DVD Storage: Storing 600+ DVDS

DVD Storage DIY: Downsizing & Storing 600+ DVDS

We are moving in a couple of weeks and nothing makes you want to do a massive Spring Cleaning like moving does. It was time to downsize and condense our vast movie collection.

When we first moved in together, we went through all of our movies and got rid of the duplicate films we had.  Even then, when I started this DIY project, we still had 650+ movies to sort through.  Therefore, we went through our films again.

A rule that is used for cleaning out your closet was very helpful while doing this movie clean-up.  “If you have not worn something within a year, donate it.”  It doesn’t matter how much you like it or how well it fits; if you haven’t worn it in a year, it’s not likely you will be wearing it again.

I kept this in mind while going through my films and it helped me let go of quite a few them.  All of this may sound ridiculous to some of you who think “What is the big deal?!  With the internet, Netflix and new media, you can watch whatever you want, whenever you want.” While this is true, for some movie collectors, the DVD cases and having the hard copy of films is a joy. Getting rid of them can be a hard pill to swallow.  After going through the films again, I was able to sell/donate almost 100 films.

Now, all that was left to do was to alphabetize them all and find a better way of storing them.  Easy right? Just thinking of getting them in the right order made me want to cry but the end result was going to be worth it.

In order to save space, it was time to say goodbye to all of the DVD cases and put the discs into a different storage option.  There are several possibilities.  You can buy large DVD portable storage cases from Amazon or buy DVD sleeve pages and put them all into binders.  Alternatively, you can buy individual sleeves and store them in nice storage boxes.

I Pinterested for quite awhile, collecting different ideas and then I set out shopping to see what was possible.  If I had the time before moving to order nice albums online, I would probably have done that.  However, that was the more expensive option and I wanted to be as frugal as possible.

Luckily, Bureau En Gros (Staples) had CD/DVD sleeves on liquidation.  Regular price was $9.99, brought down to $5.97 and because of another sale they had, I got them at 25% off!  Trust me, I was thrilled.  I bought 6 packs of 50 Sleeves, that holds 2 DVDs per sleeve and it also came with labels. Grand total of around $30.

I then went to the Dollar Store and bought 7 Long Baskets which would fit the DVD Sleeves.  I only needed 4 of them to fit my approx. 600 DVDs.   I used the 3 extra ones for other storage around the apartment (CDs etc).  The baskets were $2.50 each, so I spent $17.50 on those.

While you may think that almost $50 is too much to spend on this project, keep in mind I got money back from the movies I was able to sell so all together, I only spent about $15 out of my pocket.  Compared to buying albums or cases on Amazon which can be $50 to hold 330 DVDs, this made much more sense financially.  This is only because of our large number of DVDs though.  If we didn’t have as many, it would definitely be easier to purchase a binder.

I proceeded to transfer each DVD from its case, alphabetically, into a sleeve.  Then, I wrote the labels for each one.  Was this a long process?  Yes.  I won’t lie- it took me quite some time to write out the titles.  It was all so organized, that the hand cramp was worth it.

This process can also be quite quick since the majority of people don’t have 600 DVDs to worry about.  Don’t let this task feel too daunting.  As an example of how much space is saved, the photo above is of 137 cases. All of the DVDs from those cases are in that one basket.  Talk about free space!

As for what can be done with the empty cases- since most DVDs are made from #6 Plastic, my original plan of recycling them was no longer an option.  I’m not sure if it is like this everywhere. In most areas of Montreal, the regular recycling won’t accept anything made from No.6 plastic.  I did not want my 600+ cases to be dumped in a landfill somewhere.

Pinterest has many ideas for using them in art projects, but I knew I didn’t have the time before moving.  A friend was looking for empty cases to hold his video games.  I donated many to him.  There are also eco-centres around Montreal in which you can drop large quantities of No 6 items off.  They may ask for all labels and wrapping to be discarded beforehand.  Many churches, libraries and other secondhand stores accept them so you DO have options other than just throwing them in the garbage.

Here is a photo of the final product- 5 full shelves of DVDs, front and back, now all on ONE shelf, in 4 baskets.  The rest of the bookcase can now be used for actual books.  Overall, this project condensed four different shelving units into 1 and I am thrilled at the space I was able to save!

Have you done this?  Any other ideas of what to do with all the cases that are left over?  Please comment below with any ideas!