A stationery cabinet (sometimes referred to as a stationery cupboard) is a large steel cabinet with shelves inside, used for storing a variety of items, often stationery or books or other office supplies. It may be used for a wide variety of other storage needs, including machine parts, hardware, or many other things; but offices are the location where they are most often found.
Such a cabinet is typically about 6 feet high (182.9 cm.), although some models are about 7 feet (213.4 cm.) high, and others around 4 feet (121.9 cm.) high, sometimes referred to as counter size. They are often 3 feet (91.4 cm.) wide, and 1.5 feet (45.7 cm.) deep. The 6-foot height and this width and depth are standard measurements for the most common models; even in countries where metric measurements are used for describing the dimensions, these dimensions are often exact multiples of feet or inches, presumably harking back to designs that were originally planned in exact numbers of feet or inches. Most of these standard dimensions are the same as with lockers, and the designs for the two types of cabinet appear to have a common ancestry; and indeed, stationery cabinets are usually manufactured by the same companies who produce lockers and filing cabinets.
Stationery cabinets come with three, four, or five steel shelves which are designed to fit across the width of the cabinet, fitted into brackets in the internal walls, and the position of these can be changed in small increments, thus allowing users to adjust the height of the shelves to their particular needs.
There are two doors at the front which swing outwards from the centre: to close and lock the cabinet, the left door is closed first, and then the right door, which interlocks with a flange on the edge of the left door, thus holding it in the closed position, and the cabinet may be locked by turning a key in a lock in the right door. For added security, this door is usually equipped with three-point locking. Unlike lockers, stationery cabinets are not usually sold with a padlocking option.