Hon File Cabinets - Are They a Good Choice?

Based in Muscatine, Iowa; the Hon Company was originally started in 1944 under the company name of Home-O-Nize Co. In 1955, Home-O-Nize decided to increase it's focus on office supplies and office furniture, so they create a separate department for those products. They also elected to come up with a new name for the new department so this division became known as H-O-N (Home-O-Nize). Since that time, Hon has become an industry leader in the office furniture market.
One of Hon's first office furniture offerings was a combination filing cabinet called the "Unifile". This cabinet was fairly successful so Hon started developing additional filing cabinets that could be brought to market.

Fast forward to today and Hon is the market leader in the filing cabinet industry. They offer over 500 different filing cabinets in various configurations and colors. Here are a few important points to understand before shopping for a cabinet:

Lateral filing cabinets - Lateral filing cabinets are also called horizontal filing cabinets. Most lateral filing cabinets are around 20 inches deep, and generally come in widths of 30, 36, or 42 inches. They also come in 2, 3, 4, or 5 drawer versions. The 2 drawer models work best in small spaces like an office cubicle. Hon makes a number of lateral file models to meet any need. All their lateral models have leveling glides, super quiet ball bearings, and a single drawer lock that secures all the drawers. The Hon model 500, 600, or 800 series are excellent choices in this style.

Vertical filing cabinets - Actually designed in 1898 by Edwin Seibels, the vertical filing cabinet has become the most popular filing cabinet style. This style is especially effective for offices or home offices with limited space as they have a smaller footprint compared to a lateral or horizontal model. The Hon models are extremely well made and will last a lifetime. My parents have a Hon vertical in their basement that is over 40 years old. Even after 40 years, it looks and works just almost as well as the day it was produced. If you are shopping for a vertical model, consider the Hon model 310 or 530 as both are a Hon bestseller.

The Hon file cabinets come in a myriad of different finishes like Columbian walnut laminate, Taupe, Putty, black, light gray, charcoal, shaker cherry laminate, shadow Zephyr, cloud zephyr, desert zephyr, canyon zephyr, morro zephyr, muslin, greige, carob, platinum metallic, and champagne metallic.

Hon has become a market leader in this area for two reasons: price and quality. They aren't the least expensive filing cabinet model, but you get what you pay for.