I love it when you guys email me with questions about dilemmas you are having in your home. I always try to offer suggestions as to what I would do if I were in your situation, but sometimes the questions leave me completely stumped! Take this question from Sarah, for instance:
Hi, Lindsay! My name is Sarah… I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while now, and I was just wondering if I could perhaps take advantage of your creativity and ask you a question… I have a fairly large DVD collection, and I have found that the best way for me to store them is to take them out of the cases and move them to a big ole honkin black DVD “wallet.” Although this is extremely convenient, as there’s really nowhere in my apartment I can store them in the cases without having to dig when I want to watch a particular one, it’s not very aesthetically pleasing. I’ve looked for cute patterned cases and the only ones I’ve been able to find hold about 30 or less– and calling them “cute” is a stretch– which won’t cut it for my 400+ discs. SO I was just wondering if you had any sort of solution!
So, Sarah has a huge DVD collection, but no where pretty to store it. She lives in an apartment without a lot of space, so a huge DVD storage tower is not really in the cards right now. Her “big ole honkin'” DVD wallet is convenient, but it’s an eyesore in her living room. She needs a solution to store her 400+ DVD collection (either in or out of the cases) that makes them easy to find and doesn’t take up much space. And of course, a solution that won’t break the bank is what we are always after!
One solution I have is that Sarah could put her current DVD wallet inside something like a storage ottoman. That way, she’ll be able to have the DVDs easily accessible (just pull the wallet out of the ottoman when she wants to watch one). The storage ottoman could double as extra seating for when she has friends visit her apartment, or even as a coffee table if it was large enough and she had the space. A quick search on Target.com for storage ottomans reveals about 200 different options.
If she wants to leave her DVD wallet within view, Sarah could put together a binder cover, like the one featured in this tutorial from WhipUp.net, using a fabric choice that coordinates with her living room.
WhipUp.net – Beat-Up Binder Makeover
Short of starting her own Netflix service (which I think she should!), what ideas do YOU have for Sarah? Leave them in the comments and let’s see if we can help her out!
I was thinking a fabric cover just like you suggested, that way she can customize them to coordinate with her home. Very good advice.
We have a 400 disc DVD player and I LOVE it! Short of that what about a photo box? They won’t fit standing completely 90˙ upright but, if you put them in paper sleeves with dividers and don’t completely fill the box they will angle back and I think work well. You would probably need a couple at least but, they have some really cute ones at Michaels or Joanns.
There’s a 400 disc DVD player! Oh my word!!! I’m so out of the loop that I didn’t even know they made such a thing. I’m still sitting over here with my single-disc DVD player. Ha!
I came late to this one but this is exactly what I was thinking… These work best if (a) you can afford them and (b) your audio equipment is hidden away in a closet. Another, more technically-advanced option would be to rip the DVDs to a home media server and serve them up from that.
Also, Lindsay mentions Netflix. The wife and I have been Netflix junkies for about 3 years, most recently hooking up our PS3 to make use of their on-demand feature. You can’t beat it.
We think of our local library as a great way to store all the books we don’t have space for at our house. Netflix is the same for DVDs. Maybe one alternative would be to sell the DVDs on Craigslist and pickup a Netflix subscription?
I bought an amish made “jelly” cabinet years ago and it is our media cabinet. It works for a country home but probably not an apartment. I like the ottoman idea though! Or maybe a cute end table that has storage. Or a stack of old suitcases used as an end table — you could put the cd wallet in one of the suitcases.
We store ours in a binder (bought at WalMart), which means they are easily portable. I can envision using a large ring looseleaf binder with DVD sleeve pages inside. You could customize the binder to your decor (modgepodge, sbook paper, ribbon, fabric, etc). This way you lose the bulky cases. We either save the epi guides or, copy them on copy paper which we can 3 ring punch for the binder.
Also, I think I’ve seen a way to store DVDs (w/o cases) on the inside of a closet door in a plastic hanging organizer. Not sure where I saw that, though.
How bout a decorative canvas w/clear plastic dvd sleeves arranged artistically? This would double as storage and decor and use vertical wall space!
Maybe these ideas will help!
I think I saw at target some dvd storage boxes- they have paper sleeves that you slide your dvd’s into and then put them in the box- it is a lot like the photobox idea but specifically for dvds. That way you can flip through them quickly to find the ones you want. They even sell a little bookcase the boxes fit perfectly in. Other than that, I like the storage ottoman idea.
One idea is to keep the binder that you have get some vinyl stickers that you like the design of and stick it to it. Also, sometimes in scrapbooking stores you can get a 3 ring binder and then some CD holders to put inside. I know that at Archivers they carry them. You get a 8×11 3 ring binder that is cute to you and then ask for the CD storage sleeves. (I am assuming that CD’s and DVD’s are the same size. Then you can add to it or get another binder to add to it.
I have a similar size collection that I was storing in two large media binders. My biggest issue with this method was keeping them alphabetized so I could find them easily. It was okay until I bought new DVD’s (which I did frequently) then I felt like I had to move everything down to accommodate the new titles. Very time consuming!
I ended up purchasing some paper sleeves. You can get 100 for about $4 from Amazon. A few baskets from Michaels (they are on sale this week!), and I made some Alphabet cards from pretty card stock and foam board (so the letters weren’t floppy).
Now, all my movies are in alphabetical order (it’s super easy to slip a new DVD into the mix) and don’t take up much more room than they did in their binders. I would say the total cost for this project was about $50 and took me a couple hours to transfer all my movies into the new sleeves.
This sounds adorable!
I’d suggest keeping the “wallet” you have now, select either a fabric or scrapbooking paper you like and Mod Podge it to the “wallet” using a similar MO as described in this post at Craftaholics Anonymous
http://diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/2009/09/mod-podged-handbag-tutorial.html
Minimal cost and cute looks, if it works for a handbag I’m sure the “wallet” can take it as well.
I found a few options that might be interesting. I too have a HUGE DVD collection in a little apartment so I understand the dilemma. I really like the ottoman idea, but in case there is no room I found some other options that don’t take up much space.
This is a DVD holder/rack that hangs over a door. Maybe hang it in a closet in the room? http://www.organizedliving.com/4696425417.html
This would match my decor but you could always mod podge them to match appropriately. They look like photo boxes which I like…
http://www.target.com/Black-DVD-Storage-Box-Pack/dp/B00063E2HS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1271081651&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576%7C1287991011&keywords=dvd%20storage&searchSize=30&id=Black%20DVD%20Storage%20Box%20Pack&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchRank=target104545&sr=1-1&searchPage=1
Target also has something similar in their new Liberty collection: http://www.target.com/Liberty-Floral-Media-Bin/dp/B002XYW7RU/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1271081732&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576%7C1287991011&keywords=dvd%20storage&searchSize=30&id=Liberty%20Floral%20Media%20Bin&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchRank=price&sr=1-3&searchPage=1
One last suggestion…it’s not cute, but it’s what I use. My TV stand has doors however the interior shelves are not wide enough to hold a large binder. I use this because it holds a lot of DVD’s and has little markers that you can place so, if you’re like me and have to have them in alphabetical order (haha!) you can put it back in the right place. It’s small so it hides well in my little cabinet.
http://www.target.com/Discgear-Selector-80-Disc-Storage-System/dp/B0015AB3GE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&searchView=grid5&qid=1271082118&frombrowse=0&fromGsearch=true&node=1038576%7C1287991011&keywords=DVD%20storage&searchSize=30&id=Discgear%20Selector%2080-Disc%20Storage%20System&searchBinNameList=purchasing_channel%2Csubjectbin%2Ctarget_com_age%2Ctarget_com_gender-bin%2Ctarget_com_character-bin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&searchRank=price&sr=1-3&searchPage=2
I have less than 100 CD/DVD’s, but I still wanted them easy to access and store compactly. I have a DiscGear box that holds 100 discs and they stack on top of each other. I bought mine from QVC, but you can also order them directly from discgear.com. They work great and are wonderful! I have the black leather one and can easily move it to another room if need be, but I usually just leave it on the shelf and have access to all of my discs and can at a glance exactly what I have.
Connie
I like the idea of an ottoman or trunk. If she’s not looking to display them (?!), maybe an extra shelf set from Target in the bottom of a closet could help. I keep mine in the drawer of our TV armoire, and in an antique secretary. 🙂
Have you ever seen those hollowed out hard back books? They serve as decoration, could be big enough to even serve as a side table, and are super functional. Maybe something like that???
It definitely isn’t the cheapest option given yet, but I recently bought a hard drive (2TB) and an AppleTv. I took all of my dvd’s and copied them onto my hard drive and run them through my computer and iTunes. It sounds compicated, but it’s really not! I was so sick of putting hundreds of DVDs back into their cases everyday (I have a very mischievous 2yr old…nuff said). Now, I have my entire dvd collection stored on a hard drive and the apple tv box is about 7in wide and an inch tall. Its AWESOME!! NO cases, NO unsightly DVD player, and NO scratched DVDs. In fact, I boxed up all of my DVDs and put them into storage. I think the AppleTv is a couple hundred bucks (depends on the storage size… I bought the larger one, and now that I know how it works, I would have probably bought the smaller one) and the hard drive price depends on the number of dvds you want to store.) We have also stopped buying new DVDs and have been buying them on iTunes. We figure that the world is going digital anyway, might as well start now.
I know that there is a way to do it with an XBOX also (at least that’s what I hear), but I’m an Apple fan myself and the interface is really nice and simple!
We use these LERBERG cd/dvd shelves from ikea. Cheap and easy and holds a ton!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70115521
They can be used horizontal or vertical. We use them in both directions to frame our tv
I had a different over the door rack that was very helpful in storing my dvds. The one linked to above has a bad rating on Amazon, says it does not hang well with the brackets provided.
I don’t know that html is possible in your comments, so here is the super long link to the one I had:
http://www.amazon.com/Door-CD-DVD-Media-Organizer/dp/B000GPS74A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1271102792&sr=1-1
Buy a 400 Disc DVD changer, like we had.
Or go the route that we have done recently, burn the DVDs into the computer with an online program, and watch them on AppleTV.
We have over 500 and could never find anything.
My hubby recently let me organize his home office and a big part of that was finding a way to control the disks (300+ computer backup, software and gaming discs going back more than 10 years-don’t get me started!) I finally convinced him to part with all of the packaging and we purchased this box from staples:
http://www.staples.com/Ideastream-Snap-N-Store-330-Disc-Storage-Box-Black/product_643542?cmArea=SEARCH
and the alphbetized tabs. What used to take up an entire bookshelf now fits in one little box. We saved any important papers and alphabetized them in another box.
I would totally encourage Sarah to ditch all the boxes and papers and just alphabetize the discs in something similar!
My hubby recently let me organize his home office and a big part of that was finding a way to control the disks (300+ computer backup, software and gaming discs going back more than 10 years-don’t get me started!) I finally convinced him to part with all of the packaging and we purchased this box from staples:
http://www.staples.com/Ideastream-Snap-N-Store-330-Disc-Storage-Box-Black/product_643542?cmArea=SEARCH
and the alphbetized tabs and the disc sleeves. It wound up costing more than I would have liked, but what used to take up an entire bookshelf now fits in one little box. We saved any important instruction manuals/papers and alphabetized them in another box.
I would totally encourage Sarah to ditch all the boxes and papers and just alphabetize the discs in something similar!
Now that is an amazing deal. Great price, you can always decorate the outside of it and find everything. I like keeping them in the slim cases so it would hold most of ours if I got a couple of them.
And exactly HOW did you convince your husband to let you organize his office? I’ve gone in and swept all the papers from hubby’s desk into a box and organized them (and listening to the weeping and gnashing of teeth but geez)…I’m so impressed.
Yeah, the box wasn’t expensive, the biggest part of the expense was all the little sleeves and the alpha tabs. You may not need those if you keep the discs in the slim jewel cases (is that what you meant?). Also, i think Ikea may have similar boxes with more color options.
It definitely took some convincing to get him to let me organize his office, but I’ve been slowly but surely organizing the rest of the house and I think when he saw how nice it was to have organized storage areas (pantry, closets…) it wasn’t too hard a sell.
Not sure how techie you are, but we have a HUGE amount of DVDs that drove us mad!! We took all of them and copied them onto the computer. Then we put all our DVD collection onto an iPod Classic.
Now we take our entire collection with us wherever we go. The kids love watching any movie they want in the car.
We took all our actual DVDs and boxed them up and stuck them in storage.
Awesome idea… I didn’t realize you could move them to an iPod. Do you know if you moved them to the iPhone if they could be played from that? And do you need special equipment to hook up the iPhone/iPod to the TV?
I think you could keep them in the wallets you have now and if they fit purchase some pretty magazine files or get some plain ones and customize them to your space. Then you can just turn them around on a shelf and no one will see the dvd wallet they’ll just see the pretty magazine file.
There is the elfa over-the-door/ wall rack from the Container Store that lets you keep the DVDs in the cases and upright. You can place this on a closet door- inside or out or mount it to the wall (which come in different lengths) AND The Container Store is having a sale on them right now.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/springOrganizationSale/elfa/elfaDoorWallRackSystems
We have several discgear boxes. They have different styles, hold 100 dvds each is a small amount of space and allow you to list what is in each box so you can easily find the dvd you want to watch.
http://www.discgear.com/
@Fred @ One Project Closer
I have some of the movies on my iPhone, but the iPhone has a lot less space than an iPod classic so it wont hold TONS of DVDs. As far as playing them, we bought some cable from the apple store. It’s got 3 ends on it – one for power, one for video, and one for audio.
As far as formatting them for the iPod, we use a program called Hand Brake to import them to the computer. There are settings in Hand Brake for iPod or Apple TV or whatever formant you want it in.
We also have the 400 count DVD player and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Half the player holds our music CDs and the other half is for movies. I also printed an alphabetical listing of the contents that I keep in a scrapbook and we just add to it as we buy music or movies. While the player can be expensive – we got ours years ago for around $400 – they take up so little space, there is never a lost CD/DVD because they are always in their slots and I never have to move them from here to there when I rearrange things.
I use this system by discgear and love it – mine has a cd holder along with a booklet that I keep the sleeves of the movie in.
http://www.discgear.com/?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=trademark&utm_campaign=Discgear
Hope this helps it’s the best.
I suggest a big honking binder-maybe 3″ and CD binder pages (they have some at Office Depot-http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/947100/Office-Depot-CDDVD-Sleeves-80-Capacity/?cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Google-_-Memory_Storage_and_Media-_-947100)
That should hold them. Since it’s a binder, she can decorate the binder however she wants with paper or fabric