apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I'm looking for great CD and DVD storage options for under $1,000 for my living room. I'd prefer it to be under $500, but I know I need to be reasonable here. I need it to contain 300 CDs and 300 DVDs.

Some may suggest that I upload everything to iTunes , but I've actually done that already. I want to keep my CDs.

I'd like the storage to have doors, or at least frosted glass. My goals is to eliminate the visual clutter in the room...

I prefer that it's something I can order online.

Any ideas? Thank you so much, in advance.

Holly

Holly - You could use DVD/CD crates and then store the crates inside of any piece of furniture you choose - that is what I do (a glass-door bookcase).

If you are looking for storage specifically designed for CD/DVDs - take a look:
http://tinyurl.com/z877q
http://tinyurl.com/zkwgc

Has anyone ever divorced (or come close to it) their husband because they couldn't agree on how the apartment should be decorated? I'm just so tired of fighting and compromising on every single thing and wonder if anyone out there has had the same experience.

JenPDX - That's a good idea, but I'm sure my husband will object, he won't like to use crates to locate his prized collection. (smirk).

Janey - I haven't needed to file for divorce over home decor, but I totally relate to the compromise thing. I compromised this past weekend regarding surround sound speakers that 1.need to be displayed in 5 areas of the room. 2. are black 3. i could care less about speakers unless they are small cubes with a birch veneer and a white or silver face. everything else i can't seem to get into.

Well, given that my husband is the A/V king of our castle, I couldn't deny him what he wanted. Love is like that, you have to give and take and of course, we all know that, but when it comes to the giving part, I'd rather skip that. :) I'm just not jazzed about having all these speakers in my living room. I don't get this whole surround sound and bass thing. I don't need surround sound to watch my dorky design shows + reality junk. ;)

Holly

Holly - I didn't mean milk-crates or wood-crates. More like acrylic or plastic media storage racks that keep things tidy and organized and then placed neatly inside a credenza or something.

http://tinyurl.com/pawjs]
http://tinyurl.com/rxk3x

Janey, I've seen/heard it before, and I think from now on that all first dates should take place in a furniture showroom with a handful of monopoly money.

If your date snags your money, runs to the electronics section, and stands drooling in front of "The Big Boomer 2000" and says that the money you both have would make a nice down payment and the rest you'll put on credit...RUN AWAY!!!

Gee, there were so many arguments on furnishings I've read. Guys that suddenly want to decorate like a bachelor pad, and girls that want to fill it full of frilly lace, as though each were trying to impress their friends of ten years ago.

Sometimes it is just the furniture and you both have very different tastes. One of you firmly believes that chrome is for auto bumpers and does not, cannot, will not, over my dead body, EVER go in the living room.

Sometimes it's a symptom of something else, control, differences in handling money or households.

Best advice I got...from my divorce attorney...was to give it another try, and see if there was a way to make it work out. I did. It didn't. And the divorce attorney was able to buy new furniture for his own place.

At least SOMEONE got what they wanted.

My girlfriend & I are moving in together this weekend. Last night, she asks "Can I at least be in charge of designing the bathroom?" I guess I'm a bit controlling when it comes to design... she calls me a "design snob". =)

The design/taste rift between couples (m/f, m/m, f/f) is yet another reason, if at all possible, to hire a designer.

I also think the "pull samples from magazines" (but separately!) is a GREAT tool in finding undiscovered common ground, since language about design, and words like "modern" and "traditional" is so fraught with baggage.

Sometimes I just think we can't get past the words, yet often doubt we are picturing the same things.

Whoops-- My name is still linked to a remnant link to another thread I posted on. No connection to this topic.

P2, you do design, right? Would you/do you expect to act as counselor in couples interior design? How would you handle working with a couple, and what if your OWN personal taste/experience runs toward ONE of the people's preferences?

I can't think of much worse than hiring someone, only to find out they "sided" with my sig.other and MY preferences were left by the wayside.

Sometimes it can be a "whatever you want" from the sig.other, and when something is brought home, it's suddenly "ewww, but I don't like THAT".

When ladies would say they couldn't get their husbands to participate in choosing decor, I suggested they show hubby a picture of the frilliest girly bed, with a canopy, in pink and white and say THAT was what they picked out for the bedroom. I can almost guarantee that the husband will suddenly have an opinion.

I do agree with the magazines. Catalogs and websites can also be helpful. "Here, honey, click on these links, I like all these rooms, do you like any of them?"

I, for one, would be interested in hearing about your experiences.

"I think from now on that all first dates should take place in a furniture showroom with a handful of monopoly money."

EXCELLENT idea! Maybe not the FIRST date but definitely before it gets really serious.