Yesterday, Brandon said something that made me very happy: “Let’s get rid of all these CD cases.”
Right now, we have most of our CDs in the five BENNO towers that are in my office to the left and right of my EXPEDIT. We also have several hundred more in my office closet though, and in the stacks and stacks that seem to accumulate throughout the house.
We need to condense our music library, but we’re not ready to go 100% digital. These Semikolon boxes look really nice, but I think we’d need too many. Plus, I already have a million IKEA KASSETT boxes in pink (which seems to be a discontinued color), so I could just use those. Maybe if we transfered all of the CDs into paper sleeves
How do you store your music? Or have you guys gone completely digital? And while we’re at it, what about DVDs and video games? ‘Cause we’ve run out of space for those too.
All of our music is digital and we keep our DVDs in the binders, not pretty but much more practical and space-savy. Now, if only I could keep everything alphabetized…
Ugh…this is hitting home. I am so sick of looking at our CDs. We have far fewer than you, but I want to hide them nonetheless. You’ve got some good ideas here.
Thanks~
I have a binder for all of my CD’s. Although I don’t have that much music.
I have all of my CDs in binders, with the sleeve behind them, organized according to genre. I’m a little fanatical about it… although I haven’t gotten around to doing my husband’s yet. He seems to like holding onto CD cases. >_<
ANYHOW, we've got most of our CDs copied onto our computer for back-up purposes. We still use our disks quite a bit.
i’ve gone completely digital. Just upload your cds to an external HD that’s specifically just for storing music, then gather the CDs and sell them to a second hand store like Second Spin.
We’ve gone completely digital and packed our CDs into storage just in case we need them. Our DVDs will be put into binders soon too, now that our baby is mobile. Harder to get at and get into.
I would say maybe go digital with what you can and keep the rest of them in the boxes you have. Store the others away where you don’t need to get them.
We only have digital and vinyl. I store my vinyl that i listen to most in the entertainment center and the rest in wicker baskets in the closet. It’s not a huge collection though, you can’t get a lot of stuff on vinyl so we just buy it digital.
We have ours in binders. It saves so much space and is easy to flip through.
I had this issue, too, and went with the binder route which I’ve been very happy with for a couple of reasons. One, it allows for a lot of storage in one place, you can put the sleeves in and you don’t need to buy extra paper sleeves. Also, there are some pretty nice binders out and I think they look great on a shelf with books or other binders. And, they’re relatively inexpensive and take up little room.
We went digital a few years ago (Apple TV, love it), but the CDs and cases are piled in Container Store boxes in storage. I think the binder idea is great, esp. if you feel like taking some music on the road, you could just grab a binder and go.
I made husband pack them all up in books around a year ago before moving. We ended up filling three of the largest ones and I don’t know if he would ever let us go all digital! He likes the idea of CD’s, the art work, etc. Plus we’re still old school and have a CD changer in our car!
I say “use a book” – they are less attractive but handy and easy to store.
Wow. You guys have a ton of CDs. Do you have every CD known to man? ;) I bet there is some embarrassing stuff in there! While I like the look of the open storage, I imagine it can get quite hectic trying to find something. Being that I am 100% digital though, I cannot offer any solutions. :( Though I do think the CD binders would be the best route — it’s fun to flip through the sleeves. :)
Like you, we weren’t ready to go digital (who has time to burn almost 1000 cds to their computers?) We combined our large CD collection into three 300-disc binders…alphabetized by artist (combo CDs, like soundtracks, are organized by disc title). This made moving SO MUCH EASIER and freed up SO much space. And once we did that, we made a commitment to not buy any more CDs unless we couldn’t live without it… Other music we buy digitally. Good luck with the project!
We have gone totally digital – we ripped all of the songs we want off of all our CDs and put them in iTunes. We also ripped all of the DVDs onto a central hard drive we can access from both our computers and our Apple TV. I love getting rid of “stuff” – so it was a very therapeutic thing to do! Good luck with whatever you decide!
I’ve gone digital with my music. A few years ago I sold all of my CDs in lots on eBay (lots of work, but I made around $400) and loaded it onto my iTunes. My hard drive recently died and I lost it all, so….back up, folks!
As for DVDs, I ditch the cases and keep them in these really nice Gallery Leather disc albums.
I am cluttered enough, I couldn’t stand having all of those cases around.
As seems to be the popular vote, we ripped ours to iTunes and have the CDs in binders as backups in case the computers crash.
We also put our DVDs in binders, because my husband has WAY more DVDs than we do CDs, and I couldn’t take looking at them anymore.
I’ve gone digital for the most part (I have a few cd cases Ive kept but those are stored away in a closet). There are services that will transfer your music for you…its expensive but worth it to have that storage space back. I bet you can use those shelves for lots of other things.
I use binders and think they’re a great option. When you go digital you lose sound quality that you can never restore. I also didn’t want to lose my liner notes. I have 3 binders that store 100 CD’s each, with their liner notes. Much better space solution for our small house than keeping the cases.
I’ve gone completely digital. I do, however, miss having CD’s line the shelves – it’s a little High Fidelity of me to like the physical manifestations of my music. But I like records and cd’s. However, living in small NYC apartments has forced me to declutter. I refuse to give up books and cooking gadgets though.
All of our CD’s are in binders only because we haven’t reached the zen state of getting rid of them all. We’ve slowly been converting them to FLAC’s/mp3′s, but it takes a while for the older CD’s to be ripped “perfectly” so it’s an ongoing process. We rarely buy CD’s anymore, opting instead for downloads.
We have a small bookcase in the office with our DVD’s, but we haven’t purchased a new DVD in over a year. Yay Netflix!
We’ve gone mostly digital, except for a few cd’s we couldn’t part with. Just make sure you have some sort of backup system. Our DVD’s are in a binder similar to that in alphabetical order for easy finding. We just skipped a page (or few pages) for each letter so our future DVD’s fit in without too much trouble. It makes finding a particular one easy & it’s just as easy to browse for a random one to watch.
I am a big fan of the binders. I got several different designs, all the same size in black a few years ago and organized them. I have one that is all our favorite music and then a few others that are organized around themes. I love not having all of those cases to store, and I noticed the difference the last time we moved. much better!
Be warned cd books will scratch your discs! Here’s what we did with out 1,500+ collection:
http://rearrangeddesign.blogspot.com/2008/10/from-all-junks-one-i-need-more-is-music.html
I think one day a lot of people will realize that digital downloads mean you actually own *nothing*.
That may just be PERFECT. Those sleeves are a little pricey, but Brandon and I both like that they’re browsable.
Right before looking at your blog today I decided Sunday would be the day I organize CDs. I must thank you and reply-ers–I was actuallying thinking of going back to shelves and buying those same ikea media shelves.
Right now I have CDs in books that are so well used they are falling apart. So know from the get-go you will sometimes need to buy replacement books. I’ve given up on having all one kind of book and on alphabetizing. My books are by genra right now, but I don’t recomend that–I know that Miles Davis is Jazz, but what about Modeski Martin and Wood–and others even more boarder line. “Rock and roll” is in three binders: a-h, i-r, s-z. Liner notes kinda fit in with the CD, but that makes the pocket break faster. I’m considering boxes for liner notes with alphabet tags that stand taller than the notes in a box, stored separately from CDs in binders. I need a better system for getting CDs back into the books. Too many have gotten scratched. Also weighing money spent on books and money spent on additional e-storage (ipod, harddrive). With sooo many CDs it can be hard to find the one you want. Good luck, please let us know waht you choose!
“I need a better system for getting CDs back into the books. Too many have gotten scratched.”
That’s what I’m afraid of. If you take 5 CDs out from different binders, then they’re just out, loose. And we won’t put them back immediately. We should, but realistically I know we won’t.
I just did the same thing – didn’t have as many CDs as you, but enough to warrant condensing.
I used those KASSETT boxes {mine are black} and Target has these plastic Multi-Colored Memorex CD holders. I put the CD insert and the CD in them, and then put all the CDs in the boxes. I took the different colors of the plastic CD holders and categorized my CDs. Singles were Green, Soundtracks were Blue, favorite CDs were pink or purple, etc. Looks nice and neat. The best part is, if I want to take an actual CD out, all I have to do is pull it out and its already in a small case for transport.
I’m going to be doing the same thing with my computer CDs that have games and storage on them.
Most of my CDs are in a binder. I cut the play list out of the CD case, and dropped in the binder, and put the CD in front of the list in the pocket.
At the time, it was slightly heart breaking to cut up some of the liner notes. Now, I’m super glad I did it. I literally got rid of two huge trash bags worth of cases. The storage required for them is unbelievable, you don’t realize how much space it takes up until you go through it.
We’re too sentimental (and old) to go 100% digital, but we no longer keep any of the jewel cases for our CDs. If they seem special, we keep the liner notes and everything goes those plastic sleeves. And the sleeves go in uniform black binders on our book shelf. We went from probably 500 CDs all over the house, to about 10 binders on a shelf. We did the same with our DVDs. Whew! Much neater and it’s much easier to find the CD we’re looking for now since they’re in somewhat alphabetical order.
We do not collect CDs or DVDs. All of our music is digital and we don’t rewatch movie, so I think we only have like 10 DVDs. It is such a good thing because if I had all of those things, I think it would drive me nuts to have it consume the precious space in my house.
I’ve been using only the binders for over 10 years and can’t imagine the space needed to store everything in cases. After filling my backpack just to take cds home on winter break in college, I realized that the cases had to go. I keep all the liner notes and the back paper too, just in case, and organize by genre sort of. I really haven’t bought many new cds in years though and managing the digital files I do have is also just as daunting.
Hi there, we are contemplating new storage solutions too… Howver my husband is an audiophile and radio DJ with more than 2,000 CDs. Binders and the digital option are NOT options- he loves the physical object and they are his babies– you couldn’t tell a bibliophile that scanned PDFs were a suitable replacement for a library!
I’m wondering about your experience with multiple Benno towers– we are thinking of basically lining the wall of one room with 6-8 of them (possibly more!) Did you affix each tower to the wall? Or did you also affix them to one another? We are expecting a baby as well and want to make sure it’s safe from toppling!
I attached a piece of wood along the top that holds the towers together, and then I attached that to the wall (I think the wall fittings were included). You will definitely want to secure them because they’re so narrow they can easily topple!
Hi there,
We made the switch a few years ago to putting all our cds in binders – it was a big project and we even made a “table of contents” for each binder; but that was a while ago and there weren’t many nice binders out there so now I’m thinking to update the binders to something better looking but it was definitely the best move we ever made it saves SO MUCH space. OF course we still have two Ikea CD towers out filled with DVDS and CDs that haven’t made it to the binders yet – need to work on those too. Have fun.
P.S. I love your blog and how it looks, do you sell the designed templates?
I just bought these CD sleeves (http://www.jazzloft.com/p-34281-space-saving-cd-sleeves.aspx) and got rid of all of our cases! The sleeves are great because you can keep the liner notes, something that was important to us. We then just got some boxes from Amazon (can’t remember what they were called) – we condensed all of our CDs into just two of these boxes. It’s so nice to have them in one place but with a much smaller footprint. Good luck!
Yes! I love these sleeves because you can keep the front and back art visible. You can also read the spine. Very useful when you’re quickly looking for that one specific CD.
I’m still sitting on the jewel cases though. I feel so awful just tossing them since they can’t be recycled in curb pickup.
If you really want them organized alphabetically don’t use the CD books unless you never buy another CD again.
I keep around 20 or so new(to me) CDs on my shelf, so I can listen to them in the car for a while. But as soon as I buy new music I rip it to MP3. I keep mine backed up on 2 computers and an external harddrive. Nothing wrong with keeping a few CD’s and DVD’s around but I have a set space for mine (two shelves of CD’S and 2 of DVD’s) and if the collections overflows I force myself to give away or sell stuff.
I say rip the stuff that you don’t NEED to have (the ones you haven’t listened to or pulled out in a while) onto your computer. Then sell those CD’s and use the money to buy boxes to hold and organize the music that you really love, or an external harddrive to back everything up. Get a set number of boxes and promise yourself you won’t let the collection overflow that space. (Like maybe just 2 bookcases instead of 5.)
I love the convenience of buying/storing/listening to digital music but flipping through CD’s at the record store is probably one of my favorite things to do with my boyfriend.
We have the same towers as you for CD’s and the the billy bookcases for DVD’s–with dvd’s running 2 deep. It is not ideal, but my husband is an avid collector and most of the “good stuff” we have on vinyl, CD and digital. Eeck!
Yep, that’s exactly what we’ve got going on with the DVDs.
I put everything (DVDs and CDs) into binders a while ago and put my favorite CDs on my iPod, too. I’m a live music trader, so there was A LOT to transfer!
My boyfriend is a radio DJ with a specialty show (in addition to his normal job) and he carries everything in binders since his station doesn’t have nearly as good a collection of his genre. The rest of the DJs just use the computerized system to program their shows.
I really like those cute boxes, but I think they take up a lot of space compared to the binders.
whatever you do, please, oh please say you’ll be recycling all the discarded jewel cases!!! :)
I had never thought of removing our DVD collection from their cases, but now that it’s been mentioned, I’m just thinking “duh!” That would solve so many problems in our tight for storage space!!
You cannot easily recycle the jewel cases. We have all of our CDs in a jukebox system and we keep the liner notes in binders. I had boxes filled with the empty jewel cases and when I tried to dispose of them I found out that you can’t recycle them in the curbside container. I found a company that will recycle them but you have to ship to them and they charge by the pound (and the pounds really add up!)
Oh, I just assumed we could recycle them with all the other plastics. That isn’t the case?
I love the idea of using paper sleeves and storing them in pretty boxes. You could even label them like a recipe box!
I use CD Pages in a binder. I put the CD on one side, and the liner/booklet on the other. I still need to ditch all the jewel cases, but much more space effective!
I think I have a pile of CDs sitting on my kitchen counter as we speak:) It’s never ending, but my husband still buys CDs for the artwork. I too am looking for a way to organize those. But our biggest problem is the Xbox360/Wii/Playstation video games and my husband’s large collection of DVDs (it was at one point around 500). Right now they are in baskets and several bookshelves but they always seem to mulitply on my living room floor. How do you make those collections “lovely”?
Exactly. That’s why I’m so excited about tackling this project!
where do we store music? wherever we can! we love music and i don’t mind all of those jewel cases hangin’ around. it’s nostalgic in a way to still have all of those clunky things. i love liner notes and album art, so there’s no way this chick is ever going fully digital. i buy the album, rip it to my computer and then to the ipod. there’s just something so comforting about having the physical album in its entirety (and there’s nothing like the smell of vinyl!).
at one point, i had approximately 1500 cds… since 2006 i’ve been slowly uploading them and selling off the vast majority of my collection. i just don’t listen to music the same way anymore and after moving three times, i just wanted to get rid of the clutter! then i realized after subscribing to netfix that i will never buy a physical dvd again. so, rather than having a “dead” collection, we are currently going digital on our dvds, too.
be very, very careful with cd books. i worked in a cd store that bought used cds and i could always tell who had stored them that way… usually, they were scratched up.
I love those ideas – I hate CD cases – and when lovely bebés become toddlers cases tend to get cracked. I know from experience. Throw them out! Keeping the inserts might be helpful.
Such great ideas you have here. Your blog is wonderful.
I went digital ages ago. I got sick of the room all the CDs took up. I sat down and threw out thousands of jeweled cases. I did the same thing for most of my DVDs too.
I tend to buy less music now because I don’t like to buy online either. I usually just listen to Last.fm at home or pandora when I’m out and about.
I *wish* DH would go digital. No luck there. We have our CD stored in a large case (very similar to your Benno towers) nestled into a small alcove behind our master bedroom door. Not very sexy, but we don’t have anywhere else to put them.
For DVDs, we have a large trunk that serves as the coffee table in our family room, and the DVDs all go in there. I like that they aren’t out, visually cluttering up the room. If only I could do that with the CDs…
we just made the switcheroo to binders – praise the lord.
We saved the insert/covers for the one’s we really liked and then just put the other’s into cloth binders (from the hold everything liquidation…may they RIP). Yeah, so that will probably tell you how long I’ve been putting off that project. I felt so badly for the landfill when we tossed all of those plastic cases, but all in all it was fabulous.
Right now, we don’t have that many DVDs – but we’ll probably have to go that route, too – eventually.
Ahhh, Hold Everything (how I miss thee). So that was what, five or six years ago? ;)
oh btw, we’re never going digital. I just won’t happen. we’re still stuck on vinyl… :)
We do the sleeved books. I can’t make myself go completely digital. I still like to look at all the pretties in the jacket of the music or dvd. Good luck!
Our music is all digital- but we have a ton of dvds that we store! My husband uses all binders for his CD/DVD storage (about 12 binders?). I use paper sleeves in a box with dividers separating alphabetically, I have experience with both. HANDS DOWN, I’d say go with sleeves and boxes. You do have to pull them out to find what you’re looking for, but I’ve never found it a problem as long as you keep them alphabetical. Those binders are awful- they were ok at first, but they’ve worn really poorly. Any time I have to go dig something out the pages are falling all over the place. IMHO, serious CD storage is too heavy for most binder sleeves- plus the boxes are prettier. :)
Thank you — that’s really helpful.
I went completely digital a few years ago. I would upload a certain # of discs each day and then save them to an external hard drive. I also have a backed up DVD of my music in case the hard drive craters. I then sold them to a used music store and made just enough to pay for the ipod.
Hubs still holds onto to certain cds and he keeps those in a binder. Otherwise, he would be completely digital.
The one caveat if you take the cds out of the plastic cases, is that you can’t sell them if you are missing the back portion of the booklet.
I find I listen to all my music now that its all in one place. I shuffle and you never know what you will find. With cds, I only listened to certain ones.
I have all of my music on an external hard drive. We started going digital five years ago. We would sell the CDs we felt we could let go of as we transferred them. We ended up with a small core group that we held on to until last year when I was finally ready to just let all of them go. I found that I wasn’t ever listening to the actual CDs and that they were just bugging me with the space that they took up. I do not regret it at all! In fact, we sold all of our DVDs too…if I want to watch something again I would rather borrow it from the library than have it take up space at home.
I’m sure that whatever you end up doing will look as great as it functions!