My name is Dr. J, and I am a compulsive music collector.
My CD collection is pushing the 300 mark, and growing like crazy. It is beginning to outgrow the cheapo wooden CD rack that I bought a year or so ago, and it is starting to bow under the weight anyway.
So I was wondering if the Teeming Millions had any ideas for CD storage? It needs to be:
1.) Expandable.
2.) Attractive. This is in my living room.
3.) Creative.
4.) Fairly cheap.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
Dr. J
See if you can find a nice hutch. Garage sales, thrift shops, whatever… or build one yourself. Paint or refinish it to go with your LR colors. Generally, there is an upper cabinet with three or four shelves, maybe two shallow drawers under that (great for remotes, instruction manuals, etc) and another cabinet on the bottom with more shelves, and doors. More often than not, the upper cabinet has doors as well.
Expandable, attractive, creative and fairly cheap.
Veni, Vidi, Visa … I came, I saw, I bought.
Make friends with a cigar smoker. Ask him to pass the empty cigar boxes on to you when he’s emptied them. Each one holds about 15 CDs, and you can line them up on your bookshelves.
Make that a RICH cigar smoker. You really do want the WOODEN cigar boxes!
Uke
I assume you mean CD + jewel case?
Yes, CD’s + jewel cases.
Or, go to a cigar store and they’ll sell you cigar boxes for a few bucks apiece. They also come in a wide variety of sizes, from Panatella to Corona Corona.
All this talk of cigars reminds me of conversation I once heard.
M: What kind of cigar IS that?
C: Let’s see… L…A…S…T – Last – I…N --In – K…A…D…O…R…A Last In Kadora.
M: Let me see that. That’s “La Stinkadora” you moron!
Returning you now to your regularly scheduled program.
Hey Doc! I think I can be of help - I own 2,700 CD’s or so right now, so I feel your pain!
There is a very expensive place that does ornate shelving that will grow as your collection grows. Unfortunately, this costs many hundreds - and for the really nice stuff, upwards into the thousands - of dolars to get.
I have a catalog I will NOT be using any time soon that I could pop in the mail to you.
I am not particularly wealthy, Doc. So my (current) favorite storage method might be below you. But here goes…
Target sells a CD shelving unit (technically a “Multimedia Storage Tower”) manufactured by Sauder. Target sells them exclusively, in fact. (Model # 9029-290)
You put it together yourself with a hammer and phillips head. It is pretty sturdy, looks nice (choose black or wood) and holds 532 CD’s.
Best news - Only $44.95 each!
I have two of them now, one of those dowell-rod shelves that holds about the same but is taller and not as sturdy (but I got it used for only $25), and the rest is in my old stand-by, milk crates!
Those are REAL CHEAP! But I’m glad to have found something that ain’t too expensive but holds a LOT of discs!
Yer pal,
Satan
for creativity, the best I’ve seen is an artsy friend who took several of the small plastic CD holders (the ones typically sold at computer stores- matte black finish, hold 10 CDs, can get them for $1-$2 on sale), cut several pieces of wood into various sized wedges, painted them black (you can varnish & shellac), and glued the CD holders together with the wood blocks as connectors forming CD “sculptures”. An example with 0’s as wood, “-” and “|” as CD holders(hope the formatting looks right):
|0-0-0-0|
0- -0
0-0-0-0
| |
0-0|0-0
| |
That was an early one. Later CD tower sculptures were more angular- nuts to you if you think I’ll try to represent it in ascii 
That’s the most creative/cheap method I’ve seen. My neighbor is an audiophile and basically made shelves in the wall by cutting the drywall. He’s hardcore though- I don’t recommend this if you’re renting. As for me, I lack room and switched to CD wallets. I do miss track listings, and, in some cases, CD titles.
BAH! Take the ascii image above and center each line. The way it came out would be useless.
Her current project is a humanoid CD tower using the aforementioned process. I’m waiting to see the finished product.
Hmmm. Sounds like my old girlfriend.
My brother uses shoeboxes.
My Dad and I put together a wall-hung cd shelf. Made it out of cypress, with plexiglass dividers and back. Really nice, cost less than buying an equivalent storage unit ( by our estimates ), and big, too ( I haven’t even filled it halfway yet, though that may change as soon as I get a job. )
The problem is, it isn’t “expendable”. I mean, are you really going to throw or give away something you put that much work into?