media storage

Maybe you have a dresser that you can use? Also, maybe a filing cabinet? They sell trays for storing CDs in a filing cabinet.

The stuff you can't part with, convert! We just bought a DVD recorder from wal-mart for under $100 (way cheaper than paying someone). With the right cables you should be able to convert to dvd, and you can buy super-thin jewel cases--they even have packs with multi-colors, so you could organize by color while you're at it.

I also use the books for the CDs. We don't have many DVDs but I see that changing in the future and will also use books. I've been trying to get rid of the VHS tapes for so long, but dh wants to hold onto some. Finally I did the "these are mine from before we married and I can do what I want with them" for most of the VHS. The rest are in the garage because we don't have a working VHS player. We didn't have many audio tapes.

Purging most of our VHS did a world of good! I think we got rid of anything that wasn't sentimental and that was more than a couple years old. LIterally cut what we had in more than half. I think converting to DVD is a great idea as they take so much less space. I've seen the books to store them in and think they're a great idea. We should invest as our DVD"s never seem to make it back to the case and usually end up on a spindle.

You can buy unfinished wood racks (or make them, if you're really crafty!) for about $60 each, the biggest I have are 750 racks. I like those racks - though they work best for cds. I use old crates right now for VHS and Vinyl and stuff that isn't totally uniform in size. Not the best solution, but I kinda like they way they look. Also, don't know how much room you have, but you might want to think about rotating your stock. I know that sounds ridiculous, but my brother in law does that and it works out okay.

You can make a "media room" wall using the metal strips you attach to the wall and the movable/adjustable shelf supports that you hook onto it.

We attached the metal stips to the wall, then painted them to match the wall paint. The metal shelf supports go hooked onto this at whatever heights you want (the metal brackets and the shelf supports are at places like Home Depot for a couple bucks... you can do a whole wall for less than $20). For the shelves, you can get the ready-made shelves from Home Depot or you can make your own shelf boards - much cheaper. Most big home stores will cut boards for $.25 per cut and then you can stain then, varnish them plain wood colored, or paint them.

Here's some examples of this...
http://www.betterlivingthroughdesign...es/shelf02.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/9...ia_shelves.jpg
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuild.../bh0004_04.jpg
You can do a whole wall of these with only a power screwdriver, the brackets and shelf supports, and the wooden boards pre-cut by the hardware store (and something to "finish" the boards, like varnish or wall paint) for around $50!

Another great idea... if you can find cheap storage shelves that will fit your media, get several and put them side by side against a wall - it looks like a custom unit if you use several of the same thing!
http://www.gronlundfurniture.com/RecordCabinets.jpg

Do you have an Ikea near you? http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/store...61*15641*15963

Dh is in the process of copying everything to a hard drive that we'll plug into our entertainment system then we'll permenately store/get rid of the hard copies. It's a long process as he's a media hound as well.

My dad made us a wooden rack to hold our VHS tapes years ago. We're trying to downsize, but cd's and DVD's would also fit on it. He used wooden dowel rods, 3 per shelf, with 2 wooden sheets on each end...hard to explain and I don't know if you're handy or know anyone that is...but they're pretty nice. (And they do take up some space, but I put our keyboard and stand in front of it so it's not too bad.)