For the audiophile enthusiasts getting really into vinyl, or the media collector (hoarder?), the question is: where do you put it all?
There are multiple routes to go, depending on how organizationally capable you are or want to be.
• If you can pull off pairing down, store away the bulk of your collection in cabinets, drawers or furniture with doors, and put out your favorites in stacks. Rotate out the media you're not listening to or watching as your interests shift.
• Get holders, binders, boxes, bins, baskets. Who says it's all got to be showing? If you prefer the neater look of boxes and magazine holders, invest in sturdy models of the same color for an organized, congruent look. Muji and The Container Store are good places to start.
• The vertical nature of your space is your friend. Take advantage of floor-to-ceiling shelving units, either of the industrial nature or by way of IKEA. The EXPEDIT has been known to fit records perfectly, and the Billy is specialized for books, DVDs, and CDs.
• Invest in custom built book shelves to house all of it: books, CDs, DVDs, your TV, your sound system. If you take your collection seriously, this might be the way to go.
These examples range from custom-neurotic-organization to the verging-on-messy style. How do you store your media? What style do you prefer?
FIRST ROW
1. Apartment Therapy
2. LoftLife
3. House To Home
4. Rock N Roll Problems
5. CW Styling
SECOND ROW
1. LoftLife
2. LoftLife
3. Lonny
4. Casa Sugar
5. CW Styling
(First Images: Top: Dwell, In Gallery: as credited/linked above)
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sprout Side Table
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
Heh, my 8-tracks obsession means they aren't pretty enough to display in any formation, so chests and cabinets it is. If only I liked vinyl :)
This is a great and timely, for me, post.Thanks! I wish more interior design mags and blogs talked about this because not everyone into design wants to ditch their LPs and CDs and put everything on a computer and run their iPods through a Geneva sound dock.
The No.9 (No.9 , No.9, No.9 .... :) pic makes me cringe though! Records on the floor collecting dust and leaning and warping. It's sad. Perhaps as a what-not-to-do example?
Ah yes. We have this problem is our apartment but with an added difficulty: our cat loves to chew records, both the plastic and paper sleeves. He seems to have pretty good taste in vinyl and goes for our rare and favorite LPs. So, we need to keep them in an enclosed container. I found a vintage record credenza for 25$ at a thrift store and painted it a pretty yellow but we're quickly running out of space in it. What to do next?
I had a cat who scratched (not the DJ way, nor the Ted Nugent way) the sides of many, many of my LP sleeves. I had a lot in plastic, and that just made it more of a challenge for him. The cat has been gone a while but his damage endures.
I used to have the attitude that every CD I ever bought was part of the "collection" and that I couldn't get rid of any of them (except the doubles when my husband and I combined collections) because it would be... I don't know.. dishonest or something.
But I've given up that attitude as I surpass capacity in my current shelving (2 identical 1000-capacity CD shelves) I'm not switching to digital but I was able to easily part with some CDs from high school that I never anticipate listening to again (I'm looking at you Bare Naked Ladies). Unfortunately that only removed about 25 CDs from my collection.
I do think putting like with like looks more organized so my next goal would be some floor to ceiling custom shelving.
Where is that bird print from? That's pretty sweet. Most of my vinyl is spread out in random bookshelves throughout the house. It ensures a little more randomness depending on what room I'm in.
I keep my 2000+ CDs in those great Case Logic binders. With handles on the spine, they are easy to store and transport (if needed).
I have a big, muscular, mischievous cat who likes to chew things and knows how to open cabinet doors - a retro record cabinet, while very cute, wouldn't keep Mr. Kitty's teeth out of my album sleeves. So, I invested in a lockable road case designed for LPs - I figured if it was strong enough to withstand being tossed around in the back of a professional DJ's van or in the cargo hold of a plane, it could stand up to my cat! Bonus: it doubles as a low end table.
The folks with vinyl-curious cats need this:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/pets/ebb8/?cpg=wnrss
We use the Ikea Besta units to store records. The sliding door part (purchased separately) makes getting to them easy and the overall look is still modern. I think that is what is pictured in the first photo.