Cd storage..what's an audiophile to do?

I built a few CD racks using 1" x 6" shelving with a sheet backing. This is VERY easy to do and can be finished to match other materials in the room. With the dimensions that i used, they hold about 450 cd's each. I still need to build at least one more and maybe two.

My collection is "loosely" arranged by Classical in one section, Jazz / Blues / "mellow" rock in another and Metal / Hard Rock in another. I do try to keep artists lumped together, but that sometimes doesn't happen. Sean
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I use a Tansu cabinet in the living room. It has five drawers that are suitable for CD's (on end) and will hold approx. 250 CD's per drawer. I place a length of wood in the bottom/back of each drawer so that the CD's do not extend to the very back. The drawers are closed when we are not searching for music and everything is out of sight. Any chest with many shallow, sturdy drawers will work the same. Ours is almost half full and I will have to figure out additional storage space eventually. I separate classical from soundtracks from popular music from World, though everything is a mess right now.

Check out the metal racks from Boltz USA if you don't mind buying online at www.boltz.com. Modular design w/ small footprint make them easy to "upgrade" and fit apartments/listening rooms of any size.

jdwek: know in advance that the finished basement in our house is, but for the laundry room, my exclusive enclave. (o.k., i do occasionally invite my bride of 34 years to watch a dvd or two). that said, i use 3 different cd racks, as much for aesthetics as "classification." (NB: i also store about 2,500 of 5,000 my lp's in self-designed, professionally built cabinets in my soundroom, too.) i have, first, a rotating soundstyle rack that holds 250 cd's; this stores my folk collection. second, i own a 1000 cd rack made by billy baggs. this is divided by my own classifications, only i understand; each classification is alphabetically arranged. (see "high fidelity," a great movie for record collectors; highly recommended.) the top shelf stores "boxed sets," other than classical. shelves 2 & 3 are devoted to classical music. shelf 4 is solely for grateful dead. shelves 5-7 are "rock," shelf 8 jazz, shelf 9 blues and shelf 10 soundtracks and musicals. a third cd rack, which hold about 300 discs, is built in as part of my lp storage units. it houses: (1) unopened discs; (2) "heavy rotation" and demo discs; and, (3) replacement jewel boxes. in addition, i usually have 100 or so discs on top of equipment racks and various tables i've not gotten around to storing. i have room for another 1000 cd rack but need more desperately to buy shelves for the rest of my lp's. i recommend your purchasing or building as large a cd storage system as you can accommodate. rest assured, you'll fill it sooner rather than later. -kelly

Flush them down the toilet, buy a turntable, listen to records. But.....if you have to..... I keep a collection of about seventy or eighty, for when I ride the train. I keep the jewel boxes in a horizontaly situated suitcase, that I sized to fit the jewel boxes. The discs themselves, I keep about twenty, in each of a number of case logic 12/24 CD wallets. Then I can just grab a CD wallet, headphones, and discman, before catching the train, Elmo.