Any CD/DVD storage options, consisting of pull-out DRAWERS?

I'm about to move in to a condo with my future wife, and efficient use of space is a must, considering we're downsizing to a space less than half the square footage of our two apartments combined.

It's clear that my industrial steel Boltz CD, DVD, and (perhaps even) LP shelves must go.

Among aesthetic and functional reasons, since I've been spending weeks converting 90% of my CD/DVD collection from bulky jewel cases and clamshell cases, to slim flexible clear plastic sleeves, the old "dowel rods" or bookshelf style shelf (like Boltz) no longer works, because the slick plastic sleeves tend to lean and slip through the open spaces.

Scoring much higher on "wife acceptance factor" scale (and honestly, they do look a hell of a lot better!) are drawers, such as ones found at Ikea. The idea is to have all CDs stored away in drawers, with minimal visibility, rather than out in the open like traditional "bookshelf style" CD/DVD shelves. Because of our limited space, we're going to put these shelves/drawers in our dining room area, adjacent to the living room. So they must look pleasant/appealing for a dining area.

KEY FACTORS:

• able to hold up to 1,000 inches of discs (measured across, as if stacked next to each other on a bookshelf)
• reasonably priced at around $1,000 or less for the entire set of shelving/drawers needed (so the expensive Atocha Design system is out of reach!)
• sturdy enough to hold the weight of all those discs packed into each drawer (skeptical of particleboard, in favor or strong, real wood)
• taller is preferable to wider (want to maximize the wall height that's available, and conserve precious floor space)

OPTION #1:
Ikea Pax/Komplement System
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/10998/

• Expected price: $1,000-1,300+
• Advantages: Can be built very tall (ideally we'd need 80 inches tall). Flexible enough to add regular shelves up higher, to hold box sets, etc. Wider shelves could make it easier to store DVDs along with CDs.
• Concerns: Can the particleboard of these shelves and drawers handle the full weight of all those discs in each drawer? Will get expensive after buying all the drawers/shelves to insert into the wardrobe unit.

OPTION #2:
We have also been considering a combination of Besta shelves and Inreda drawers.

• Expected price: $800-1,000 (including all drawers, etc.)
• Advantages: The right height and depth. Flexible enough to add regular shelves up higher, to hold box sets, etc. Wider shelves could make it easier to store DVDs along with CDs.
• Concerns: Can these handle the weight of all those discs in each drawer? Doesn't appear we can add sliding or swinging doors, so all shelves and drawers would be exposed.

OPTION #3:
Wayborn Addison 24 Drawer CD Chest - 5911R
http://www.racksandstands.com/Wayborn-5911R-WYB1478.html

• Expected price: $1,320 (for two)
• Advantages: Looks great. Each drawer is narrow enough that the weight of filling the drawer with CDs should not be a concern.
• Concerns: Not too tall at 51 inches (we could go up to 80 inches), so we might need to put additional shelves on top to hold box sets, etc. Those shelves would be exposed, so not very attractive (and will be right next to an open window, so I'm concerned about potential thieves noticing them). Narrow drawers, designed just for CDs, might make it tougher to efficiently store DVDs.

OPTION #4:
Leslie Dame Library Style 24-Drawer CD Cabinet - Cherry - CD-288-C
http://www.racksandstands.com/Leslie-Dame-Enterprises-CD-288-C-LE1080.html

• Expected price: $1,000 (for four)
• Advantages: Looks pretty good (though a bit too much like a library card catalog). Satisfies the drawers concept we're looking for.
• Concerns: Not very deep compared to other options, so more will be needed to hold the same amount of CDs/DVDs (would rather the furniture stick out ten more inches than take up more wall width). Would need to stack two of these on top of each other to get sufficient storage-to-wall ratio. Would need to secure them well if stacking. Would be tough to reach the upper drawers without a step-ladder. Not sure how sturdy they are for the price. Narrow drawers, designed just for CDs, might make it tougher to efficiently store DVDs.

Anyone have any other options or ideas?

Craig.

 

Can-Am
http://www.can-am.ca/

 

You need to be careful if you do your own drawers, that the drawers will hold the amount of cargo you want it to without crashing down, the hardware for the drawers will support them when full, preferably while extending all the way out of the cabinet like file-folder drawers do, and the drawers will be small enough to not be a burden (without necessitating more drawers that displace all that storage-space you're dreaming of.

While Can-Am is always brought up as an option, they are too wide and low for my tastes, too much metal for my taste, and the drawers are big enough to sleep a 3-year-old. If you want wood, that hasn't happened outside of custom design yet...but take heart...I live nearby a craft-happy Amish community...!

 

Ah, interesting choice. Don't know about the cold, office-style steel filing cabinet look, though. Probably won't go well at all in a dining room decor that's otherwise warm woods, etc. But I will certainly investigate and talk it over with my fiancee. These might turn out to be the best option overall.

Thanks for the tip on another option to consider!

Craig.

 

That's my recurring nightmare when considering the Ikea stuff. I'm sure the drawers are fine for holding socks and sweaters, but I can't shake the scenario of assembling a ~$1,000 Ikea unit, loading it up with all my CDs and DVDs (probably a few thousand, at least?), then going to bed after a hard day's work, only to be awakened at 2 am by the whole damn thing crashing down.

Yeah, the Can-Am's seem to be one of the most economical options that's designed specifically for the purpose that's the topic of this thread. But my fiancee's main complaint about the Boltz racks is how they're made out of steel. And any entertainment rack we look at that includes steel rods or shelves, she vetoes immediately and without hesitation.

While I'm fine with steel (obviously), I also totally get the warmth and aesthetic appeal of solid wood.

It's too bad the Can-Am drawers aren't designed to support real wood pieces that can be attached to the exterior of the top, sides, and drawer-fronts of the Can-Am furniture (the faux-wood mica top-panel just doesn't cut it!). I know it would significantly increase the price, but even if the options were available, I might be able to get my fiancee to agree to the basic steel units initially, then we could save money to get the wood pieces later.

I really think she'd go for shelves with the functionality of the Can-Am drawers, but the real-wood look and finish of the Wayborn Addison drawers illustrated in post #1. Oh well. . . .

Craig.

 

Can-Am drawers are lockable, with keys? I think that's what I'm seeing in a photo, but it's too hard to tell (or maybe I'm just tired; need to get to bed soon).

That could be a compelling advantage over other options that don't lock, as we're talking about starting a family in a few years. Would be fantastic to not have to worry about the child getting hurt while playing around these cabinets, or getting into the discs and "re-organizing" them for me.

Craig.

 

to your option of open ikea bookcases plus "drawers" i'll mention my "ikea billy plus wooden wine boxes" solution:

http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=3570888&highlight=#post3570888

acceptability of which would be dependent on two key spouse approval factors

1/ how acceptable is slightly funky

and

2/ to what degree are you guys into wine....

sorry no working camera these days to show this, but I did recently score 24 Opus One wine boxes in pristine condition, as well as several 60cm-wide Billy from craigslist... the "Wall of Opus One" is growing....

 

Yikes! I just measured and priced out the Can-Am units that I would need to buy to hold my CD/DVD collection, and the price is . . .

Over US$5,000!



http://www.can-am.ca/order-form.htm?MC3D=0&MC4D27=4&CABDR=2&CADDY38=2

(And that doesn't even include the CD/DVD dividers, etc.)

Talk about a budget buster.

Keep the suggestions coming. Are there any other sturdy but reasonably-priced options out there?

Craig.

 

If you do not absolutely need the drawers but still want to have the CDs hidden from view then you can try the Leslie Dame CD-612VM. This is an armoire type of cabinet that opens up to traditional shelves.

At first glance the unit does not look like a media cabinet at all but a nice piece of furniture. I have one of these myself in my listening room and have been very pleased. It looks great, made of real wood with suprisingly robust construction for this price point (dovetail joints, etc) and I have it fully loaded and have experienced no problems with its sturdiness in 2+ years.

 

Yeah, I really need the drawers. As I mentioned earlier, I'm in the process of converting all of my jewel cases and clamshell cases (for DVDs) to slim, flexible clear plastic sleeves. The downside of that conversion is that "bookshelf" or dowel rod types of shelves are out of consideration.

Looks like the Leslie Dame CD-612VM would hold just a small fraction of my collection that I intend to keep in the original cases. Namely, MFSL CDs, Audio Fidelity CDs, SACDs, and DVD-Audio discs. And the way the doors swing out means I'd need to keep some space open on either side, so it's not practical if I wanted to tuck it in, amidst other shelves.

To give everyone a rough idea of what I'm talking about when I say I'm collapsing all my cases to slim plastic sleeves, see below for a couple of photos I took along the way (with irrelevant parts cropped out via Photoshop).

Typically, I'm seeing that about 23 inches of cases can be collapsed down to about 5 inches of space with the plastic sleeves. But I can no longer stack them like books, as one would do on Boltz shelves, or in the bookshelf styles like the Leslie Dame.

The Can-Am drawers appear to be a great solution . . . except for the steel construction and the high price.

Craig.

 

What sleeves are you using? I had a cabinet built for what you are doing but I have never been able to afford the sleeves.

Pat

 

*sigh* Man, do I hate repeating myself but...$600:

 

I've got FOUR of those apothecatry cherry deals you have pictured for JUST my DVDs and some CDs. The Blu Rays are elsewhere, and there's yet another apothecary-type dealio I have as well. Racks And Stands is my favorite online place for such.

 

I use sets of drawers by Jetmax Modular Storage. They are cubes of four drawers apiece that are the perfect size for CD's. We bought several of them from Michaels' craft store at under $20 a cube. We also got several shelf cubes which, when stacked on their sides, are perfect for LP's.

Unfortunately they were on clearance when we bought them and may no longer be available. I found only one online source for them and they were $89 a piece. If yoy have a Michaels' in your area you might check and see if they still stock it.

Jetmax markets to scrapbookers so you might check out any scrapbooking stores. Cheap storage is a big thing with scrapbookers, so there may be other products that cross over.

 

I'm using these sleeves, from Bags Unlimited:

http://www.bagsunlimited.com/cart/detail.asp?cat=2&subcat=71&product_id=scdgf4

500 for US$59.10 (plus 10% additional to ship across the Mississippi to the west coast).

Each one holds the back liner from the CD jewel case and the CD itself on one side, with the booklet tucket into the other side. Saves a lot of space (up to 75% space saved per disc)!

Craig.

 

Can you provide a link to where I can learn more about those shelves? What are the dimensions of the entire unit, and of the inside of each drawer? Does the $600 include shipping?

Craig.

 

Have you compared these to the way the jewelsleeves work? Can you still read the spines? The reading the spines part might not be that important in the long run because I will get a squeezebox or something. I just need somewhere to store my CD's.

Pat

 

have you considered putting everything in storage? (rip to hard disk and use squeezebox touch to play)

 

Have you seen these?

http://www.jewelsleeve.com/cgi-bin/...TGY&Store_Code=jewelsleeve&Category_Code=C003

John K.

 

Yeah, I've thought about that. But how many terrabytes of redundant storage would I need to save lossless FLACs for about 4,000+ CDs? 10 TBs? 20 TBs? More for "hot-swappable" RAID redundancy?

At one point I had a terrabyte of discs ripped to an external drive. . . . Took me weeks and weeks to accomplish. And then the drive died.

I didn't lose anything forever, since I have all the "hard copies," and I archived my work to DVD-Rs. But man, it was so deflating to lose all the time it took to rip all that stuff.

I'd also want to needledrop all my LPs, which is another 1,000 or so items, as well as 7" singles, etc. And I'd want to do those at minimum 96/24. So that's terrabytes more storage needed. . . .

I am still watching out for technology to catch up to the size of my collection.

Maybe in the future, I'll be able to buy a compact NAS server with an array of redundant 10-20 TB drives in it, for under $1,500. . . .

Craig.

 

I also live in a condo and use these. They fit perfectly inside those hallway closets with sliding doors (nicely hides the storage unit). Fortunately there is still enough other closet space so the lady still has room for hundreds of shoes (with about 6000 cds, its hard to grieve her for that).

 

Interesting . . . ! I was not familiar with this product until now.

Nice wood finish means the wife-acceptance-factor will be much higher than the Can-Am drawers. Relatively low price means I could get four 3-drawer units, plus two casters, shipped for under $1,500.

I would want to stack the units, 2-by-2, so I'd probably also go to Home Depot and get a single piece of plywood to put between the two lower and two upper units, so they're stabilized.

I will need to "run the numbers" to make sure that four 3-drawer units would hold all my discs, but it would be close. (And if necessary, I could go for two 3-drawer units and two 4-drawer units, to get more space.)

Do you actually use/own any of these chests?

Is there any sagging or bowing apparent under full load? I'm a bit skeptical of the "oak veneer" that's described. Could be really cheap particleboard that would eventually bend under the weight?

I wonder if they hold standard plastic jewel cases as well as the thin plastic jewelsleeves that they sell. Judging from the photos, I think the answer is "yes," but I thought I'd get confirmation if you already know.

Is the seller reputable?

Craig.

 

How many Can-Am drawers did you need to buy to store 6,000 CDs? (I assume you went for the standard 6 inch drawers?) Are the 6,000 CDs all still in jewel cases, or did you collapse them down to thin plastic sleeves?

Craig.

 

I converted my collection to the Jewell Trays, which are solid oak. I have no experience with the big chests, but the seller is reputable as far as my experience. Very communicative and lots of follow-up on orders.

John K.

 

*ouch*

storage is always an issue though with space at a premium