Intro | History | Photos | Video Tour | Where/What to Buy | F.A.Q.

INTRO:
I documented my CD Reorganization System (back in February, 2004) for others out there who may be interested in an easy and affordable way to organize and store your 600+ CD's. In total, this solution cost me $68.85 (for 800 sleeves + A-Z dividers).

UPDATED FEBRUARY, 2006!
This page has been visited many times since I originally posted it 2 years ago. I get emails all the time from people saying how it helped, or how they adopted this system, too. So cool!

There were a number of things I have kept meaning to go back & edit on here, the biggie being that now I'm ALL Mp3 (contrary to what I had written in the original F.A.Q. at the bottom of this page - pretty funny!) and my entire music collection has been ripped (totaling to 120GB as of today) & lives peacefully on my External HD, "FattyGigger".

It's awesome to have my entire collection at the touch of a button, but I still get CD's here & there and because this system still lives in my house, it's easy to store them away. Except I must confess the impetus for me finally updating this page after 2 years has actually come from my being long overdue buying more sleeves for myself. I've long run out of my original 800 and have found I'm stacking CD's up again - so it's time to re-order! Since my original vendor isn't around, I searched around & am stoked to say I've found a few sites selling similar sleeves! See the Where/What to Buy section below.

Thanks for visiting & feel free to leave comments/feedback on this post or email me.

HISTORY:

MY OLD SYSTEM
I had gone "all book" around 2002. All book, meaning I let go of the jewel cases (just keeping the front artwork) and used large case logic type storage books, like the one in that photo: 3 of them.

All the CD's were alphabetized within the 3 books: A-L, M-R, S-Z and it worked for a long time, but the thing was, they weren't making 3 ring binder systems yet (hullo? what were they thinking?!) And so when I had originally put them in there, I had left space on every other page or so, but I new from the start it was gonna get outta hand. And it did.

Even when there was plenty of room, it was tedious to put the CD back in the book. And then obviously when I ran out of room I just started stacking them up. I literally had piles on my coffee table... of which I eventually started to put in alphabetized stacks thinking I might then eventually put them back in the books... but it was pretty much out of control at this point.

I knew I needed to get a new system... but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of just getting the 3 ring binder books because I knew that system was already tedious and not working even when I did have room. So I started brainstorming and looking around for a new solution.

RESEARCH FOR A NEW SYSTEM
I looked around a ton for new ideas/a new way to organize my growing collection.

When I found this site I was very inspired - however I knew I could probably create a similar system far less expensive than their solutions (which, for a collection of my size, comes out to around $300-$600 depending on what you choose!).

Something I found first was WOW, sleeves get marked up like CRAZY!! So many sites have like "25 sleeves for $15.95!" but for someone who wants 700 sleeves, that's $450! Quite the racket in the CD sleeves industry :) So I set out to find the most affordable sleeves. And I found them! (See Where/What to Buy)

I also needed to decide what type of sleeve I was looking for. There are a ton of different kinds... double sided sleeves, ones that have the protective fabric, etc. Well, I just wanted a simple sleeve with one space that I could put my artwork & CD in. AND I decided I wanted to have them be 3 ring so I could take the sleeve with me, using a 3 ring travel case.

PHOTOS:

Here's photos of the sleeves I bought & recommend:
	I keep mine with the CD in front. I know my CD's so I know what the actual CD's look like, but some may want to have their artwork in front instead.
	On this CD I just happen to take out the back flap to keep the song names, too. I don't usually do this as I just never finding myself needing them. If I ever want a song title I figure I'll just look it up online, so usually the back gets tossed (recycled) with the jewel case.
	CD & artwork slides in & out easily. Some of the books I found it very cumbersome to get the artwork in and out - so when I found it was easy with these sleeves, I was so happy! I also like how clear the plastic is, not foggy like some sleeves come.
Rogue Wave	WHY THE 3 RING HOLES? On the go you just take the whole sleeve with you! No having to find where the CD goes back in the book - the artwork & everything goes with you & when you want to put it back, you just pop it in the R's and you're done! Case Logic makes 3 ring binders. See Where/What to Buy.
How/Where my system is in my house (hidden away):
A-L under coffee table	M-Z under entertainment center

For my house I knew I had this space where I could slide them under and keep them fairly hidden away... And I felt that the low sides were key for easy flipping. So I went into BigLots to see if they had any cheap like under the bed things on rollers, and found these boxes with some (early Easter) stuffed bunnies in em :) So I asked if I could have some. Free! wahoo!

If you like the idea of a box like this, remember you can always find any old box & put some cool fabric or wrapping paper over it & make it blend in with your decor any way you want!

UPDATE: These open air boxes have collected dust, which isn't ideal. If you're a fanatic about taking care of your CD's you may want to make sure you find a storage solution with a lid. It just needs to be about 5'-5.5' high to fit the CD's & A-Z placards, like you see above. Recently I saw some nice canvas ones at Bed Bath & Beyond, so write down this measurement & look there to see if you find something you like. The boxes pictured above are 2ft. wide. Another option is below, which another reader emailed to say he's adopted and it's working well.

UPDATE 7/12/06: New photos! First, here's my new boxes (I did go buy the canvas ones I just mentioned above):

Hey look! FINALLY I'm posting some photos that a reader sent in, of his implemented system!

Todd's CD Organization System (inspired by this page! yay!)
Todd says he has about 250 CD's in each drawer (with space left over), and that he bought them at the Container Store where they come in many other colors as well as with legs so you could use it as a freestanding table. Here is a link to buy these drawers. Instead of buying the letter dividers that I use, Todd just cut up some old file folders and hand lettered them to suit his use, and used plastic to divide the 2 halves of the separated drawer. Photo #3 shows the individual CD in its storage jacket. He bought the jackets at CompUSA and they come in different amount packages of 50 or 100 per pack. They are double sided and can be inserted into Case Logic CD cases that utilize the hole punched system. Todd said he prefers to keep the CD liner notes and song list so he slid the song list part into the front, along with the CD, and slid the CD book into the back side pocket. Here are links to his CD sleeves and the Case Logic CD case he bought.

It was really cool for me to see how someone else had implemented it - THANKS TODD! Any other adopters out there? If you've implemented this system - send me photos!

There's many ways you can do this for yourself & your space. It's very customizable.

You can use a tray/box like mine - or use drawers or shelves! All you really all you need is support in the front & back, so you can easily make your own!

These images are from the DiscSox® CD storage solutions.

VIDEO TOUR:
A tour of my system (basically almost everything I've written here, but me talking about it on video)

Watch Quicktime Video (need free QT player)   Watch Video in Flash Same video, just in Flash for those who don't have Quicktime, but think they have the Flash plugin

Note: These files are somewhat large... a fast connection is recommended. I would love to hear feedback on how they're playing on dial up.

WHERE/WHAT TO BUY:

CD SLEEVES:

Clear plastic (vinyl or polypro), 3 ring binder friendly, and extremely inexpensive... The least expensive sleeves I found were through EnPack. 800 for $40 - only .05/each!.

EnPack is apparently not around anymore, so here are a few new options:

• Meritline Clear Vinyl CD Sleeve with Binder Section - BEST DEAL! and these are exactly like the original ones I ordered! SWEET!
  $100 for $9 (.09 each) Same sleeves also for sale on cdrdvdmedia.com
   
• Shop4Tech Crystal Clear CD Vinyl Sleeve - No flap or binder holes - 300 for 33.00 (.11/each)
   
• Meritline Clear Binder Pocket - 200 for 27.99 (.14/each)
   
• Polyline Corp Vinyl Sleeve w/ binder holes - holds 2 cd's or 1CD + artwork. Order the 500 for $85 (.17/each) or 100 for $22 (.22/each)
   
• Shop4Tech White CD Double-sided Sleeve - I don't like these, but you might. And they're cheap: 500 for $30 (.06 each)
   
• Sleevetown has some affordable options, too.

Hopefully these links hold up for awhile. Please let me know if you find another good resource. Thanks!

DIVIDERS:
I went ahead & bought the alphabetical dividers from DiscSox® - but if you took a little time, you could easily make your own and save an extra $20.

STORAGE UNIT:
As I mentioned at the bottom of the photos section - you can easily create storage using boxes, crates, shelves, drawers, etc. I'd love to hear about what you create! :) Email me.

ON THE GO:
For taking your CD's with you - you can use Case Logic's 3 ring binders... 30 capacity or 60 capacity.
You can find these in your local Best Buy type of store or on Amazon, too.

F.A.Q.

Why not just burn everything to MP3?
Personally I like still having actual CDs. I like to take them with me in the car, take them over to friends houses, pop em in at parties, and just overall I enjoy listening to each as a full CD experience, not just some blend of a mix or something I have to navigate to on an interface.

Not that I'm against that (MP3's/having everything digital) by any means. I actually really like the idea - and enjoy all the MP3's I have on my computer now, etc. I'm just not ready to make the switch over entirely. It takes a lot of time to do them all - and I'm sure I'll get to it at some point... but right now I like my 5 CD changer - and have a CD player in my car, etc. So... all MP3? Cool... just not for me... yet :)

2/06: As I mentioned in the Intro, I'm now all MP3! :) It only took about a year after I had posted this. I heart my iPod. Now if they would just make one that would hold 150GB so I could take everything with me and not have to constantly negotiate the 60GB! People have bigger problems though, eh? :)

Hope this has helped you in some way. Please let me know if you adopt the system!

Intro | History | Photos | Video Tour | Where/What to Buy | F.A.Q.

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