Six Dollar Cabinets: A Thrifted Treasure from Old Town Alexandria
Last weekend we drove two hours north to Arlington, Virginia so Clara could spend time with her cousin Elsa. While there, we visited Old Town Alexandria and discovered a charming shop called Red Barn Mercantile. Among the many beautiful items, a bowl of vintage printing press letters caught our eye. For six dollars we picked up a “C” to add to our collection of letters and numbers that we started collecting years ago.
That small find was delightful, but the real surprise of the trip came from a separate thrift stop. At the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Alexandria we found a stack of wooden cabinets being sold for a dollar each. They appeared to have once been hotel nightstands; apparently a hotel donated a truckload and the ReStore wanted to clear them out. In the end we walked away with six cabinets for a total of six dollars (technically $6.30 with tax), and we still can’t quite believe how lucky the find was.
Before bringing them home I inspected every inch of each cabinet for signs of pests. Past experiences have made me meticulous about checking for bed bugs: look for visible insects, tiny droppings, and stains along seams or in crevices. These cabinets are made of solid wood and have smooth surfaces that are unlikely to harbor pests, but I still examined them carefully at the store and again at home.
Transportation worked out surprisingly well. We managed to fit two cabinets into our car along with travel gear and a car seat, and my dad, who happened to be nearby, drove the remaining four back in his larger vehicle. It was fortunate timing, because we usually struggle to take big finds home when we’re away from our own garage.
The cabinets feel far from cheap. Inside they feature well-built fittings, including slide-out shelves, and the solid wood construction should take paint beautifully. We plan to use these cabinets to build a custom built-in office workstation that will give each of us a dedicated desktop area. The current plan is to arrange the cabinets in pairs along the wall: two cabinets, an open space for a chair, two more cabinets, another chair space, and the final two cabinets. That layout will create two 30-inch openings for chairs, which works well with our 24-inch-wide chairs and provides comfortable wiggle room.
They do need a bit of preparation before permanent installation. The cabinets are about 26 inches tall, while typical desk height is closer to 30 inches, so we’ll raise them by building a simple box on top of each cabinet pairing or possibly adding structure underneath. We haven’t finalized whether the added height will be an open shelf or a solid front piece, but we will paint the additions to match so the built-in looks seamless. We’ll prime and paint the exterior with glossy white paint and keep the interiors natural wood, which helps hide marks and smudges and gives a clean, finished appearance.
One of the advantages of these thrifted cabinets is their depth: they’re deep enough to function as a desk without needing extensive build-out. Many upper cabinets are too shallow for a comfortable desk surface and require more lumber to make usable, so finding cabinets with the right depth and a height that’s easy to modify was a welcome relief.
After searching for months for secondhand office solutions, this find felt especially lucky. We did spend money on other office necessities—like a filing solution from Ikea—but discovering a set of matching, solid wood cabinets for pocket change made the trip feel like a win. If you’re hunting for affordable built-ins, consider looking at Habitat ReStores, thrift stores, flea markets, and local salvage shops. Sometimes the most useful pieces show up where you least expect them.
We’ll document the restoration and installation process as we prime, paint, and build the final desk components. For now, we’re savoring the satisfaction of turning an unexpected six-dollar purchase into a functional and attractive part of our home office. What’s the best under-ten-dollar find you’ve ever made? We’d love to hear about other thrifted treasures and creative DIY upgrades.