"How do you organise DVDs in a small space?"
This is a a question that crops up in my inbox on a weekly basis and I have to say until recently I didn't really know how to answer that question. We have amassed a large DVD collection over the years (as a former stand up I've become addicted to stand up comedy DVDs) and we've tried various methods to organise them in each of the small homes we've lived in.
We've used shelves designed especially for DVD storage and found them to be an expensive and frankly rubbish option for people with more than 30 or so DVDs. After a while we dismantled those and sold them on.
We've tried using storage boxes, again we needed a lot of boxes for our collection and on top of that shelves for the boxes to be stored. That didn't work so we repurposed the boxes elsewhere. We even used bookshelves but I hated seeing a huge wall of plastic staring back at me, especially in such a small flat. It became oppressive.
I was nearing the stage of just packaging up all of my DVDs and shoving them on eBay but decided to give one last thing a try. I bought three DVD organising folders
from Amazon and slowly set about organising them all into alphabetical order in the slots. One case for films, another for TV series and another altogether for stand up comedy. Each case holds 504 DVDs and at the moment they're all around half full, so we have room to extend our collection without needing extra physical space. The cases are taking up one shelf on a book shelf rather than 8 shelves across 3 bookshelves. Which has rather happily freed up a lot of desperately needed space here at teeny, tiny Thrifty Towers.I love that we can tote them into other rooms,which is very handy when I'm sick in bed and longing for entertainment (as you can see in the above picture taken in our bedroom) or even over to a friend's house for a DVD marathon.
I kept back 10 empty DVD cases incase we need to lend any DVDs out. Then I listed half of the cases on Freecycle (they went VERY fast) and gave the other half of the DVD cases to local libraries and schools who bit my hands off for them.
I have plans to give each folder different coloured, fabric coverings so they're easily distinguishable (and pretty) but for now I mark them out with different coloured ribbons on the handles.
So there you have it, that's how I organise a large DVD collection in a small space.
TTFN,
P.S. How do you organise your DVD collection?
Great idea! But do you think you might change your mind down the road and want the cases back?
ReplyDeleteMy friend organised her CDs like that. It's a great idea! I actually had a cupboard made for mine, but of course that is expensive so this is a really good, cheap alternative! I may well do that for my exercise DVDs as I'm building up quite a collection of those. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do hope you kept the inserts from the cases. A friend did what you have done and then had his entire collection nicked. Because he'd kept the paper inserts separately he was able to prove to the insurance company what had gone.
ReplyDeleteI did do that but now I've gone totally digital cuz I couldn't stand the clutter. Attempting to make my dad do the same thing. Perfectly pretty type pad blog has a great entry on her DVD organisation.. Just like this with such pretty files!
ReplyDeleteOooooo, this is a good idea actually! I am quickly running out of shelving space (due to the amount of books I have. DVDs and books currently share the same shelf) and this would be a great way to free up some extra shelving space!
ReplyDeleteKitty xoxox
This is a great idea. We have all of ours on bookshelves in the dining room which doesn't look too bad, but my dad downloads tv shows for us and keeps them all in this type of folder.
ReplyDeleteSo much easier as you said; carting it round the house instead of picking a few, then deciding you wanna watch something else!
I do hope you feel better soon too lovely :)
xx
When I get round to it, I plan to order some DVD sleeves which take the DVD and the cover artwork; I want to keep the artwork because it has vital things like the running times on it: very important for things like checking whether or not the children can start watching a film an hour-and-a-half before bedtime. I first saw them on a US blog and it took me ages to find them, but you can get them in the UK too.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fab idea and one I'm very tempted to adopt, but like some readers above, I feel a slight horror at giving up the paper insterts. If I think about it though, a book of DVDs in the living room and a box of paper inserts in the loft is going to take up far less room. Great idea. xx
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, I'll have to try and convince G as we have dvds everywhere, hundreds off them!!
ReplyDeletePene
This is a great space saving idea. My friend's brother does this too as he has loads of dvds and doesn't have much space in student accommodation. As I don't have quite as many, mine fit in 3 shoe boxes which I covered in Smartie paper!
ReplyDeleteI used to have these for my CDs but I got so frustrated with having to flick through them all (I kept mine in alphabetical order) and there is something nice about the artwork with CDs too. I'm not as sentimental over DVDs though so this could be a good idea.
ReplyDeleteI want to heat more about your stand up days!!
ReplyDeleteHim indoors would never let me get rid of his cases! Blimey Oh Riley! Ours look like this... http://shinypigeon.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/dvd-storage-or-how-to-calm-your-control-freak-girlfriend/
ReplyDeleteI did this when I went to uni. It's perfect for when you're constantly changing accommodation each year. I like flicking through the pages as well :)
ReplyDeleteI recently boght 2 off the same DVD cases from Maplins they hold 200+ and come in three colours.
ReplyDeleteWe do this but sadly we have kept all the cases in storage boxes in the loft. So we've emptied the lounge but filled up the loft!
ReplyDeleteI honestly hadn't thought of this! Not in a 'all the DVDs' sort of way. At the moment we only have discs that have lost their cases in a holder, but this is much better... especially keeping the inserts, just in case the Mister ever decides to sell anything. You people are all genius, I thank you.
ReplyDeleteI did this to my DVD collection a couple of years back because I was moving flats (and countries) every 4-6 months and it was the best thing I've ever done organisation wise. I don't have a massive collection, but I can easily take all my Films/DVDs anywhere, no compromises.
ReplyDeleteI must do this then I will have more space for my ever growing book collection!
ReplyDeleteWe're in the middle of doing this same thing with our DVD's. We've got the organising folders sorted, but I've still got to take the inserts out of the cases & give the cases away.
ReplyDeleteOh see, now this is why I love your blog! I really need to do this in my house, I just need to convince Mr Kandipandi now.
ReplyDeleteI'll do the doe eyes...
Kandi x