Music lovers – get ready to find out the best way to make the most of the storage space you’ve got available for your CD collection. These CD storage ideas will give you lots of inspiration and ideas to try in your own home (and elsewhere!).
Questions To Ask Before Picking CD Storage
It’s always worth doing a little prep before you decide on how you’re going to store anything. Yes, it takes a little longer, but you’ll ultimately save yourself time, money and effort because you won’t get the wrong solution.
Ask yourself these 3 questions first, and you’ll be much better prepared to find something that really WILL work for you…
What Size Is Your CD Collection?
The first step to this process is to know exactly how many CDs you need to store, because knowing the size of your collection will help you decide where the best place to store it will be.
After all – you won’t want to take up more room than necessary, but equally you won’t want to run out of room and have to split up the CDs either.
(Splitting them up makes them harder to find, and you always put like with like when organising anything in your home. Knowing that there’s one place to put it and find it will make life easier).
Also – you always want to have plenty of space to grow the collection if that’s likely (otherwise you’ll have to rethink your solution when the amount you’ve got gets bigger).
Go through all your CDs and work out whether you really do want to keep them all.
Declutter before you store – because if you’ve got a small collection after sorting through them all, then this can help with your storage as well – as you won’t need as much space.
Note: If you’re going to declutter your CDs you could look at making some money from your old CDs while you’re in the process. This can be at places like Ziffit and Music Magpie.
Where Will You Be Storing Your CD’s?
Next, you want to work out the best place for your storage.
Usually this will be next to where you’ll be using (playing) them – i.e. where your CD player is. The most common rooms are Living rooms, Family rooms, and Bedrooms.
Remember as well that you’ll want them to have easy access for everyone who’ll use them.
Do You Want To Store Them In Their Cases?
Have you considered storing your CDs out of their bulky cases, to save some storage space?
You may have not realised this was a possibility – because they are in their cases to protect them, right?, well – yes – but don’t worry.
You can buy specific CD sleeves that you slip the CD into and then add the CD cover as well. In fact, I did something similar to this with my DVDs recently and LOVE the saved space!
Or you can even make your own envelope for them to avoid them being scratched – as this video shows:
So before you decide on the storage space you need to have for your CDs – consider whether you would be better removing them from their cases.
Only you can decide if the pros outweigh the cons and if it’s the right solution for you.
NOTE: One of the main reasons to keep your CDs in their original cases is if you need the case again (say, if you decide to sell it at a later date). This can be achieved even if you remove them from their cases because you can store the cases out of the way (or a few of them) just for that eventuality.
Best CD Storage Solutions
Now you know how many CDs you’re storing, where you want to store them, and whether they have their cases or not – you’re ready to pick the right storage for that space.
Here are a number of ways to look at using to store your precious music collection. Just work out what will fit the space and room you have – and good luck!
#1 – Shoe Boxes / CD Boxes
Storage boxes are a great way to house your collection out of eyesight but still accessible. Any boxes can be used, but you can get specific CD boxes that are the right size.
- Pros: A good option for small spaces. Affordable price (could use shoe boxes free).
- Cons: Can get messy for large collections – as you’ll have to have lots of boxes and then finding what you want could be time consuming. Also, you need to make sure you get boxes that are the right size, otherwise you’ll have a lot of wasted space.
#2 – CD Storage Bag / Case
A simple bag with zip, or a case, can be a great solution for CDs that you want to keep, but don’t need to use all that often.
- Pros: Great if you need to travel or carry them around anywhere. Also good for longer term storage.
- Cons: They can’t be nicely displayed in this storage, and aren’t as accessible so you wouldn’t want to store CDs here if you want to play them a lot.
#3 – CD Wallet / Binder
This is a simple way of storing lots of CDs so you can see them all easily – in a folder full of little sections where you slip a CD into each one.
- Pros: Great for travel, for the car, or for carrying around if you want to play them in different rooms.
- Cons: You have to take the CDs out of their cases, AND potentially not have the slip cover as well. It also isn’t the solution if you want to display your CDs.
#4 – CD Rack
These are usually small-ish and stand on a desktop or cupboard. They look like small bookcases with sections for each individual CD to be put into (with its case). You can them easily read the spines to get what you want out as it’s open storage. They can be made from many different materials (metal and wood are popular choices), and come in a variety of sizes.
- Pros: They are great for fitting into small spaces.
- Cons: You’d need a few for large collections.
#5 – CD Storage Unit / CD Storage Tower
Similar to the CD racks as above – but these towers are usually floor standing and larger as a result.
They don’t have the individual storage compartments, and are usually more bookcase in style.
- Pros: All CDs are on display so it’s really easy to grab what you need. You can also get really narrow towers so they can fit in small spaces well.
- Cons: Can look quite cluttered.
#6 – CD Storage Furniture / Storage Cabinet
A great option for when you want your storage to match with your interior design, and for the storage to be hidden (i.e. can’t see WHAT’S stored in it).
- Pros: Because you can’t see the CDs, you could house the storage unit anywhere and it won’t look out of place. It can also match with other furniture in the room really well.
- Cons: Easy to forget they are there, or what you have.
#7 – Wall Shelves
Wall shelves are an easy way to store CDs and work well for this type of storage because CDs are very shallow and so the shelves won’t have to be too wide and bulky on the wall.
You could choose any wall shelves (bookends or something similar would have to be used alongside as otherwise the CDs would fall off just like books would!) – or you can get specific CD storage shelves which have vertical sections to hold the CDs in place.
- Pros: You can have as many shelves in whatever pattern on your wall as you’d like – so there are loads of design choices available. This also wastes less space because each shelf can be the right height above another one. Lastly, You can also easily add extra shelves if your collection grows.
- Cons: Can look less stylish on a wall if not thought out well – and if you have loads of CDs then it can look quite messy.
#8 – Entire Wall
For large collections, why not go the whole way and create a full wall of bookcases for your CDs?
You could look at creating a great design by sorting by colour (rainbow effects look amazing done this way).
- Pros: Can create a great looking, organised space.
- Cons: You need a lot of CDs.
#9 – Entertainment Centre
When you’ve got a lot of space available, and lots of media items – the best solution may well be a full storage system for everything.
- Pros: You can mix and match what you store in the space – so if your collection changes in terms of contents – you’ll be able to change what you store, where.
- Cons: Takes up a lot of room – you may not want one large item of furniture like this.
#10 – Use a CD Visor Storage Solution For The Car
Another place that CDs are often used is in the car.
You can of course have a wallet or similar (#2) in the glove compartment, but you could also have a car visor storage solution.
This is simply a place where you can slot a few CDs for easy access when you need them.
CD Storage – Options Available
I’ve collated all the best options available at time of writing – so it’s easier for you to take a look at everything in one place. Hope it helps!
Note – Clicking on any item below will take you to the store so you can see details and purchase – for your convenience. The links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission for any purchase you make – at absolutely no cost to you, of course.
There you have it – loads of great cd storage ideas to consider for your home.
The best thing to use to store your CDs is whatever works for you, really.
Make sure you make the most of the space you’ve got available for them, that you only keep what you really want and need to, and that you can easily see what’s there – and you’ll be golden!
Lastly, if you’ve got any thoughts on any of these ideas, or you’ve got one to add to the list – please let me know in the comments below…
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