Best Way to Store Your DVD Collection — A Simple System
Some organising projects are easy; some are much harder. Learning to organise your DVD collection is pretty easy, but it still takes a bit of effort and thought.
Some questions to consider:
Do I want to save space?
Would I like my DVD collection categorised in some order?
If you want to save space, then all covers should go. This can become a long, time-consuming project, but you only have to do it once and then maintain it. A few summers ago, I went through all my husband’s DVDs (100s; he had a collection before we met); we put the plastic in one container, the papers in another, and recycled all we could.
We put all the DVDs into just under two dozen DVD wallets, and the space shrank to a tenth. We now have these DVD wallets in a storage footrest that goes with the couch. It isn’t cluttered anymore, and hubby didn’t have to give up his collection.
Organising your DVD’s and CD’s another way
Another option is a DVD/CD case or a multimedia cabinet. Your budget, home and requirements will determine your option. We chose the wallet solution as we wanted very little space and cost.
The next question is if you want to / need to categorise them. You could keep them in their cases and group them by series, genre, or alphabetical order. Whatever makes more sense to you. If you group them, it is a good idea to label the bookshelf to keep this system going, or label the wallet as well, and have tabs or flags when your groupings change. It depends on how many DVDs you have. If it is worth setting up a system, and it only takes 10 minutes to gloss through them, maybe a simple system is enough.
The key is to find a storage solution that suits you and allows a bit of growth. Needless to say, in the age of Netflix, we'll need fewer and fewer DVDs, but your storage solution should cover what you have and allow for extras over time.
I hope this inspires you and helps you organise your DVD collection.
Need to Learn more about organising?
Organising Room by Room walks you through every space in your home, one at a time.
A quick video on how to organise your DVD collection
In the video below I am organising my husbands DVD collection.
It was part of a very complex and cluttered room
I got rid of all the covers
We invested in a whole range of DVD wallets and CD pouches to tidy things up
I spent several sessions doing this – after session two it becomes oddly enjoyable
The payoff for doing this project has been 10x when we moved homes
And there is very little maintenance once you have learned how to organise your DVD collection
Let me know what you do with your DVDs and CDs when you want to organise and declutter them. I look forward to hearing from you.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Remove the plastic cases and paper inserts, and store the discs in DVD wallets instead. This can reduce the space needed by up to 90% while keeping the whole collection intact and easy to access.
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Whichever system you'll actually maintain. Alphabetical works well for large collections you browse often; grouping by genre or series suits smaller collections. Label the wallet or shelf so the system stays consistent.
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That's a personal call — but if you're keeping it, storing it efficiently means it takes up minimal space while still being there when a title isn't available to stream. A well-organised wallet system takes far less room than a shelf of cases.
