Right now we have all of our liquor stored in one of these cheap cabinets from Target. It isn’t quite big enough, so there are bottles all over the top as well as inside. There are three main problems with this cabinet:
it’s not really strong enough. With bottles of liquid, the shelves are starting to sag a bit.
not all the liquor fits inside–as I said, a lot is on top as well
(and here’s the biggie) it doesn’t lock. My son will be 13 next week, and even if he isn’t interested in it, he may have friends over who are. I’d feel happier if we could lock up the booze.
The thing is, so far most of my searching has come up with stuff that is over $1,000 and it’s all nicely stained real wood and all that. We don’t need nice furniture, we just need a little bigger and a little stronger than what we have, and with the ability to lock. Though I guess we could run a chain and padlock through the handles if the handles are in such a way to make that feasible. Note that the cabinet we have now cost just under $50. We’re students. We don’t mind if it’s particle board with laminate for now.
So does anyone know of the kind of thing I mean, or have some favorite store that you think probably carries just what I’m talking about, that you could share?
I haven’t shopped at any second hand stuff, but it’s a good idea. Ebay seems unlikely just because of shipping costs. No, there is no woodworking specific “section” of my art school. I mean, we have a woodshop, but I don’t have time to go make a major piece of furniture myself. (The art department at my school is miniscule. There are about a dozen sculpture students, spanning sculpture I, II, and III, and there is the 3-D design class (very basic class–ART 103–they learn how to smush lumps of clay and make shapes out of wire.) Other than that it’s all drawing/painting/photo/graphic design type stuff. There are no wood-related classes or anything. There is nobody there who would “do this for me” if that is what you were saying.)
Another constraint that I forgot to mention we have is space. It pretty much has to go where the current cabinet is, which means it can be taller, but not a whole lot wider. A little wider, yes. A lot wider… no.
Just find something that fits your spacial needs, and then just bolt a hasponto it and padlock the sucker. That way your security system will run you around $12 with hardware and lock. Either do a combo lock or keep the key with you all the time.
Right the lock isn’t so much the trouble as finding a bigger cabinet that I was hoping for some help with. My usual cheap easy to build furniture choices come up dry.
Do you care if it is metal instead of wood? You could get a metal locking storage cabinet from an office supply store that would be taller (thus giving you more space) with only being a little wider. You could always decorate it to make it look better. One in a suitable size for your space would run less than $200. I’ve seen them at Staples. It would be stronger than anything with wood shelves, too.
Well, Walmart seems to have at least one decent option in that width range - it’s not any taller or wider, but it’s twice as deep. You’d still have to add a hasp and lock, but obviously that’s pretty easy.
(I know, Walmart is evil, but they are very often expediently evil.)
Well…that’s a good question. Ours was never locked up when I was a kid, but I knew some kids who’s parents did that, and it became a challenge to figure it out, just because we weren’t allowed to.
As far as “sending the wrong message” I’m not really worried about my own kid. He already knows that if he’s ever curious about drinking, he just has to ask us and we’ll let him, as long as he’s supervised. So far, everything he has tasted he has thought was disgusting. His friends, on the other hand, I have no idea. I’m not willing to take that risk.
Yup, that’s exactly what I was thinking. I was raised in a household where drinking wasn’t a big deal. I can’t say I never sampled my parent’s liquor, but it was just that - maybe a sip while they were gone. I know, however, that a locked cabinet would have been MUCH more interesting to me and my friends.
I think it sends the message that you locked up the liquor so the parents of the friends that came over can’t say you willingly supplied there kids with alcohol. No jail time for you if they break into the cabinet and get drunk.
Drinking isn’t a big deal in our household, either. It isn’t some forbidden thing that we are holding out of his reach. It’s his friends coming over that I worry about. It’s a lot of liquor and kind of hard to miss, and I could see a friend noticing it and thinking “hmmm…” which wouldn’t happen so much if it was just a locked cabinet that you couldn’t even see the contents of. Most kids probably wouldn’t even be curious enough to ask Dominic what’s in the cabinet, I’d bet.
Try a place that sells pool table and “rumpus room” stuff. There might even be a “bruised and reduced” section where you can get a deal on stuff. Minor dings or scratches that can be easily fixed. Sometimes you can get 1/2 off.
Another option would be an office furniture store. I have a little locking cabinet with removable/adjustable shelf in it. It has a countertop type top. You could also check used office furniture places for that type of thing.
What about keeping the current cabinet, putting a lock on it, and moving lesser-used bottles to another locked cabinet or box?
In my home growing up, the regular liquor cabinet was not locked, but a closet holding a substantial amount of unopened bottles, and another closet containing some valuable wine were. My dad explained that they were not locked against me, but against unknown people who might be tempted, such as my friends or even people doing work in the house. Then he showed me where the keys were, proving his point.
It’s not a bad idea to keep it locked up, at least nominally. Harmonious Discord has a good point (unfortunately) about forestalling potential lawsuits, or even confrontations with angry parents!
Anyway, if you don’t want to bolt a hasp onto the thing: I wanted to put a lock on a drawer, not for extreme security, but to discourage nosy people. I sank a small eyebolt into one side of the drawer front and another in a corresponding spot on the side of the dresser. I threaded a small padlock through the eyebolts, and voila! Yeah, it could have been foiled by a determined person, but it was sufficient for my purposes.