Here's the old space:
This photo was actually taken last summer. I added two more CD shelves since then, which allowed me to get all of the CDs off the floor. It's hard to see in the picture, but the DVDs are taking up the entire bottom of the TV stand as well as all the space on top of the TV and all the space one top of the TV stand.
Here is the project in progress:
Here, I am in the process of putting all of the DVDs into plastic sleeves, labeling the sleeves, and then filing the sleeves in cases. I got the idea from this guy on Flickr. His is much more involved than mine. I didn't cut the case up or anything. I just put the DVD itself in the sleeve. We decided to save the DVD cases because we sometimes sell old ones, and the stores won't take them without cases. So, 3 18-gallan tubs full of DVD cases have now found homes in my closets, but the entertainment center looks a lot better. :)
Here's the finished product:
The DVDs are all hiding down here below the stereo:
Now, you can select a box by genre (thriller/action, comedy/romantic comedy, drama/romance, or horror/sci fi) and then browse the box alphabetically:
I used Snap-N-Store CD storage boxes, which are available at Office Max and other office supply stores as well. The boxes are economical at around $6 a box, they look good, and they store flat when you're not keeping CDs or DVDs in them. One box will hold 165 CDs or DVDs in sleeves like this.
My next step is to find a good cataloging or database system with which I could search electronically within all of our movies to find the one I want. (The catch is that I don't want to do a lot of data entry, or I'd just create a database myself.) Right now, there are around 400 DVDs in the collection. If you know of a good service (preferably free) that I could use to create such a catalog, please let me know! I'm thinking with all of the great book organizing solutions available on the web, there should be something for movies too.
Happy 4th, and happy organizing!
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7 comments:
Looks great! I think Lifehacker did a feature on a DVD cataloging program. I tried it too. The catch was that you had to scan the barcode for all of your DVDs, but as long as you have all the cases and don't mind hauling them back out of storage, I guess that's ok. I think you could search the titles, alternately, but some of them have a bunch of different ones and I'm kind of anal about cataloging the right thing. I made my own spreadsheet. :)
my question to you is this: what did you do with all the original cases with synopses on them? Curious.
Our DVD's are simply alphabetized by title, but we don't have nearly as many as you do! CD's, however, are another story. Any ideas of how to organize THOSE puppies while keeping the jewel cases?
We saved the DVD cases in big tubs in the closet. One of the reasons why I want the database is so that we don't have to use the cases.
For CDs, we just bought a lot of storage. You can see it on either side of the TV stand. There are six storage units, all full of CDs, alphabetized by artist.
Did you find a good DVD database yet? I'm still looking for one but may end up coughing up $18 for DVDpedia since it syncs with the iPhone. I bought my snap and store cases and I'm working on organizing today. I bought paper envelopes instead of clear ones (because they were cheaper), but I'm thinking I'm going to need to label every envelope, because it's a little hard to see the DVD titles. That may be a project for another day though.
I did label all the sleeves, even though they're translucent. Some of the DVDs just don't have an easy-to-read title. Still haven't found a good DVD catalog, but I'll let you know if I do.
P.S. There is a new feature on Amazon (at least I hadn't noticed it) called Your Media Library that may do the job. I will explore it this week and post back on it.
The free version of DVD Profiler should do everything you need to track your collection. http://dvdprofiler.com/
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