apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Do a search on AT and check on Ikea Hacker. I know I've seen storage solutions and ideas for dj equipment.

Jeez. You've already forced him into fold up table in a corner and made him turn his tables battle style. Does he even have his monitors set up?

I suppose you could mount extremely sturdy shelving to a wall and build a cover that fits over the tables when not in use. Use wire ties and wall colored flex tubing for the cables.

But, honestly, I think you should celebrate that your boyfriend has a passion for something and figure out a way to work it into the decor as opposed to hiding it.

I'd suggest to build or get someone to build a shelving unit with door and add a lid to the whole thing. The lid would act in the same way than a car hood.

That way, he can use the shelving units to put the record bags, the cables, the turntables' lids and the flycases covers. If he actually take them away regularly you could even create a system so that extensions are used all the time between the shelving unit and the amps and so on. That way unplugging them wouldn't be a nightmare for him.
Finally, getting them done would mean that he'd get them at the right height, which dj are always glad for.

My husband's an audiophile, and we have more electronic carp than you can imagine. We have Tannoy speakers that go up to 11, as the phrase goes.

When I was first married, I insisted that all this stuff live behind doors, no visible cable, etc. Then I saw the light, figured it out, got a clue, etc. and embraced my inner roadie.

If he can corral the cables, half of the visual clutter can be tamed, and you can learn to live with the other stuff, because it's his passion, it's cool and not everything has to be decorated.

Here are two of the most recent posts for turntable storage on ikea hacker that True Tex mentioned:

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2009/02/hack-dj-console.html

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2009/02/spin-it-with-some-colour.html

Embrace it! Make it the music corner. Find great old prints from beloved shows. Use color. Set it up so he can hop in there anytime and spin records. Maybe a little bar cart nearby? Two people can make a party if it's the right two!

Jane, please take this in the spirit in which it is meant - please be glad your BF has things as organized as they appear in this photo. My BF is a musician/DJ and he does not have a living room - he has a one bedroom with recording studio. We have discussed moving in, but not until we can afford something bigger than a one bedroom, so that we can shut the door on the mess. Two turntables, 800 records, two macs, one PC, speakers, amps, guitars, six keyboards and whatever those blinking electronic things are in the rack... It really needs, and deserves, its own room.

From where I sit the set up looks pretty clean and small. I say get a nicer table, hang some great artwork and let it be part of your shared space.

purchase/build a unit with (1) a shelf that slides out for easy access or (2) removable top (3) hinge on top of unit so that you can swing it open.

ideas...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iancrogers/387076122/
http://flickr.com/photos/kingdesmond/2706575315/in/photostream/
http://flickr.com/photos/7773333@N03/2411676448/

As a dj, it's nice to hear people talk about leaving this stuff out. Where you live is supposed to represent who you are, and hiding something like this away would be a shame. Over the last couple of years, there have been a LOT of posts on here about dj spaces- the general idea of which is that the best you can do is to embrace and make it look nice. Get a decent table. Build in some storage for 12's. Ikea, strangely enough, seems to be the spot for this.
His decks are in road cases, so I'm going to make the assumption that he hauls them around a bit- in which case, a table is better than a build in console for ease of breakdown.
My $0.02.

for anyone with the trouble, records can be put in the Ikea's expedit shelving unit. The only "bad" thing is that they're too deep. I saw one idea of putting some railing so that the records are flushed. I might do that at some point.
You add up some proper organizing system and you have a musical library. And hiding that would be a shame in my opinion, it would be like complaining about the books on display at the library.

Get a PAX wardrobe and put these on a rolling shelf inside.

give them to me

find a new place with an extra room - that's the only solution we could find! but my boyfriend does have considerably more stuff than that (hmr, you have my sympathies!)

i can't tell where this is in your home, but if it does fit in some sort of alcove you could look into a curtain to cover the space, or invest in the kind of furniture that's made for this stuff - it helps keep everything in its place (which he might appreciate, too...) i think my boyfriend had a 2-turntable case back when he dj'ed that held all that stuff and if you really needed it out of sight, could be covered by the lid of the case for a party or something.

also i second flobo's recommendation of the expedit - our 4x4 unit is nearly full of records. before getting that, though, i had looked into using the IVAR system and adding its galvanized steel doors, at least to the bottom shelves, to keep the records from getting scuffed by passing foot traffic. it worked for us that the expedit was so deep, because the records are protected from people in the living room by a few inches.

Two words: Rolltop Desk.

The expedit perfectly fits records and turntables. I don't think they're that bulky or ugly and my bf is also a DJ. They give cool audiophile look to a place, once you get the stuff off folding tables and properly displayed.

I like shoes, but I keep them in the closet! I don't think it's horrible to put things you love out of sight in a space designed especially for them.

DJ Turntable coffin.

I had the same problem with a client. I bought a felt covered coffin, glass topped it and set it on a pair of nice saw horses and used the whole thing as a console table behind the sofa (had to cut the saw horses down a bit, but it worked perfectly and looked great).

http://www.bizrate.com/musicalinstrumentcasesracks/products__keyword--dj turntable coffin.html

(or send them to me..i'll give you my addy offline)

sorry, wrong link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002NRTIG/ref=asc_df_B0002NRTIG732016?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=shopzilla_rev_317-20&linkCode=asn

turn table coffee/end table with see through lid (to stop coffee from wrecking your equipment) and adjustable length legs so that you can set it up at wast height if you want...? maybe.

Get a bigger place. Or a fiance who isn't a DJ.

Seriously. There is no other solution. DJing is a messy, ugly, artifact-heavy profession. If you don't want bulky electronics cluttering up your living space, he needs his own workroom to store the turntables, mixing desks, cables, speakers, record collection, computers, monitors, power supplies and so on.

My fiance is a DJ too. What we did was embrace the equipment and made it part of a space in a little den we have off the Living Room. We are planning on adding furniture so you can hang out and listen to music. THe best part is that whenever we have a party in the apt. the equipment is ready to go!! All our guests love it!!

My boyfriend is a DJ too! with 2500 records and thousands of cds. There are stacks and stacks of music all over the floor in his living room. We are talking about moving in together and we will need some serious storage solutions. I'm pretty sure we'll need to find a 2-bedroom unless I get rid of all my stuff...currently his entire apartment is filled with music stuff, much of it on the living room floor.

He's got his turntables and equipment pretty neatly organized on a table, but in my dreams I'd love to see some wall-mounted shelves. He rarely travels with his turntables anymore so mobility is not so much an issue there. Is your guy using them at your house much? Maybe a table on wheels that can swing out, with some kind of shelf underneath for accouterments.

I'm surprised at the touchiness in some of these replies. Yeah, your space is supposed to represent who you are but it doesn't have to be all messy, does it? I don't leave my printmaking or sewing supplies all over my living room. And besides it should represent the both of them, not just the DJ.

thanks for the advice, everyone!

I have to apologize for the misleading photo: this is our mid-move setup; usually they take up twice this much space and include a cluttered extended tabletop that includes jacks, cable bits, monitors, laptop, pieces of mail, toys---because it has usually been the center of every living space we've shared (10 so far) and i have heartily embraced them (i call them 'the TV'), they've been allowed to take over life. surprise unemployment and saving for a wedding has meant we have to cut out our usual 2-bedroom stipulation and downsize our space.

thanks much for the links! i do want the space to reflect both of us, for a change, as i've been very accomodating for the last 5 years (i'm sorry for all of you hobbyists who appear to feel so persecuted and stifled by your partners!). the expedit hack is spectacular, and the coffin-on-legs is a good possibility too. really, some paint and discipline would go a long way. I'll send pictures once we get something worked out!

(you can see them in the back of the room on the left, with the green strip running across: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/jan-jumpstart-2008-northwest/northwest-2-janewheniordercoffees-turntableinspired-table-recover-041049
ok bye)