Help!

I need a new way to store my CD's and DVD's. My cd storage unit is a piece of dung. (el cheapo from Best Buy), and the TV stand I've been using to store my DVD's is full. I've got about 12 DVD's stacked on the floor with nowhere to put them!

I'd like to get a high quality unit this time, with plenty of room for growth. (or something expandable in the future). Real wood vs. that crappy particle board stuff.

Right now I have about 150+ DVD's and over 500 CD's. A separate unit for CD's and DVD's is certainly not out of the question.

What do you all use? Is having something custom built going to be crazy expensive?

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks!

I'd try visiting an unfinished wood furniture store. You can often find great quality solid wood furniture for reasonable prices. They should also have catalogs for their suppliers from which you can choose from many more models / woods than they have on the sales floor.

Most of these stores will also finish the furniture with a stain and poly of your choice (for an extra charge) if you don't have the time or space to do it yourself.

Thanks for the tip Peter...anyone else have suggestions?

What do you all use? Or does everyone just have stacks of CD's and DVD's all over the floor?

I had stacks and stacks of CD's and DVD's all over the place until I had a carpenter come in and add some shelves to my existing built-in bookcases. I used to have 3 shelves about 2 feet apart on each side of my mantle...now I have 4 DVD and 3 CD sized shelves on each side. He only charged me about $300, and he matched the color and the shape of the shelves very well.

I still have CD's and DVD's all over the place, as they seem to find their way off the shelves, but never back in.

Mark

There are some real nice racks at audioadvisor from BOLTZ..

Id go DIY myself.

Time to plug my workplace...

Check out Ikea. They've got a pretty good variety of cd/dvd/media storage units. And no, it all doesn't have a slim/trim Swedish look.

Buy a huge hard drive and rip them all to .wav files? I'm thinking of ripping all of mine and adding a small music server to my entertainment center. Plenty of good sound cards out there nowadays.

Add a TV-out vid card and a wireless keyboard then program the keyboard up/down/left/right and keys into my remote.

Good to go. I'll never leave my basement

Frank

Switching my system over to a HTPC isn't really in my plans. Thanks for the idea though.

I've actually kicked around the idea of doing something like that on a low budget scale for upstairs though.

I'm using metal storage racks that I got at Linens&Things (which I noticed you have in Los Angeles also).

Here is the DVD rack which holds up to 150 DVDs and measures 18.5" x 5.5" x 45" for $29.99.

Here is the CD rack which holds up to 180 CDs and measures 11" x 5.5" x 43.5" for $19.99.

Here are a few more choices.

David

Keep the ideas coming. Nothing so far has jumped out at me as "the" solution for me.

Hey Craig
I've got the same problem, my cds have long outgrown my storage space. I'm getting a local wood-worker to make me a cabinet. Should be nice, storage for about 900 cds (lots of room to grow), glass doors, interior lighting, the whole nine-yards. The best thing about this route is you can get exactly what you want!

Hi,

Over the long term, I think the custom route is probably the best way to go. I ordered a couple of quite nice, reasonably priced solid oak stands some years back for myself and my son. They hold 500 CDs each and the company is called Hy-Q Enterprises. The 800 number then was 800-878-7458. They likely have a web site by now.

The problem seems to be that racks always fill up. I now have piles of CDs because my racks are all full.

A friend of mine trades in all his stuff that he no longer listens to, so that keeps his collection under control, but I'm too much of a hoarder.

Regards

Here are some more real wood racks to choose from.

David

I went the opposite route. I have over 1000 CDs and numerous DVDs and finding the right amount of rack space was very overwhelming. I decided to get rid of the racks (nice to have my living space back) and use binders. I went the budget route and buy the 3 ring binder sleeves ($20 for 200 discs) and use 3" or 5" zippered binders. I save $$$ by using school quality binders, not the leather type from case logic. It's not the most high quality, but it gets the job done. I just store the multiple binders in a closet and get rid of the jewel cases.

Craig, I know that this isn't what you're thinking of, but I'll mention it anyway. I keep essentially all my discs in megachangers with the cases in storage. My objective isn't so much neat storage, but rather, immediate access to hundreds of discs at the push of a button. I'd never again put up with a single-disc player.

A megachanger isn't a bad idea. My brother is going that route. I'm an old fashioned guy. I actually like the idea of having a nice piece of furniture to hold my cd's.

I could NEVER do the 3-ring binder idea! Eegads! I've seen peoples cd's who do it that way - they're all scratched up!

I really like this...but it would be full as soon as I got it, and I'd need something else for my DVD's. But I like the look/style of this.

http://www.racksandstands.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=LE1011&catid=213

If only they had this with four columns!

found this page, dont know the quality of the racks,but the 4 sided spining tower looks like a good idea,doesnt take up much room and it holds a lot...ron

http://www.furnitureontheweb.com/Frames/Products/CD-Racks2.html

buy two!

How about two of these?

This might be over the top ... but this is what I'm getting for my DVD/CD wall mounted rack.. Ron Arad's Bookworm.
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0135
Some places make them cheaper and longer and you can bend them to your design.

Simplistic beautiful designs
http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=12&langId=-1&catalogId=10101&productId=15175


http://www.ikea-usa.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=12&langId=-1&catalogId=10101&productId=11414

Saturn

With 500 CDs this might be too much work, but I've burned copies of about 100 and put them in the case logic binders from Pic-n-Save. They may get torn up eventually, but I have the originals sitting in a cabinet for future use. I've found the folders much easier to browse than stacks of CDs.

I'm w/ Big Will on the binder idea.

If it's a look you're going for, you don't have to use zippered binders. I originally tried to use an idea I saw in Real Simple magazine that showed CD inserts in linen 3 ring binders. That would make a much more "classy" look. Here's the link to the binders:

http://www.quincyshop.com/bex3rinbin1b.html

The issue was that those binders can also get $$$. However, the total space is still going to be less than a rack. And if you need to keep the liner notes, just store them in whatever type of box you like from an organizer store.

Sorry guys, you're never going to talk me into parting with my jewel cases and all. Call me crazy, but I like seeing a big collection of jewel cases.

Over time, those books will scratch your burned discs. My Van Morrison Astral Weeks(amazing album) was torn to hell after 6 monthes. I never once dropped it. I also never leave CD's laying around.

I have two 200 disc books in my car with the soft backs(caselogic). It never seems to happen to regular cd's, but then again, CDR's are much more sensitive to smudges than regular CD's, also.

Craig,

Check out last Sunday's LA Times, there was an ad for a wood DVD shelf (holds ~168) for $29.99 I forgot which store it was...

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look.

I bought a Leslie Dame CD/DVD case from racksandstands.com a while ago. I can assure you that the product is of very high quality -- as long as the design, capacity, and price satisfies you...

I think I'm going to get this...

http://www.racksandstands.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=LE1016

I've looked and looked, and unless I want to buy two separate units, this is the best thing I could find that should hold my CD's and DVD's.

I really like this one
onehttp://www.racksandstands.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=LE1015&catid=209
however it only holds 375 CD's.

One thing to take into consideration with revolving towers like that is the ball bearings can give out after time. That, and if you spin it too fast, your media might come flying out.

along that line of thought, better not buy a car..the tires surely will wear out, and you might skid off the road.
but..i did see a commercial about the new accura, equipped with a dvd-a player and analog cables to each speaker..time to trade sushi??

Trade WHAT for WHAT?

My warning was not a suggestion to avoid the tower altogether. Just to check out the "spinny thingy" and make sure it's quality made. Surely you'd rather have a car that rolled smoothly from the outset than one that was a little bumpy/squeaky with plastic transmission gears, right?

Hey spiffnme,

I forgot the name brand but you should take a look at the ads in the back of Sound & Vision magazine. I'm not sure if it's important to you to show off your jewel cases. I'm talking about a drawer system where each drawer holds about 120 DVD's (not sure how many CD's, probably double that). I believe each unit has 2-3 drawers and you're able to stack additional units on top of each other. Go to this link to see them.

Can-Am