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.
175 comments
Rebecca Parker
So many of your followers have gone digital, I wonder if any of them can help ME. I have a bunch of maple wood drawers for organizing cds and I would love to find some more to match them. They came from now-deceased Hold Everything. They are 13-1/2″ tall, 6-1/2″ wide, 11″ deep. They have those little library-style aluminum metal frames on the front that hold paper labels. If anyone has some they would like to get rid of, I would be thrilled to purchase them. Any luck?
Ilyn - Brackley Industries
Are you using any special sleeve to protect those CDs?
Elaine
We had a similar problem with a large CD collection. Couldn’t find the solution so we devised our own which you can see at http://www.abcdstorage.com. It still uses the original cases, which we wanted to keep, so doesn’t save space but it allows you to use existing furniture or shelving and convert it into a system which simplifies alphabetical filing and keeps everything tidy. It also works for DVDs.
Anne
CDs DVDs (his collection) and Books (my collection) are barcoded and kept up-to-date with Collectorz.com software and a barcode scanner. We bought a package deal and got the scanner cheap. We also bought 3 carousels to store the disks of software – the carousels store cds like those old slide projectors, but using the computer to pop out the right disk and is connected by usb. I was planning to rip all the music to store digitally, and keep the original disks and liner notes in binders. So far only my favs have made the digitalization process…. Good luck
Lisa
http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/view.2/app.detail/params.item.V25220.desc.DiscGear-50-Disc-Media-Storage-Organizer-with-Index-Album
Have a look at these. Have given many as gifts and they all rave about how much easier it is to access what they need.
Niki
Thankyou so much for this post! It inspired me to deal with our dvd collection (we are about to move back home to Australia) and I finally put them all into clear plastic sleeves and into these from muji….
http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?V=1&Sec=3&Sub=16&PID=160
sarah b.
our music is all digital. we have a full digital back-up, in case something goes wrong (plus a lot of it is on our ipods, so it’s backed up there too).
our dvds are stored on a server, which can be accessed from any of our computers & televisions. we keep the movies stored in containers up in a closet because they aren’t nearly as “safe” as the music and i’d hate to lose them all.
wandalee
Oh I’m familiar with the fence you’re sitting on. I was considering ditching all my c.d. jewel cases and bindering my c.d’s for absolutely ages but it seemed such a permanent and drastic thing that I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I finally bit the bullet when I was facing another move and I had to think about box sizes and weights as I was doing most of it myself. I switched most of my cd’s, almost 600, into 3 big binders. I kept the liner notes with them of course and the organization geek in me loved categorizing and filing them. the only ones I kept in the original cases are the cardboard ones, Pearl jam has a lot of them bless their green eco hearts and never mind that they ruin the symmetry of my c.d shelf with their assorted sized cases.
Now that I’ve lived with the new system for a while I have to say that I can appreciate how much space I’ve gained. What once covered many many shelves is now 3 binders on the bottom shelf using up a space 18″x18″x18″. Also, I really like flipping through the binders, it makes finding what I want way easier but unfortunately the big binders too heavy for easy use when they’re more than 3/4 full. I wish I’d used smaller binders (two disc pages instead of four maybe), maybe a separate one for each genre. I enjoyed the whole process once I got started, I found all kinds of music I’d forgotten about and I kept getting sidetracked. Great rainy day project, have fun!
Wanda
Down Pillow
I don’t have a ton of cd’s or dvd’s, so they’re all stored together in the cocktail table in my living room. Nothing too exciting :)
Karen
Check out the new storage boxes from The Container Store. Lucite boxes with colored sleeves, holds 120 CDs. The stores have trouble keeping them in stock, so order on-line. These boxes are nicer than anything I have thus far seen.
helen
sorry for the bad grammar and spelling. I meant to put in the last question. What have people who have put their collections into binders done to the cd’s which come in cardboard not plastic jewel cases? Love your blog btw!
helen
Hi, I have read every single comment and there has been so many good ideas. I have just sold my house and will be moving soon (hopefully). Me and my partner have been together for 7&half years and lived together for over 5 years and we still have not merged our cd’s together! Mine are in the bedroom and his our in the spare bedroom/office/his playroom!
I know its silly but neither of us has been willing in the past to be the person who gets rid of thier cd in what we have duplicates of from before we met, which is probably most of our collections as we have very similar tastes! Plus we are both a bit lazy. (We do share honest! we now take turns buying and burn stuff on to our own ipods)
Reading these posts has made me think I want to get a proper storage/libary system for our collections of all media and a house move gives me a good reason to do so.
We are going digital slowly but surely and with out noticing. I cant remember the last time I put a cd in my stereo!
I just have one question. I am considering a library system in the Ikea chest of drawers as someone sugested, I think thats a great idea. As I want to keep the artwork what can I do with cd’s in cardboard cases? I do not really want to cut the boxes, I guess I would need to keep a shelf of them still or squeeze them in.
What have people with their cardboard albulm cd’s when they put their collections into binders?
clare
This post finally inspired me to get around to sorting out my cd’s. i’m a poor student, so my options were limited to binders or what I could make. And I HATE binders. So I decided to make my own paper sleeves. I went down to my local record store to ask whether I needed to use a special kind of paper, and unfortunately you do, (one made from extra pulped wood, not wood chip?? something like that) but fortunately they just gave me a huge number of their pre used ones. (They come with their bulk orders. I’d suggest going to a local, independent record store, as cheap cd stores tend to just keep the cd’s in the jewel cases because they have better security). It worked really well, as they’re still in good condition but a bit rustic, and they remind me of lp sleeves and old school record stores. Then I went and bought a roll of brown paper to make some pockets that would hold the cd’s and the art work (I was going to use paper bags, but they didn’t quite fit the storage boxes I’m planning to use). Kept it really simple and quick and just used masking tape to hold the two sides together, and I’m going to get my dad’s old typewriter to type the cd name and artist on them. It was a little time consuming, but SO worth it, and now I’m considering doing the same for my dvd’s. (A MUCH bigger job.)
Thank you for the inspiration!
rochelle
when we moved abroad about 10 years ago, we had to pare down everything…so we went with the binder option…actually 2 binders…one for the disks and one for the paper in the case…then we put # stickers on each so that they matched and we could cross reference each other….it was brilliant for a long time, but 10 years later we have a ton of music in it’s jewel cases (because we are out of stickers and binder space) and the system has deteriorated….I think I recommend our system — maybe we are just lazy about maintaining….
AnnaA
We have a larger version of this (http://www.clasohlson.se/Product/LargeImageViewer.aspx?Path=/Archive/Images/Products/Hi/383124A_X_2008-10-15_131705_444.jpg) for our dvd’s. It’s a great spacesaver.
Kirstin
The binders work great for us. My husband and I have our entire CD collection in two large binders (his and hers). Mine are alphebetical with the liner notes behind them. The CDs now take up so much less space, and they can travel anywhere with us. I was reluctant to get rid of all those jewel cases but now I’m so glad I did.
Kris
I would definitely recommend going digital. Yes it will be time consuming to convert your music over, but you could do it over time. I use itunes and love it! Best thing I ever did was to put my music on my computer and now I just use my ipod to carry my music with me everywhere. To clear the cluttery CDs in the meantime I would probably go with the Binders, they are very space saving and fairly easy to organize, this is what I used before I went digital.
Jess
It was a happy, happy day when I finally convinced my husband to let me put our 600+ CDs into binders. I used the kind that zip up, found them at Target. They’re alphabetized and separated by genre, and I made tags for the zipper pulls. They’re kept in a cabinet, so they don’t have to look lovely. Much of what we listen to on a regular basis is on our iPods, so we don’t really need to access the physical CDs often.
So far the jewel cases and liner notes are in the attic. We haven’t had the need to access them in over 2 years, so I’m all for getting rid of them – paper parts in the recycling, freecycle the jewel cases.
My only problem is that our binders have to be totally redone if/when we have more CDs to file. Ugh. It looks like the ones you’re looking at are looseleaf and you could easily add a new page rather than redo the whole thing.
Carrie
Media Center…..Best ever!!!! Love it…All album covers and movie info come up….All of our movies and Cds are now in the attic in a box……Its LOVELY MISS Lovely!!!!!!!!!
Bethany
I got rid of a bunch of cases… and now totally regret it.
Several reasons:
– I miss the covers. Tacky or beautiful… i miss ’em.
– Less easy to pick out music now. I think the covers help me cchoose!
– The cd’s got scratched…just from rubbing the cloth holders in the binder. Cannot replace some of the cds.
However… I have no solution to the CLUTTER that cd’s create.
I know… I’m no help at all! humph.
ashleyD
we went through and took the inserts out of each case, place them in a box (like the ikea ones you’re looking into) then put all of our cds in the binder.
i freecycled away all my cases and i’m happy to have them out of my life!!
My First Kitchen
We rarely buy CDs anymore, but we definitely still have quite a collection sitting around. The discs have gone in disc sleeve binder things, and all the cases are in boxes in the attic. Not the cutest way to do things, but it works for us. And P.S. I LOVE my Expedit shelves. They’re glorious.
Benny
So, *gulp*, we have 10 of those IKEA CD towers you have. Yeah. . . not good. They are both the most annoying things and most enjoyable things. Annoying when I have to look at them in my upstairs hall everyday. Enjoyable when I want a CD and it’s heading into my own music shop.
I want to get rid of them . . . but I love them too much. I hope to make a music closet someday.
PS – I finally added you to the blogroll on my blog today!
Nicole
I love the slappa binders. Each cd area has an area for the liner and a divider behind it for the cd and this keeps them from getting scratched up. They zip close to keep the dust out and I love them. I condensed to about 2 binders.
down pillow
I love the look, but yeah I’ve gone completely digital.
JLR
I just bought Case Logic Koskin binder (holds 320 discs) and the same brand 30 case holder (for our heavily played CD’s) – Looking forward to ditching all those jewel cases & storage cases that take up so much room.
Angela Lang
Ok I just happened to fall into your blog and I see that you want to get rid of your CD cases, well you can keep the CD’s that go in the cases but I would love to have the cases. I saw a really cool design that you could do with the cases. Please get with me if you don’t mind me having them. Thanks
http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/cd-case-craft-0909
lisa
we have a mix. any actual cd we buy, eventually goes into a cd binder. we have two large ones and we really need a third and maybe fourth. but my husband rips all of them to a special drive meant just for music and he opts for the mp3 downloads more than buying an actual cd. so, i guess, we’re going digital. i don’t buy that much music myself.
as for dvds and video games, we don’t have that many, so we just keep them in their cases.
Danalee
I like the idea of digital, but we have our computers networked and the music was on an external drive and the computer it was hooked up to completely fried! Luckily most of the music was on my iPod, but it was a pain to transfer back all the music. You definitely want to make sure you have a back up to your music, because even external drives are not fail-proof.
I would probably take the boxes you already have and just use paper sleeves or something similar to house all the CDs, and maybe group them buy letters (A-C, etc) which would make them easier to access, go through, and add more if you buy a new CD or burn one.
Amber
yes, we agree – cd’s in cases are just crazy. We have a 24″ imac in the kitchen/dining area & we use that for all of our music needs – so we’ve gone digital & given away/put in the shed (but why?) all the cd’s. As far as dvd’s go – I have those in paper sleeves in a white ikea kassett box. easy :)
p.s Eleanor is too cute!
Nicole RJ
We don’t have a huge CD collection, but it was enough of a hassle everytime we moved that I finally bought a couple of binders and pitched the jewel cases. Even though I rarely pull them out I hate the idea of getting rid of them altogether… I love the idea of a seperate HD just for music!
Newburgh Restoration
I think I would put them in sleeves, you can fit more in one space, and they are visual-you can see what movie it is every time you turn the page.
kasey at thriftylittleblog
It was hard for me to get rid of my cases a few years ago, but they take up so much room! I ended up using books to store the cd’s, but I also have them loaded onto my computer.
Mel
Yikes! Ours are a disaster. My CDs are in binders or in the Ikea boxes you have shown in white. (I have brown!) I’ve trashed all of my cases and have only kept the discs and the front booklets. My husband’s CDs are all stuffed in a duffle bag in the storage closet.
I definitely don’t want them on display, but even stored, they still take up so much room in the condo. Boo!
Libby
I feel your pain! My husband is has close to 500 CDs and I’ve struggled with figuring out how to store them for years. Just a couple weeks ago I decided to built out one of our closests as a media closet and it has worked wonders…the CDs are out of sight but very accessible:
http://libbygee.blogspot.com/2009/07/latest-project.html
All it took was $38 worth of lumber and screws and a full days work. I doubt we’ll ever go digital so this ended up being a great solution for us.
jane
Wow, what a lot of great info on this page! I’ve already bookmarked it.
I think I put most of my cds into binders around the same time I bought my ipod. I couldn’t throw away the jewel cases because I felt they should be recycled somehow, so for now they are stored away. But once I had the ipod, I stopped buying any new cds, and also rarely go back to the ones I have in binders. My husband’s cds, however, are still in their jewel cases, in boxes on our bookshelves… I might try to attack this problem again with one of the many solutions listed here, but I do hate to spend any more money on the storage aspect, when I could just use that money to put more songs on my ipod.
Good luck, and please show us your solution!
Nikki
I highly highly highly recommend paper or plastic sleeves and pretty boxes, or wooden cubes with drawers, which is what we put the sleeves in. But the wooden cubes are not pretty, so go with the boxes. Whatever you want, but definitely switch to sleeves! You’ll be amazed at how much less room they take up. The sad part about going digital is losing out on the artwork, which my husband and I really love.
Lisa
We went the binder route several years ago and loved it — we live in NYC and have major storage limitations. We organized them by genre which was most logical for us (you get a feeling for what you want to listen to, then you go ‘shopping’ in that binder and find other treasures along the way). And, slowly but surely, started to digitize them.
Be sure to print a few sheets of small stickers that say “In iTunes” (or whatever) so you can just put it on each sleeve to notate which and which have not been digitized. Before you know it, you’ll go to the binders less and less often. We haven’t opened our binders in over a year and I just pulled them out of deep storage to do a final pass + download before selling them. Good luck!
Making it Lovely
Ooh, love the “in iTunes” sticker idea. Very smart.
Jacquelyn
We have gone digital. The CDs we still have are in binders in the closet in our study. I love the Ikea boxes!
Goodbye, Small Heart
Just go digital. We did a couple of years ago and don’t regret it at all — we LOVE not having to deal with storing that stuff. We kept about 50 each of CDs and records, but end up listening to the digital versions because it’s so much easier.
Christina
Hi …
Well we got rid of our CDs and DVDs. We have a system for backing up. We have 2 external hard drives, and keep one in the car just in case. Then we swap them out monthly and make sure they are updated w/ the new info of anything that’s been added. As for video games, we have them, but they and the wii and xbox are hidden in the under-tv cabinet. We made our own version from an ikea bookcase, using a drawer and cool ikea games holders and a cabinet door on the other side. That, with our black media center pc, looks pretty swish.
The only thing we haven’t gotten rid of is out huge boxsets of Buffy, etc. I don’t know why but we haven’t gotten around to ripping them. Such a huge undertaking, I suppose.
I recommend decluttering now. As your daughter gets bigger, you’ll only accumulate more stuff and your house is so lovely, I dond’t think you’l appreciate that. You need a system for toys… otherwise your place will be overgrown! Every christmas we go through everything and get rid of stuff (mostly to charity) and we pile our son’s stuff we think he’s outgrown and he chooses stuff to give to charity.
Rebecca
completely digital. i have put all my music on my computer, and it works great!
Jessica
We are completely digital as well. We loaded everything into itunes and sold all of our CDs on ebay about 2 years ago. Now we buy all of our music on itunes. We’ve actually done the same thing with our movies too and we use our Apple TV to watch all of our movies that are stored on hard drives. It took forever but it reduced so much clutter and we made some money. You just have to be sure to back everything up frequently. I don’t miss having to organize our CDs or DVDs at all.
corrin
We’re completely digital. I just finished importing all of our music and sold the CDs on secondspin.com. Got rid of clutter and made a few hundred bucks!
Jo
I have gone completely digital. I transferred all my cds onto itunes on my computer. Haven’t looked back…
Sandi
Oy! Storing music. A big deal in our house. We have 6000 CDs and 3000 albums in a small three bed house, but we’ve stored them all behind a false wall of cupboards my husband created when we first moved in. I am also grateful for Ipods as now new music is mostly stored on the computer and backup discs which are catalogued on the computer and stored in CD books from IKEA. DVDs and videos (you can get the classic Disney videos for around £1 as everyone wants DVDs) are stored in IKEA white boxes displayed in this post. I probably appreciate the falst wall of cupboards most as I can still find the CDs, but I don’t have to look at them. Have fun deciding your design!
isadora
I’ve stopped buying DVDs. It just seemed pointless with Netflix, Tivo, Netflix streaming, Amazon streaming, etc.
We have converted a closet in our place to storage. It is shallow and has a great many shelves in it. It’s packed. I detest seeing scads of media around my house; it’s like I live at a Best Buy.
Jesselyn
While I’m completely digital, my father (with 700+ CDs) continues to buy CDs but also put them on his iPod. He uses the binder solution, and you can put the liner notes in regular binder pages, next to the CD, they fit fine. While alphabatizing is nice, if you are planning to keep on buying CDs it makes that tough, which is part of why I chose to go completely digital many years ago.
Jennifer
Not sure I should even post, as there are already so many! Eh, what the heck…my hubby is a super-geek and we went digital a ways back, but held onto the CDs, keeping them in the ugly black binders (I kept most liner notes, but pitched the cases). Also did the same with our DVDs.
FYI, if you do rip the CDs onto iTunes, choose the highest quality – we didn’t the first time and when we lost the drive all our CDs were on, we redid them at highest quality and the sound is much better (and weren’t we glad we hadn’t gotten rid of the actual CDs!).
It takes time, but I actually did it when I was preggers and had stopped working — oops, you’re three months too late on that! :)
gabrielle
we opted for the binder. you are going to love all your space after you lose the cases. Way to go Brandon!!
Stacey Ball
I went completely digital with my music when I got my first ipod…it was liberating getting rid of all that stuff and I have NEVER regretted it!
christina in nh
another side note, it’s less scary to go digital if you buy a portable hard drive thats just for that purpose. you can put your cd collection on it, and then box them up and stick them in the attic “just in case”. the fact that the hard drive is portable means you can get a new computer without having to worry about transferring all those files, also it obviously wouldn’t have online capability so you wouldn’t need to worry about file corruption. there are some really cute, well designed ones out there now also. :D
christina in nh
i have an expedit bookshelf, and the entire bottom row is filled in with the seagrass baskets that fit perfectly (the $16 ones from ikea). i hide all of my dvd’s in there, my videogames are hidden in my media bench, and i keep my cds in a book. i like the cd books you linked to much better than mine though….i envision lots of alphabatized or genre specific little binders rather than the 3 “holy crap this holds so many cds and is an eyesore” thing i’m using now.
Murgies
What about paper sleeves in the Semicolon boxes? They look really sharp.
alice
We have 90% of our music as records which we display proudly : )
Alicia C.
We have gone mostly digital too. My sister has a CD collection that rivals yours and they want to get rid of the cases as well. They have just moved to Idaho from Georgia and my father (as he was helping pack up) made a good point. If you get rid of the cases and then decide you want to sell the cds, what do you do? Just a thought.
Holly
Call me old school but binders just can’t replace being able to look at your collection of jewel cases in alphabetical order! I do love digital but tend to forget about music i have downloaded!
samarahuel
I usually come here to get ideas for myself, but here is something I have actually just done! We are big music geeks, but over the years our CD collection has dwindled greatly (getting a CD binder stolen from the car, moving overseas, etc.) so our collection of original cases is not too overwhelming. I think we’ll keep them the way they are, since those are our very favorites, and they may be collectible some day, or at least have sentimental value. I love digital, but there is something special about having a real thing to hold in your hands, and I really appreciate the cover art and booklet liner notes as well. I think this is why records are becoming/have remained popular with other music geeks: it’s a form of art. Like photography, digital is more convenient, economical, and even greener, but somehow just not so much like art. I’m hoping our CDs will be cherished just like an old favorite record someday.
However, we did want to maximize the shelf space next to our computer, which holds our growing collection of DVDs and my husband’s big collection of PC games. After looking but finding nothing in the stores that had everything we wanted, we went custom. We bought a bunch of disc-holding binder pages (like the ones with the binder in your picture), filled them up alphabetically and put the accompanying booklets (which we kept for the installation codes mainly) with the appropriate discs. Normal page protectors cut-down and taped hold 2 extra-thick booklets. The pages all went into two 3″ black 3-ring binders, and I will be sewing simple covers for them. I may figure out a way to put a professional-looking label on them that says “A-O” and “N-Z,” but we’re happy with them. We like the 3-ring binder because it’ll be easy to add pages when he buys a new game–much better than taking each disc out and shifting it down to make room. We did make sure to buy bigger binders than we need now, again for growing room. I may also try to put a couple of pockets on the inside front of the cover for “currently playing” games, but an extra page at the front of the book would also work just fine for that. And if I were a more experienced seamstress, I might try to make the covers with zippers so they can be zipped shut to keep out dust. A carrying handle might also be nice for transporting the games, but he doesn’t really do that often, and I rather like how they blend in to a regular bookcase as book-looking as they are. Anyway, I’m quite proud of our little project. It suits our needs and our style just right. Hooray for DIY!
Making it Lovely
“I may also try to put a couple of pockets on the inside front of the cover for “currently playing” games, but an extra page at the front of the book would also work just fine for that.”
That’s a really good idea.
Lynsey
We use CD binders for our CD’s and DVD’s – it saves so much space!! I would really recommend this!
Laura
Check out this site… http://www.mmdesign.com/index.html
It seems like they have mastered this problem
Good luck!
Making it Lovely
Excellent DVD sleeves!
Amanda
I wish Brian would get rid of his CDs but that will never happen. Even though he has them all stored digitally on his “Squeeze Box,” he won’t give them up!
Elizabeth
Another vote for the binders. I have digitized about 2/3 of my CD collection but have saved the CD’s and liner notes in the binders. We have two tucked into a closet and have recycled the cases that weren’t already broken and long gone.
Hallie
Digital is the way to go. That said, I am not weaned off of CDs. And I like to browse. I have spent A LOT of time thinking about this. And also have “wasted” about $200 on poor solutions. (I guess since I learned it wasn’t a total waste. And I’ll find something to do with all those storage boxes.)
I hate to disagree with your readers who love the binders, but I really think they are not the way to go. Besides the good reasons put forth above, there is the issue of adding a new CD: if you like alphabetical order there is a lot of rearranging involved. Plus, the binders take up a lot of room, are not attractive, are really not that convenient, often have trouble with CDs falling out (so I’ve read), and the sleeves sort of slump inside the binders unless you store them “rings-up”, and then appear even more unattractive. Also, you need to double the number of binders you need because, as you’ll see if you research, the pockets are intended to hold CD OR booklet. You may fit both, but then binder gets to full-capacity size quicker.
If I couldn’t have a wall of CDs, I wanted a solution that at least allowed me to flip through my CDs, like I used to flip through records. As I mentioned, my first solution was a fail, and so I’m at making:
these boxes: http://www.instructables.com/id/SFEPJOPFQJZO5DW/ (CD-envelope-size) and covering them with pretty paper;
and these envelopes: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400036287163&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
The sleeves that CH posted above are the best. But I am willing to give up the back card of the CD and save five cents per envelope. Plus, during the ill-fated phase of this project, I already threw away half of them, so…
If I had the space, I would buy a library-drawer-style apothecary cabinet instead of the boxes. Why don’t you do that and I’ll visit the pictures on your blog and smile. Ha, I do that anyway.
Hallie.
P.S. We’re keeping the DVD cases! I do like to browse, and I built a wall of shelves for them. We even have room to grow. We admire it a lot ;)
Making it Lovely
I’m more and more certain that binders are not the way to go for us.
“I would buy a library-drawer-style apothecary cabinet instead of the boxes. Why don’t you do that and I’ll visit the pictures on your blog and smile.”
Maybe… ;)
Erika
I put all my CDs with their booklets in a binder. I got tired of having the jewel cases take up so much room in my media cabinet. They were using up a lot of valuable space.
Jeanee
We threw our CDs away a couple of years ago. My husband is a DJ and he was in love with his records, but he went digital too. He still has his records though.
Jen
We recently moved, so sorting through/getting rid of CDs was a *must*! We put all of our CDs on an external hard drive and then sold about 2/3 of them, keeping only our absolute favorites (and the ones that the reuse store wouldn’t buy from us). The CDs sit in a clear rubbermaid container in the basement – since we have digital copies, we don’t use them often enough for them to have a place in our decor, but they’re easily accessible when we need them.
Jenny
I did this about 4 years ago. I put all the CD’s and their booklets into binders alphabetically(really the most space saving and easiest to reference way). It’s good to have for back up in case the computer goes. What used to take up mounds of space now fit into 4 compact binders! I got my binders from Exposures but they no longer make them :o(
Desiree
Have you heard of Apple TV? We just purchased it and uploaded all of our CD’s that you can play on it through the television. The best part about it is that the television shows your pictures, that are stored on your computer, while it is playing music!
Before the Apple TV, we threw out the CD cases and stored the CD’s in those big CD holder cases.
-Desiree
alivicwil
I could never go without CDs, nor could I go without their cases. As a kid, I loved pulling my parents’ vinyl off the shelf… I think that’s stayed with me. I couldn’t go without my coverart, and the decorated discs. Plus, I have a fair few autographs on albums. They’re special to me.
I’m nutso for alphabetical order, but I favourited http://www.flickr.com/photos/sugarfreak/28216219/ ages ago. I love the look of this!
Eliza
I’ve always wanted to move our CD & DVD collection to one of these
http://www.discgear.com/Products/DiscGear/PID-S100A(DiscGearStaging).aspx
Ginny
We have our cds and dvds in binders. Saves so much space and makes it easier to find what we are looking for. We sorted them into different types and labeled the spines. You won’t believe how much space you will save!
alex
When we got rid of our cd cases a while back, I got plastic sleeves that hold a cd on each side, with an opening at the top. I spent A LONG time cutting up the title off of the side of the back insert to put at the top, and debating keeping more than the booklet. I alphabetized them, and put them in storage boxes that were numbered. Now they live in binders. It was too complicated to keep that up, especially when the boxes would get full,due to getting new music. Binders may not be the cutest way to do it, but at least they are all in one place.
ashley morgan
Binders for CDs and DVDs. We did the transfer a few years ago and never looked back.
patricia
I got rid of all our cases about a year ago. We use binders for everything (even easy for the kids to find anything they need). It was strangely liberating to chuck all that stuff.
Nat Nat
Oh snap! I was just thinking of what to do with all of our cds/games/movies… Right now we store our cd’s in silver cases, our games are just out in the open on our tv bench. Any help would be appreciated :D
Jill
I couldn’t dare part with my cd’s either, until I realized I needed to release my hold on stuff.
I now rip all cd’s to iTunes, both at home and work, then go to http://www.paperbackswap.com or http://www.swaptree.com, and list them. I get new-to-me music for the price of postage, figure it’s a going green option, and no longer have to worry about storage. I also use carbonite.com for easy backup. ((shameless plug, let me know if you want to join and I’ll send a link from my account!))
Carolyn
A few years ago I took all of our CD’s (we have about 500) and put them in binders. It was a horrible mistake. Anything that comes out of the binder NEVER makes it back into the binder. We now have stacks of CD’s near every computer, near the stereo, jammed into our cars. Every once in a while I get fed up and put them away, but it ends up being a huge task. Oh, and wait until you buy a new CD. Then you have to re-alphabetize the whole mess. I like the idea of the individual paper sleeves. I need to get to Ikea!
Making it Lovely
Yes, you just summed up my fear of going with binders. Loose CDs everywhere, and an ongoing organizational project!
denise a
Binders, binders, binders. We made the switch a few years ago (like you and Brandon, we can’t go pure digital) and have never regretted it. I actually enjoy flipping through my binders–it makes the music more accessible and the amount of space we’ve saved is no joke. We don’t use off-the-shelf CD binders–we use CD pages that fit in a standard binder (for example: http://www.amazon.com/Fellowes-Binder-Sheet-binder-page/dp/B0000AQOIF/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1249078369&sr=8-2) and standard binders. It’s a much cheaper and more flexible solution. Good luck!
Megs
We also used the Kassett boxes when our collection was small. We’ve now gone digital and I can’t imagine any other way. I’m sure the reluctance to change was the same for people back in the day trying to switch from typewriters to computers. ;)
siescierto
I still have CDs, they are hidden somewhere and stored…I used to love the nice cover art and booklets, but it takes up so much space! I now rely on the hard drive where everything is nicely stored and takes no space. At some point I will sell my CDs and rely on the external hard drive 100%.
Ang.
We have gone digital with our music, ripping the CDs to iTunes and packing the CDs away in case we need them in the future. They’re in the garage.
DVDs have gone into binders – I found some nice ones for a good price on Amazon. They are made by Handstands and look like leather-bound books.
No matter what storage option you opt for, if you don’t at least dispose of the jewel cases you will not save any actual space. Personally, I find lots of boxes stacked around as cluttered-looking as rows and rows of CDs.
Cindy
We use the cd binders and they are great! But buy extra sheets.
April Johnson
AH, you will be SO happy when make the transition. I put all of my cds in the binders, and I have put the most important ones on my computer and on my IPOD. I never got rid of them though. For one, I’ve had a computer crash on me without recovering any of the music/photos/etc on it. So I kept the hardcopies for that reason.
I also did the same with the dvds. I painstakingly cut out the cover art and the back art with the description of the movie and included that with each DVD. I did this because I actually have so many obscure DVDs that I needed something for people to look at when we browse through to try to figure out what to watch.
It saves soooo much space. My only issue with doing this was where to keep the binders, because they’re rather handy ways for someone to make off with all your music and dvds in one swoop. So I try to keep them out of site and put away. Not that I expect to have a break in, but it’s something to keep in mind.
-April
Lauralou
We struggled as well. We are partially on itunes but we’ve kept all of our cds as well. We sorted our collection, got rid of a bunch, and put the rest in binders. The binders are labeled and alphabetized, with subcategories for soundtracks, jazz and miscellaneous compilations. We found a neat basket that keeps all of the liner notes alphabetized. It works really well and takes up much less space. Now I need to sew fabric covers for the binders!
Renee
My husband drastically parred his collection down to 12 or 15 IKEA Kasset boxes, we sold all the CDs he was able to part with at Half Price Books. The amount of space gained was totally worth earning some cash!
If you think you’d ever part with them, I’d recommend keeping the boxes so you can sell them. Otherwise, we kept his essential collection, and he still goes through them every now and then to sell a few more. We’ve embraced the idea of going digital for all of our future music unless they belong to one of our essential band collections (Smashing Pumpkins, Megadeth, etc) in whose cases we’ll buy the physical CD.
Renee
Oh yeah, and our DVDs and Video Games are in about 9 Kasset boxes, but again, I think we’re going to switch to NetFlix, and sell all but the essentials (which may still take up 9 boxes!).
Why S?
I will never go digital. I’m a total Luddite. I like seeing the physical manifestation, including the cover art. Right now I have 4 Bennos holding the CDs we have. It’s enough for now. We don’t buy that much music anyway and almost never buy DVDs. We have zero video games (what with being Luddites and all).
Diana
I’m afraid we too still use those Ikea shelves. My husband would just be devestated to see all those cases go away. Its not the most practical thing in the world, but it keeps them organized, it makes him happy, and it doesnt drive me batty!
Brit
I found this fun little cabinet at the Container Store with two sliding drawers that pop out when you press a button. No clue why, but seeing them pop out like that sold it for me. The sleeves carry two cds each, with room for the booklets in the front. It’s great because it each sleeve is numbered with a list you can fill out and place in the front. Easy peasy to find the exact cd I want that way instead of flipping through pages and pages in a cd binder. Maybe that’ll work for you! http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=225&PRODID=10014131
Also, for dvds I went out and bought the half size cases which fits about 17 dvds in the space of 10 normal sized cases. You do have to cut down the dvd’s cover insert, but with hundreds of dvds and some quiet time with a paper slicer, the end result was waaay worth the time. Good luck!
Christine
Went binders too. But save all your cases! When you finally go digital, sell your CD’s at a used cd or bookstore. At least you get a few cents for each. I threw mine away, and then went digital. Couldn’t resell a lot of them. It’s like throwing money away.
Elena's Custom Designs
We went the way of binders a long time ago. We have different ones for music and for movies. It saves so much space and is very easy to look through. I organize the binders alphabetically, and if you need to add just put a new sleeve in there.
When I got my new computer, I spent a couple of weekends ripping all my cds into iTunes. Time-consuming, but totally worth it. Just make sure not to do it for hours and hours because you’ll burn out your optical dealy on your cd drive :)
Lisa R.
I can’t bear to get rid of our CD’s, either. So all of ours are stored in binders – CD in the front, CD booklet on the back.
We also store our DVD’s this way. Even the kids’ movies have their own binder, so it couldn’t be easier for them to flip through and find a movie.
Nichelle
My husband is not only a gamer, but a video game & video game console collector and is also a movie aficionado. Since we married 5 yrs. ago, I haven’t put my hand of organization among his stuff due to fear of the enormity of his collection. I don’t even think HE knows how much stuff he truly has. Now that we have moved into a new place, we will be tackling this project very soon. Right now, He pretty much has stuff in big plastic tote bins.
But, we have about 3 of these: http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=225&PRODID=10014131 and he seems to really like it. I like that it’s easily accessible and we can always buy more as his collection expands.
As far as video games (all different sizes) or video consoles…that’s a whole another story….
LizzieBeth
At Casa de Falconhead we’ve gone mostly digital. JEGs and I both have an iPod, and he also has an XM radio. Any CDs that we do own are kept in a CD binder in our cars.
To be completely honest, I’ve never been a CD “collector” if you will. If I really liked a song or band, I did the old fashio way- waited to hear it on the radio.
LB
Melissa M.
We use binders. They aren’t all that organized though. It’s impossible to alphabetize everything, since there are always new cd’s to add. So for the most part, we just guess which binder a particular cd is. We can make good assumptions based on chronology (newer music in the newer binders). We do still have the jewel cases though. They are in two big trunks in our garage and also in our dining room buffet. :)
I’d love to go completely digital, but that would be quite a project. Plus we don’t have a way to play our iPods in our cars. I tried to get a new stereo to no avail, so cd’s will have to do for now.
Caitlin
All my music is digital these days. the only CD I’ve bought in the past 5 or 6 years was the latest Weird Al album.
As for having time to burn old CD collections onto your computer, this is the perfect task for a young friend/relative! My mom had about 1000 CDs, and she paid my brother’s girlfriend (unemployed at the time) to do it for her.
Oli
This is an option: http://www.containerstore.com/browse/Product.jhtml?CATID=225&PRODID=10022645
mary
I’m with all the people who say don’t use the binders or the sleeves! I also worked in a music store for a while, and also saw tons of CDs completely ruined from putting them in and taking them out of any kind of sleeve, or even just from leaving them in the sleeves for a long period of time. Even people who were very careful music fanatics had wrecked their CDs. And like others have said, if you do want to sell some later, if you don’t have the cases you won’t be able to do so. Theses things save a lot of space, but may cause you a lot of heartache in the end!
deanna
We have all our CD’s on iTunes. All the disc’s and liner notes were taken out of the jewel cases and put in binders. The binders are in a small trunk in the guest room. I haven’t been able to go totally digital … can’t let go, but I got tired of looking at them.
We did the same for our DVD’s. The inserts are in a binder (okay, two), alphabetically, and the discs are in binders. All fit in an armoire drawer in the living room.
Alma
We have a library card catalog for all our DVDs and CDs. We store the discs in paper sleeves. That said, we still haven’t taken on the task of properly filing them all.
We’re at the same stage of parenthood as you are, but when our son is old enough to watch movies, we’ll put them on our Apple TV so that the discs themselves don’t get abused and/or destroyed.
Making it Lovely
So smart! OK, we have to look into getting an Apple TV now. Kids + DVDs = sandboxing (our term for scratched-up discs).
Yansy
I love my ipod, I just don’t miss the clutter of all the cd cases. I wanted to invite you to participate in my giveaway. It starst today. Good Luck!
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