Have you built up an impressive CD collection and now you’re wondering how to store them? In this article we’ll look at over 17 CD storage ideas so music lovers like you can store and FIND their CDs when they want them.
The list of ideas includes:
- CD storage boxes
- CD wall shelves and clips
- and other CD holders
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How to store CDs? – List of CD Storage Ideas
Many people still love their physical music collection like CD’s, and they aren’t ready to part with them despite the emergence of streaming music platforms.
If we look back – say 15 years ago – lots of people had a large entertainment center in their living room that was flush with shelves, cabinets, and drawerss to store CDs, DVDs, video games and then Blur-ray discs. Those big entertainment centers are not extinct, but they’re probably on the endangered list.
So you may have to rethink the way you store CDs.
Hopefully some of the great CD storage ideas featured in this article will help you.
Make sure to scroll through them all to find the best way for you to store your own CDs.
1) First Step is to Donate or get rid of the Discs you don’t want
People used to spend so much money buying albums for only one good song. Then you overplay that song and you don’t want to listen to it again.
And if you do want to listen to it, you’ll probably just put it on Spotify or YouTube instead of digging out the disc.
So go through your old CDs and be honest with yourself. Do you really want to keep that disc? If not, pass it along.
(And if you want the music but not the disc, you’ll like the last option in this list.)
Now that you’ve got rid of the discs you don’t want, have a look at what is left. You can now gauge how much storage space you’ll need to dedicate to the remaining discs.
Will you still need a big storage unit , an entire wall of shelves, or just a small shelf or CD wallet?
2) Store your CD’s on a Metal Wall Shelf (U-shaped CD storage shelves)
The company Wallniture makes these cool looking, U-shaped, metal wall shelves. The screw holes are located so the shelves look like they’re floating on your wall. There are no bulky brackets below the shelves.
If you keep the CD’s in their original plastic cases (called jewel cases) then you can store them on a shelf much like tiny, thin books.
For extra organization points you can sort them in alphabetical order of the musician and label the letters on the shelf.
Using wall shelves like these can be a decorative way to store and display your music collection.
Shelves are a great option if you have collector box sets that you don’t want to get rid of. Some of that material may not be available on streaming platforms, or there may be printed material in the box you want to keep.
This is a good option if you have the wall space for it, it’s a great way to store your music and still have it within easy reach, near your CD player.
3) Put up some wooden storage shelves
You can put up some wooden shelves on your wall to create a cool place dedicated to storing your CD’s.
You can find brackets and wood planks at most hardware stores to create wooden shelves that fit your needs.
Remember to screw into wall studs so your shelves will support more weight.
(And as you can see by the picture above some old VHS tapes make decent bookends to the shelf.)
4) Get a Wooden Music Cubby (by Texas Crazy on Etsy)
The product photo of this rustic-looking wooden CD storage unit doesn’t do it justice.
Some of the customers on Etsy have submitted their own photos of what it looks like with their CDs in it, and it looks awesome.
Check it out for yourself…if you love rustic decor like this, this may be just what you need to hold your CDs.
The maker – Texas Crazy – can make this is 31 different variations that correspond to how many rows and columns of CD storage cubbies you want.
5) CD Storage Tower
Narrow CD storage towers like this used to be really common until streaming became popular and pushed physical media out of the living room and into dusty storage rooms.
But CD’s can take a place back on display in your living room with a tower like this. You’ll just need to have the floor space to put it.
If you place the tower near your CD player you’ll have easy access to your tunes.
And storing them alphabetically by artist will make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Or you could dedicate sections to different genres, then alphabetize the bands within that genre so you can pick music that you’re in the mood for.
This is the 80-disc model from the company Atlantic. (Can hold up to 80 CDs.)
6) Get a clear plastic CD case holder (holds 30 cases)
The company STORi makes these clear plastic CD jewel case holders.
Once you slide your CDs into the holder you could put this on a shelf, table, on your desk, etc…
A nice and tidy way to store up to 30 discs.
This is a good option if you want to keep your CDs in their original jewel cases – liner notes and all.
It isn’t a good choice if have you several thick CD’s (like double disc sets) or slim cases because this only fits standard-sized jewel cases.
7) Metal CD Storage Baskets
The company MyGift makes these metal, mesh storage baskets for CDs. One of these baskets will hold 24 CDs in standard cases.
This type of storage baskets could look good in a home office, or up on a shelf.
Click here to see more info on these metal baskets.
8) Store Seldom Played CDs in Shoe Boxes
If you have CD’s but you honestly don’t listen to them much anymore, yet it breaks your heart to throw them out, you can store them in shoe boxes or other storage boxes.
Keeping the CD’s in their original cases, slim cases, or sleeves will help protect their fragile surface from scratches.
Then once in the shoe boxes you can store them on your closet shelf, under the bed, or anywhere else they’ll fit. (Just remember where you put them.)
If you don’t have shoe boxes at home, you can buy a box like the one below.
9) CD Storage Box
The company Snap-N-Store makes these double-wide CD storage boxes that will hold CDs in jewel cases, slim cases or sleeves. (So it gives you options on how you can store your CDs.)
Obviously the thinner the storage case the more discs will fit in here.
These boxes are available in white, black or berry colored.
It has thousands of ratings on Amazon and currently has a really high rating.
10) Store your CDs in Plastic Crates or Bins
You can store CDs in various plastic storage crates like this one.
I’ve had this little crate for years. I don’t know if the company is even around anymore, but you’ll likely be able to find something similar…perhaps even at your local dollar store.
And what’s cool about cube-shaped bins and crates like this if you can have them standing upright – like in the picture above – or you can put them on their side like in the photo below.
11) Store your CDs in a Vintage Soda Crate or Beer Box
An old soda crate like this works well to store your CDs AND they look really cool.
These particular Pepsi crates are from the Etsy seller FoundInAttic. They claim they have thousands of crates available (at least at this time).
So check them out if you want a cool and unique way to hold your CDs.
12) Store your CDs in a CD Binder
If you’re willing to ditch the plastic cases, then storing your CDs in a binder like this can save you a lot of room.
It’s a great way to store your CDs. It doesn’t take up much space and your CD’s are still easy to find. Just organize your music by alphabetical order and you can easily find the album you want.
You can remove the paper liner notes from the original plastic case, recycle the case and tuck the liner notes and CD into the storage pocket of the binder. (It can be a little tight getting the paper liner notes into the plastic sleeve but it’s doable.)
How many binders you need will depend on the size of your collection, and how large of binders you buy.
We use a separate binder to store our DVD collection too. We got rid of the DVD cases and use binders for most of our movies. You can also slip the movies into a DVD wallet if you don’t have that many in your collection.
13) Get a CD wallet to store your discs
If you want to ditch the CD cases and streamline your collection to fit in one tidy package, consider getting a CD wallet like this one from UENTIP.
This is the 96-disc version, but they also make a smaller 48-disc version too. (Though the 48 disc model doesn’t come in as many colors as the 96 disc version.)
14) Store your CDs in some cube furniture
If you have an IKEA Kallax unit or another type of cube storage furniture you can dedicate a cubby to your music collection.
In this photo you can see standard CD cases along with slim jewel cases and some video games in a cubby of an IKEA KALLAX unit.
15) Get a wall-mounted CD Rack
This is a unique wall-mounted CD rack. As you can see by the product photo above it holds both DVDs and CDs.
Below is a side view of the product so you’ll know what you’re getting with this option.
You screw it into the wall and then put your CD cases into the slots.
This could be an option if you don’t have the floor space for a stand, and you don’t want to put your CDs on shelves or in a binder. There are lots of ratings for this product, but some people say it isn’t the most elegant product.
16) Get some of these wall-mounted ‘CDMount’ brackets (Etsy)
Don’t these look awesome!
If you want to proudly display some of your favorite CDs, check out these plastic CD mounts by CollectorMount on Etsy.
The product is really well-rated and customers love how the decor adds to room.
Another great thing about these mounts is that they are adjustable. So you could also use them to store 8-track tapes, license plates, and narrow metal signs (like street signs).
Click here to see more pics of these neat CD holders.
17) Car CD Visor Organizer
Does your car have a CD player? If it does and you want to keep some discs in your car, you can look into getting a CD visor organizer like this one from Wisdompro.
It is well-rated with thousands of ratings.
18) Make Digital Copies of your CD’s and ditch the physical copies
If you want to get rid of physical media completely – but you don’t want to waste the music library you’ve accumulated – you could copy the CD’s onto your computer. We used to call this ripping a CD. (Do they still call it that?)
Having your music on your computer in digital format will allow you to put it on your phone or other device so you can easily bring your tunes with you. (Without needing a wheelbarrow to haul around your entire collection of CDs.)
This is one of the best options if you have a small apartment, or you simply don’t have a CD player anymore. Many new car stereos don’t even have CD players anymore.
Thanks for checking out these CD storage ideas.
I hope at least one of these ideas will help you get your CD collection nicely stored and organized.
How to organize your Entertainment Center (if you still have one)
