A Place for Everything...Entertainment Center

 When the Mister and I were both bringing home the bacon, life (as in the shopping carelessly life) was sweet.  One of our vices was buying DVD's.  Every Tuesday, the new releases would come out on the shelves, and we would toss them in the cart, even when we weren't sure if we'd like the movie.  The justification at the time? It still didn't cost as much as going to the theaters. Needless to say, now that I am no longer contributing to the cha-ching, we've gotten smart about all that spending. However, those five years of living large has left us with a fairly impressive media collection. And it hasn't escaped my organization overhaul project.

At first, we opted for the three-ring binder solution:

Problem: It was too much trouble for SOME people to find the empty slot to return the disc to. We ended up with stacks of naked DVD's stacked on top of each other NEXT to the binders.

Ikea to the rescue one more!

Knos box for $7.99/ea. A bit pricey for Ikea standards, but still a bargain.

I loaded up on these, buying enough for what we have plus a couple more for future additions.

You can get these sleeves anywhere, but the ones at office supply stores are priced better.  Some are half plastic/half paper, but I prefer the thicker 100% vinyl ones.

We split up the DVD's into categories and placed them in the assigned boxes in alphabetical order.  (It may be excessive, I know, but I will always be able to find the movie I'm looking for)

They fit perfectly in the Ikea Billy bookcases that flank the TV.

I like that there's no visual clutter (although I must work on doing the same thing for my books), and I love the oodles of space I've saved. Another project in the works: make labels for the boxes...at a later time...

Here is our media center in the living room. Don't mind Diego...I was not prepared to fight with Liv to turn it off just so I could snap a pic.

The girls are the ones who play with the Nintendo Wii, and they know to put their nunchucks and all in the box next to the console.  Also, on the lower right-hand shelf sits a box much like the DVD storage that houses the DSLR and video cameras and their respective chargers. 

**Please ignore the window behind the TV. It's an eyesore, and the placement was NOT intentional, but I had run out of viable options**

The hubby's P90x and Insanity sets sit stacked to the left, and a little bin is the catchall for the extra game controllers, and the girls various portable electronics like the DS and iPod touches (once I find them).

The lower drawer separates the family/kids' games from Mister Dylan's more mature games.  I've tossed the girls' games containers and slipped them in sleeves to save space but I've kept the inserts. Dylan refuses to get rid of his cases because he continuously rotates his collection, reselling old games he's tired of or beaten for new ones.

So there is my media center work-in-progress.  Perhaps I will post an update once I get my jumble of books to look aesthetically pleasing in my bookcases.


And just to demonstrate how the same organizational methods can be applied to any style of home decor...here's a peek at my favorite sister's media center organization efforts:

Looking at this, you would never think, "Oh, this is where she keeps her DVD's!"

Isn't it beautiful?

Oh, and she made that piece of art in the back!

These CD storage boxes were purchased on the cheap from Walmart!

The index tabs keeps everything in its proper place!

Don't you just lurve it??? To see more of her lovely home renovation and decorating efforts, check her out here:

http://smittenbyabigail.blogspot.com/

Until next time!