3cm) and used this to cut the map craft paper to size. I then glued these in place using PVA glue.

Step 5: Decorating the Moppe Units Bases

Depending on what I decide to put in each of the drawers I knew I would need to take some of them completely out of the unit. I didn't like that the back of the Moppe units were just plain hardboard so I created a cardboard template of the back (31cm x 30cm) and bought some wallpaper with an old book design and glued this in with PVA. This would have been easier to do before I screwed the units together.

Step 6: Plywood Frame

I had a sheet of 18mm thick plywood cut at a local DIY store into the following dimensions:

2 - 128 cm x 19 cm

2 - 93 cm x 19 cm

Unfortunately there was a lot of wood left over from the cutting sheet but this couldn't be helped as I had to go by the sizes available to me from the DIY store. I didn’t mind to much as I will probably use the spare wood for another project. I screwed the Moppe units into the plywood top, sides and bottom using 8mm screws. I used 10mm screws to attach the top and bottom to the plywood sides. For the top section of the plywood I countersunk the screws and filled them with wood filler. I didn't do this for the bottom piece as it will not be seen. I used a strip of walnut edging along the plywood so that the rough edge would be hidden.

Step 7: Adding Beading to the Catalogue

Once the plywood was attached I cut strips of rounded beading cut it at 45 degree angles and using panel pins hammered the wood in place.

Step 8: Painting Again

Once the unit was all securely screwed together I painted the outer layer of plywood and beading twice as I wanted it darker than the drawers. This was because:

1/ The plywood will stain a different colour from the Moppe units Birch plywood

2/ A darker stained background would make the Moppe drawers standout

Step 9: Strengthening the Catalogue

I purchased some Flat Corner Triangular Brackets to screw in on each corner of the unit. This saved my having to buy hardboard for the back and reinforced the units joints.

Step 10: Furniture Legs for the Card Catalogue

For the base of the unit I chose 8 inch hairpin furniture legs. I bought two sets of four. I placed one in each corner of the unit and one in the middle to secure the Card Catalogue and prevent it from toppling. I also bought an anti-tipping furniture locks kit as you can never be to careful when there are children and animals in the house.

Step 11: Adding the Drawers

Once the feet were on the Catalogue it was time to place the drawers into it. I rubbed a candle over the top ridge of each of the drawers to ensure they moved smoothly in and out of the unit.

Step 12: Final Thoughts

And there you have it. This project for me was a labour of love and I'm really pleased at how it turned out. I think in all it cost around £300 and for the size of the Humongous Card Catalogue it would probably have cost around a £1000+ to buy. Hopefully I have given you the plans and encouragement to make one yourself. 

Happy Crafting!

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