apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

well this is a little different -but turn all the cd's into mp3s on your computer and sell them! no more clutter! You can use the money you got from selling ur cd's to buy a 60gb IPOD AND a new computer! ( I'm so glad i did that! ) - I can still burn a cd if i ever want to!

cd's aren't furniture. send them all out to one of those services that'll rip them to your ipod and then sell the cd's.

wow – that's a little creepy stefan. seems like we were writing the same thing at the same time.

I also have a musician boyfriend who would never agree to rip his cds to mp3s and then get rid of them. We also don't have the money to go buy new CD storing furniture.

My solution: I made a bunch of "drawers" out of coroplast board (plastic cardboard) to sit on bookshelves. Each narrow drawer holds 25 CDs on end, displaying the spines.

A bit makeshift, but it's worked for us so far.

Buy an external hard drive. Rip. Sell. Use the money from CDs to buy furniture. That's what I did.

I put all my CD's in a number of portfolios from Herrington. http://www.herringtoncatalog.com/as249.html

The jewel cases are really what takes up the room. Each portfolio (which are 1 3/4 inch high) holds 80 CDs or 40 CDs plus the booklets. I also bought extra sleeves (can't remember where.)

Because the portfolios come in verious colors, I was able to color code by genre.

Not trying to sound snobbish, but what if you want to keep your CDs for its recording quality? I've stopped buying CDs for years, however, CDs still sound better than MP3s.

Anyway, I'd like to know if there's any good and reasonably priced option too.

Thanks.

Have you considered storing them in bookcases rather then special CD shelves? With a big collection, bookcases or book shelves may prove to be more vesatile. They also give a more streamlined look to a room, rather then a collection of disparate CD towers. In my experience, CD storage items often get discontinued and then you are stuck if your collection expands. Though not a creative idea, Ikea Billy bookcases have shelf dividers for CDs as well as media towers that are the same height and look as their bookcases.

I have about 1200 cds - I keep them in storage tubs that fit underneath my bed. I'm able to hold 800 there. I store another 300 the same way under my couch. For the ones I'm listening to - I keep about 30 on a steel storage rack I got from ikea. It's simple, small and nice. I have 3 of them. One by the stereo, one by computer and one at work. Viola

Please please stop saying "rip and sell." Many of us have chosen not to do that. When some asks how best to store CDs, they aren't asking you to tell them to get rid of them.

I happen to love seeing my CDs on the shelves, like first class citizens, just like my books. Would you tell someone to scan and sell their books?

I don't have any ideas but I can sure sympathize with Sarah.

My husband is a serious audiophile. Music is his passion and he would never, ever get rid of his CDs because to him compressed audio doesn't sound the same. I don't think his fancy-pants CD player even plays mp3 files.

It was just a suggestion, didn't realize so many people would have such angry things to say back! I have a tiny apt where storage is always an issue ( like most of us ) and this is the solution that worked best for me. Just a suggestion. Chill out, guys ( and gals )

I took all my CDs and put them in a CD book that holds well over 100. I like keeping the art work of the covers so I slide the CD inside the booklet and slip it in the holder of the book. The CD cases takes up too much room and wasted space.

I completely agree with NY. I too have a partner who wants to keep his thousands of cds AND the packaging they come with. We have a few cd storage cases that we've accumulated over the years, but the billy bookcases with the shelf dividers have a nice, streamlined look about them, and they have narrow towers (benno?) that coordinate with them that are nice and modular, and have served us well in several different apartments.
We're now in a place that allows us to put the bulk of his collection along one wall, and it does have a certain "library" quality about it that's nice.

Good luck!

suggesting a storage solution for your man's collections sounds a lot more loving than suggesting that he get rid of it. My hunch is that would be a bad, bad, bad idea. Especially if it's his passion and/or career.

If he wants to keep them and you don't want to see them..how about in pretty boxes that you can stack on a shelf or stack (just be sure to label)

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=12&catalogId=10103&langId=-1&topcategoryId=15561&parentCats=15561*16296*15776&categoryId=15776&cattype=sub&pageNumber=0

I agree with the portfolio/CD binder solution. The large binders can hold around 120 CDs usually with the booklets as well. If you go to Sam Ash or Top DJ Gear websites, there are DJ storage solution hard cases for CDs. They may not be the most attractive, but if you have other hard/road cases in your apartment, they will match the decor.

On a recent episode of Debbie Travis' Painted House, she converted a coffee table into cool CD storage. Here's details on the show (it airs again next week):
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hdtph/episode/0,1806,HGTV_18716_33734,00.html

She took an old window, attached it to the top of a table (giving a shadow box effect) and painted the inside a complementary color. Then, she put in dividers for the CDs. You could replace the glass with frosted glass so that it is not so apparent that the table is filled with CDs.

Personally, I bought some Billy Bookcases from Ikea and added 3 extra shelves per bookcase. Each shelf holds 75 CDs so that's 825 CDs per bookcase. I won't even tell you how many such bookcases I have, just consider yourself happy he only has a thousand CDs... :)

CDs aren't records but there is something to that tactile experience of looking at album art. As far as storage goes, I wanted to use my collection as a visual element so I bought Ikea Grundel Shelves (http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10103&storeId=12&langId=-1&productId=10994) and created two rows of CDs instead of a boring CD bookshelf. At $12 a pop, they add up but still cheaper then a bookshelf.

Thanks for the posts! And especially to "anon" for your sympathy. My boyfriend is very committed to cd-buying and supporting recording artists. I wouldn't ask him to part with the collection. Like Holly, I also like seeing them out and it's fun to browse the spines! Michell, any more detail on your DIY drawers? Sounds interesting. Thanks again! - Sarah

Rip 'em.. but use one of the better, loss-less formats (NOT mp3).

There are devices out there that sound better than most expensive CD players.

If your boyfriend won't part with the physical cds, you could try putting them in boxes on a regular book shelf, which will take up less wall space than a "cd rack".

I'm surrently using Ikea's "Mackis mini chest of drawers." Both cds in jewelboxes and sleeves fit nicely. It comes as a set of two drawers and each drawer holds at least 70 cd's in case-logic-type sleeves. They're made of birch plywood and seem sturdy enough for the task at hand. As an extra bonus, the "drawer" design means that you can stack the units vertically and still have easy access to the bottom drawers.
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15561&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&productId=12727&langId=-1&chosenPartNumber=30032387

Christine in dc (of the the first cure class) found these cardboard boxes with sleeves and index cards - perhaps your boyfriend would be more comfortable re-arranging if it came with the carrot of increased cataloging capacity.

http://www.sleevetown.com/cd-storage.shtml

[scroll down to the second product advertised]

I think it would be cool to turn them into a massive art installation by turning them face out on super narrow shelves. (More of a railing really, like what would be along the bottom of a chalkboard.) If you worry about them falling off, get some elastic cord and pin it at regular intervals across the wall to keep the CDs in place.

This would essentially make a giant mosaic of album art that may be a little more visually interesting than the spines. And you could constantly change the display.

Of course to do 1000 it would take a lot, but you could always do a lot of them on the shelves and keep the rest in metal tubs or nice boxes as someone else suggested.

Just a point of refrence... CD's contain a sampled selection of continuous tone (records) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cd

So in reality the CD audio is nothing extraordinary, and can be transfered to a computer without any comprimise in audio quality provided the correct hardware/software is used...

So the argument that CD's are better than a computer backup (a lossless audio format) is preposterous.

Now vinyl, that's where the future of music is at!

My husband has more than 1,000 cds, too, and he enjoys being able to look at the jackets/inserts. We went to bagsunlimited.com and bought clear plastic sleeves that just hold the cd and the insert. I think the boxes and tabs for alphabetising we use also came from there. So no more plastic cases, and the cds are much easier to move and browse through. The boxes fit perfectly in the extra component spaces in our entertainment center.

All the same, you can't mess with people's attachment to their CD's. Whether or not it makes technical sense is sort of beside the point.

Make your own shelves threaded rod shelves.

1. Cut out desired shelf size.
2. Drill four holes on corners of shelves.
3. Sand and varnish shelves.
3. Spend day spinning nuts on long lengths of rod.
4. Level and Tighten







http://kindofbruin.net/blog2/2005/01/09/threaded-rod-dvd-shelves/

I was flipping through the TV channels yesterday and stopped on QVC because they had this storage system that compactly holds 100 CDs or DVDs with a separate book for the liner notes. They don't make it easy to link to the product on their page, but try searching qvc.com for:

Item Number V23465
100 Disc Media Storage Organizer with Indexed Liner Album

It's not the most attractive thing ever, but it's so compact that I'm tempted. I myself have a little DVD storage problem and something like this might be a better solution than building those floating wall shelves I was thinking about. I'm not sure I need to have 300 DVDs on dispay in the living room day in and day out.

I currently have ~500 cds boxed up in my garage because I can't think of a good way display them... It'll be interesting to see if I hear of any new solutions here.

(and the rip em comments don't take into account the tactile part of music listening at all... that's why people still have vinyl too!)

you can't possibly compare CDs to MP3s

I like the univenture storage boxes - I'm running out of room and intend to purchase some. I bought the Ikea PS storge lockers in white and painted them - they look great and hold a bunch of cd's

Abbe,
I love your CD storage solution. I just perused the bagsunlimted webpage. Can you tell me with CD sleeve you recommend? I think this in connection with some Container Store Library boxes might be the solution for me!

the best and cheapest cd storage i ever got was from gothic cabinet craft OR one of those other unfinished-furniture places. they're solid wood and usually pretty cheap. I think the one i got the best shelves from is a store on madison or 3rd ave in the 30s.

I'm in the processing of converting my cds to mp3 (i'm not really picky about sound quality) and still have thousands to go.

lastly--swing by tower records while they're having their going-out-of-business..maybe one of the stores will still have racks and they'll be discounted.

Rip the CD's to a lossless audio format, either FLAC or AppleLossless, depending on whether you want to use an open source format or are willing to be stuck with iTunes and Apple's proprietary format (which, given their dominance in the market, isn't such a bad option). You can then stream the audio to your stereo over a wireless network using Apple's inexpensive, fairly attractive AirPort Express (costs about $120 if memory serves). The AirPort has a decent digital to analog converter, so the sound quality is as good as it would be from most CD or DVD players. It also has a digital output, so you can plug it into most any decent home theater receiver or other device that does the digital to analog conversion for true audiophile-quality playback.

Either lossless audio format - FLAC or AppleLossless - will take about half the storage space as uncompressed audio, but you won't lose any quality at all. And ripping your CDs to a hard drive and managing your collection with a tool like iTunes or MediaMonkey makes it much easier to access individual tracks, tracks by certain artists, tracks by year or genre, create and playback mixes for parties, etc.

Uncompressed, a good rule of thumb is that you can store about 3 average-length CDs in a gigabyte of space. You can get 5 - 6 losslessly compressed CDs into a gig. 250GB hard drives can be had now for under $150. They can store in excess of 1,000 CDs, losslessly compressed. 500GB drives cost around $250 and can easily accommodate about 2,500 losslessly compressed CDs.

Store the CDs themselves in a closet. You don't need to worry about how the storage units look that way, and can simply concentrate on functionality and price. Depending on the unit you choose, the physical CDs could still be readily accessible for those rare occasions when you do need access to them.

You may find, as I have, that you can safely bury them in the back of a closet, never to be seen again.

Ah, a subject near and dear to my heart. We've got two collections here in the apartment, being dealt with in two different ways.

My boyfriend has a couple thousand CDs, and he's adamant about keeping cases and notes. The whole package is important to him. He has a couple of huge black floor units that can hold about 1500 CDs each. He got them from allmultimediastorage.com, and they ran him about $250 each. They're not the most beautiful things, but we have a very long, very wide hallway, and they work quite well in that space. I don't know how I'd feel about having them lining the living room, though. They might be rather imposing in a room with a lot of other furniture in it.

My collection, of great importance to me, is smaller (maybe...600?), and I love the cover art/notes, but dislike cases. My solution is similar to Abbe's. I bought a bunch of thin plastic sleeves from www.sleevetown.com . The ones I prefer are the "Disckeeper CD Ricepaper" sleeves, which I store with the cover art. They're a very thin, matte plastic, without flaps. I store the whole shebang in CD storage boxes. The sleeves run about $3 for 100. The boxes I got at Ikea for about $3 each, I think.

With CDs in digipaks, I just keep the whole thing, obviously.

Good luck with your quest.

Burning CDs to mp3 and then selling them is a violation of Copyright Law. You can reproduce any CD you actually OWN under Fair Use, but once you sell the original CD, you no longer own it.
Also, as a lover of music & CDs/LPs as art objects, I think you'd have to be pretty apathetic about your music in general to just burn it to your computer & then sell it off. What if your hard drive crashes? Bye-bye musical story of your life. That would be heartbreaking.
I say that if you simply CANNOT stand the clutter, get rid of the jewel cases & keep the cds & paper inserts. Or make like hiding the T.V. & put them in some sort of drawer filing system. Also, edit your collection of CDs at least once a year - I DJ & end up collecting a lot of random CDs - I sell the ones I feel lukewarm about. That way, I only own what I love.
Personally, I consider my CDs & LPs trophies - they say a lot about me & I'm proud of them.

Build one or two large shelves. Get some cheap pine have it cut to your measurements, a drill, and you're good to go. Depending on the dimensions each shelf should cost you 20-30 dollars, much less than an ugly fiberboard alternative.

I think that CDs belong in a drawer or in a cabinet with drawers.
Not just because they are "unsightly" but also to keep your dusting down.

I keep mine in a vintage 50's buffet table that has two cabinets doors on each side with three shelves each.

I have a friend who keeps them in a library card catalog case. It is a huge cabinet and hold all of them.
Another friend keeps them in a chest of drawers. Each drawer is deep enough to hold them upright. They are alphabetized and packed to fill the drawer. She can just look down to pull out the one she needs.

Cheryl, I think ours are the CD Gatefold sleeve, 6.0 mil polyethylene (item SCDGF6). We use the CD/DVD Big Box (item xcd100cp) to store them. We have three boxes and they are pretty heavy to move around since they are full. We keep them in the bottom of the entertainment center and just drag them out onto the floor when we need something. If we weren't using the ipod so much, I would consider replacing the boxes with smaller ones to make it easier to move them.

It's a little late to weigh in given all the feedback, but between my husband and I we had over 800 CDs. Packing them for our move this spring, my hands were covered with grime from the jewel cases, and I was freaking out about just where we'd store them once we moved.

I opted to buy three CaseLogic binders which accommodate 320 CDs each (these suckers are huge). About $30 apiece at J&R. Migrating our CDs took hours, and not all of them fit very neatly - plenty of nicks and rips in the plastic due to the booklets going in crooked. We just had to keep the packaging for about 20 CDs where we didn't want to destroy the packaging or they were box sets. We donated the jewel cases to an installation artist, which felt good, and we still have our CDs (though sans jewel case the resale value of them is nonexistent).

But honestly? The binders are REALLY heavy. I'm 8 months pregnant. Hauling one across the apartment to my computer almost brought on preterm labor. And I notice that we haven't been changing our CDs much lately. So we gained space, got rid of unsightly jewel cases, but I can't help thinking something has been lost here...

We have nearly 4000 cd's (my honey used to work at a record store)and we invested in the Can-Am (www.can-am.ca) storage when I moved in. Ultra modern and clean, clean, clean. A 3 drawer system holds about 900. They come in a rainbow of colors and I can't say more about the product, the company and the service.

I did the same thing as Deborah and have also noticed I no longer play all my CDs or take as much pleasure in them. If I had to do it over again, perhaps I'd get a Can-Am system as recommended by Jen.

Else, if I had enough hallway space in my apartment, I'd install a bookcase dedicated solely to CDs. That was the set-up I had in my old place, and it worked very well, since I don't like to look at the visual clutter created by the CDs, but do enjoy having them in a bookcase, where they are readily accessible.

I wonder what will happen when I transfer everything to MP3.

My husband and I converted all our music to mp3 and gave away many of the hard disks. The ones we kept, we tossed the jewel boxes and stored the disks in binders on the bookshelf.

Ofcourse cd's can be furniture! I'm going to sort mine by color, soon - just as Chris Cobb did at the Adobe Bookshop in San Francisco a while back: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4182224
It makes finding the right cd a lot more interesting - plus it looks really good.

I'm digging these library card-catalog stylee media cabinets:

http://www.storeyourmedia.com/-456-cd-library-media-storage-solid-oak-w-walnut-finish.aspx

...but I like a retro vibe, and what is more retro in 2006 than a card catalog?

My husband and I have the same problem (1,500 cds)and ripping them onto our computer and getting rid of the cds will never be an option. We like the tactile feeling of holding the art.

Here's what I've been looking at, the Billy shelf insert for the bookcase, hopefully it would be a lot sturdier than the average cd towers.

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?topcategoryId=15561&cattype=sub&categoryId=15981&parentCats=15561*15639*15651&storeId=12&catalogId=10103&langId=-1&chapterId=15984

As a musician and collector myself, selling and ripping is not an option. If you live in New York, Gothic Cabinet used to sell OK pine shelves for very cheap. Gothic is of questionable quality on many things, but a CD case is rather simple. So, I took the pine, sanded, stained and poly'ed it. It came out great. In my opinion, it's no different from a bookcase filled with treasured books.

IKEA Billy bookcase. cheap and easy

This is an issue I spent years on. From my days in 1989 when the table-stop CD Holder was sufficient, to 1992 when the stackable carousel worked, to 2000 when only bookshelves would suffice, so 2005 when they were removed from their jewel cases, ripped (in NYC) to lossless format and now exist digitally and magically anywhere in my home, I have been reorganizing cds for a looooong time.

Basically you have to ask yourself, drawer, shelf or spin? From there there are many options, but if I may suggest my favorite, it's wall-mount, commercial-style shelving like this

http://www.storeyourmedia.com/512-cd-metal-wall-mount-rack-black-or-silver.aspx

Completely customizable, modular (you buy what you need and expand as time goes on) and paintable.

I agree with everyone that recommended the Ikea Benno option... these are really neat and sturdy, match the BILLY bookcases, and they're really tall.

The other option I was considering was building some hungarian shelves. http://www.instructables.com/id/ELJQZB9L0YEP2863OB/

The most efficient storage I've found are the 3 drawer steel media cabinets from Can-Am.

http://www.can-am.ca/cdvideo1.htm

They are a bit pricey but they are well made and store 810 discs. For your collection they also have a 2 drawer unit to stack on top for a total of 1350 discs in a footprint 38" x 24".

It's interesting how emotionally involved people are to their cds. I keep mine in a couple of boxes (sized just right for the purpose) w/ lids on a shelf next to the stereo. The boxes are full to capacity. If I buy a new cd, my rule is I have to let one go. This way I don't have cds I supposedly love but never play.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/studio.cfm?mainStudioid=31&page=1&referral=dealnews&promocode=01353

There's a sale on media furniture at Deep Discount DVD. Not my personal style but affordable.

Hi Sarah,

How funny, it's like you're in my head. My husband and I are in the process of moving all of our cd's into binders to make more room, I know it is an awful option that he is very very upset about. We have a floor to ceiling custom made all wood cd-shelf we're selling for 50 bucks. We're in Brooklyn, email me at mookie376@yahoo.com if you're interested. It holds probably about 500 cd's.

Later, Sarah

DEAL! -
Two 520 Disc Capacity Black leather-Like Quality CD Wallet $29 shipped (or 1 for $18.00)

Supermediastore.com

( http://www.supermediastore.com/cd-dvd-wallet-wallets-cd-holders-cd-storages-organizer-epv-520.html )

Black Leather-Like Quality CD/DVD Portfolio, Organizer, Case, Wallet, Holder with Sturdy Handle, Comfort Shoulder Strap, Removable/Refillable Binder Style Inserts with Easy On/Off Switch

Ratings: five out of five stars
Product Code: ACC15X0062-001
Manufacturer: SuperMediaStore
Mfr part #: EVP12520

I put mine in a amoire, I have at least 1500. No dusting, some are in CD wallets (which after a while,still looked horrible on a bookcase), so what we did was place CD's by year and the either put them in CD wallets and stick in an amoire. We love it, out of sight, but categorized.

I would also add doors to the Billy shelves (or whatever solution you choose) to avoid the dust issue plus the cluttered feeling that can arise from looking at all the backs of the CDs.

Even clear glass doors make collections like these seem more organized and will also make the bookshelves look less cheap. However, Ikea also came out with some beautiful glasspanel doors sandblasted with a floral design this year, which I believe also go with the Billy.

As for me, I was lucky enough to buy a system (since discontinued) of plastic sleeves that mount onto a wooden base, so the CDs stay vertical and you can quickly flip through your entire collection similar to the way you do at a record store. It provides the compact storage of books but still makes them accessible. I'm almost full up, but these days I've switched my CD budget to DVDs - which unfortunately I have no good storage solution for yet ;-).

We're using a bunch of media boxes from Hold Everything (sniff sniff). CB2 has boxes that look much the same. We opted for bright orange, actually, and haven't regretted it a bit. Holds our 400 CDs, boxes on a 4-level wire shelf, gets compliments when people visit.

I agree with others that ripping and selling is unethical, precarious, and very unsatisfying. I also have the collection ripped to lossless files (somewhat) and MP3s (mostly). If you've got the go-ahead to help with storage, think shelves/boxes/drawers/whatnot. Playback is really a different question, and I wouldn't myself assume that a green light in one equals a green light in the other.

Love seeing myself quoted! And, I think Abbe may have got her bagsunlmited rec from me, though I'm not sure, but in any case, I have the univenture sleeves from them where you can put all of the cover art in (2 places for it). It's not a 100% perfect system. ONe problem I've encountered is that I had to kind of fold some of the cover art (the end that would go into the spine). Another is that the spines aren't really readable...and the case I have it in right now isn't indexed and doesn't allow me to flip. (Need to remedy that). The other issue is that if you're considering using those in conjunction with a traditional cd box, be careful to measure--they are slightly longer and won't necessarily fit. Just so you have the full info! I don't regret selling my "Benno" rack and doing it this way. I gained about a square foot of space, and I was rather grossed out by how dusty the jewel cases were, which isn't good for the media either! if you decide to do this, ask your local library about donating the jewel cases. Mine was ecstatic to take mine.

To anyone who's thinking about taking the "rip and sell" advice:

That hard drive that you store your music collection on won't last forever. One day it will die and take your mp3s with it. Make sure you have a backup system in place.

For me the backup system is that I just keep the original CDs. But I've also burned everything to DVD so I don't have to re-rip if a hard drive dies. Another option is to backup to another hard drive, or even better a RAID array, where everything is automatically mirrored onto two separate drives.

I think within the next several years you'll probably see more external storage solutions like
this that take the guesswork out for those less technically inclined. What I'd love to see is a RAID 5 audio storage box. With RAID 5 you need 3 hard drives, but you can lose any one of them without losing any data. So if a drive ever dies you just replace it and you're good to go.

I like these library style cabinets, from Target, link in my name

Know this post is a few years old but still ranks quite high in relation to mass-media storage so felt this comment wouldn't go unseen...

I also own an enormous music collection -- over 10k between CDs and vinyl, in addition to a handful of external hard drives full of mps. I also refuse to get rid of my music and have scaled down my other furniture in order to accommodate this collection. I regularly prune my collection but I get new music on a daily basis due to my profession and music buying habits.

For those of you using CD books, catalogs and sleeves -- beware, they will slowly wear down your CDs. The more you take them in and out, the faster they will wear. Also, CDs wear out over time from heat. Don't leave them in, especially in these types of cases, in your car or in direct sunlight. If you only listen to CDs for a couple years before hocking them, you have nothing to worry about.

I still haven't found a decent solution. I am open to them being visible but need an option that allows for frequent shifting (why library card catalogs, drawers & boxes won't work), in order to integrate new music into collection (which I keep alphabetized). I am most likely going to build something from scratch, taking inspiration from clean, modern bookshelves.

Thanks for all of your links in this post!