Sorting and Storing your CDs

The first thing you might ask when glancing at the title is why I still have CDs in the age of Spotify, iTunes and co. Good question. Here are my reasons, and perhaps those resonate with others.

• I started my CD collection in the nineties, and they are still in good condition. So why fix what ain’t broke?
• Looking after physical objects well, they can last long, regardless of technological change. (I know, I know in-built obsolescence) With digital, there is the risk of technology change or companies that provide services going bust and then what? You’d have to start all over again. At least with CDs or LPs, you can play them for as long as you have the equipment to do so.
• I want to keep my spending down, so I have the desire to keep my subscription to a minimum. The free version of Spotify contains too many ads for my liking. It is so easy to lose track of your expenses if you have unlimited subscriptions and direct debits.
• Further, you can get overwhelmed with the amount of music on offer and skip from one song or piece of music to the next without fully appreciating them. At least with a CD collection, even a fairly big one, your music consumption is more manageable.

So now we have established why I hold on to my CDs and why there might be reasons for others to do the same, I will give you some valuable tips for storing and sorting CDs.

If you have a lot of space in your house or have a small CD collection, why not store them on your bookshelf or a dedicated CD rack? Ikea has a CD shelf called Beno with the same design as their iconic Billy bookcases. I used Benos for many years. There are other CD storage racks out there. CDs can be placed alphabetically by artist or grouped by genre on a stand or shelf. This way, you’ll find it easy to locate any album you want to listen to.

As a minimalist desiring to eliminate visual clutter, I no longer store my CDs on open shelves. Instead, I use ring binders with plastic sleeves. Here I keep all my CDs by genre and by artist. This allows me to store hundreds of CDs in small spaces and eliminate visual clutter. In addition, all binders have the same design and look super clean on my shelf.

Alternatively, you could get a metal CD storage case, which you will have seen DJs use. This provides similar storage to the above-mentioned, with the advantage of easy transport.

There are also shoebox-type storage containers for CDs. These are good if you only have a few CDs as they take up more space than the above two solutions. Why not buy shoebox-type storage in lovely colours and make them a design feature in your home?

I hope the above has given you an idea of how to store your CDs and their value.

If you need help with the above or anything else, please get in touch with me via email or phone at [email protected], and I’d be happy to help.

trabantbettina

Bettina Anna Trabant, Founder of Life Organised, your professional organising and decluttering service in East London. Eco-conscious minimalist and avid tea drinker,