I definitely need to make room in that space for a treadmill, but I'd also eventually like to put a futon, and possibly an extra TV in there (for J's video games). I'm kind of at a loss as to how to do all this while still keeping the room halfway stylish on a serious budget. Anyway, I'm contemplating using some sort of track storage system on one entire wall.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Figuring Out the Guest Room
We have a "guest room" that is totally unusable, because you can hardly walk in the door due to all the boxes and other crap on the floor. I think that the major problem is all of our DVDs. We have a TON of DVDs--when we were both working and had a lot of expendable income, J would buy 2-3 movies a week. In fact, when I was working, co-workers used to "rent" DVDs from us, lol! Anyway, we currently have tons and tons of DVD towers, bookshelves, etc. that are used to house all these movies. But I don't like that solution because it takes up so much floor space.
I definitely need to make room in that space for a treadmill, but I'd also eventually like to put a futon, and possibly an extra TV in there (for J's video games). I'm kind of at a loss as to how to do all this while still keeping the room halfway stylish on a serious budget. Anyway, I'm contemplating using some sort of track storage system on one entire wall.
Any other suggestions? How would you store 500 plus DVDs while taking up as little floor space as possible? And remember, we're going on a shoestring budget for this!
I definitely need to make room in that space for a treadmill, but I'd also eventually like to put a futon, and possibly an extra TV in there (for J's video games). I'm kind of at a loss as to how to do all this while still keeping the room halfway stylish on a serious budget. Anyway, I'm contemplating using some sort of track storage system on one entire wall.
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We just had this DVD problem actually. We bought a large DVD book that holds 500 and put them all in there to consolidate. We threw away the cases. It's nice to have them to look through and browse but this saves SO much space.
ReplyDeleteSell the DVDs! Cuts down the clutter and puts some extra cash in your pocket.
ReplyDeleteWe use a book too, and we put the cases in boxes in the attick since hubby couldn't part with them ;-)
ReplyDelete@ Peach- Selling the DVDs is not on the agenda. This post wasn't so much about paring down as it was about finding an appropriate storage solution for what we've got.
ReplyDeleteI have just under 400 DVDs and I got a couple of tall bookshelves on which to put them for relatively cheap (I think I spent $150?). They look nice now.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, cutting down on the movie collection is absolute heresy.
Lol, my first suggestion was going to be sell the DVDs. I'm not a movie person though, so I know I don't understand how awful a suggestion that is.
ReplyDeleteI would do the DVD book - I truly don't think that movies are ever going to be worth more than you paid for them, so I wouldn't hesitate to chuck the boxes for fear they'd be collector's items - but I guess you could store them if needed.
My husband is also a huge movie guy..... The cases take up so much space, so we just ditched the cases and bought a CD/DVD case to put all of the movies in. It takes up far less room and you can just get it out when you want to watch a movie. It's actually great.
ReplyDeleteDoes the room have a closet? My friend had a similar issue and they ended up putting shelving into the closet to accommodate all the DVDs. Since they didn't need the room for Hanging clothing.
ReplyDeleteWe definitely did what Heather said. SO much better! And who really needs all the cases anyway right? So now they are easily stored in a compact way!
ReplyDeleteWe have this storage cabinet. The depth fits a DVD so it's not very wide and doesn't take up a lot of room. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=9239637&findingMethod=rr
ReplyDeleteHoly moly that's a lot of DVDs! I like the pic you posted. Yes, Matt is Missouri Synod Lutheran. Thanks for giving me some feedback.
ReplyDeleteWe took all of our dvd's out of the cases and put them into the cd/dvd books that you can get anywhere. It saves so much space and it's very easy to organize by genre and alphabetical.
ReplyDeletewe had the same issue (my husband bought a ton of dvds in college) - so we did what others have suggested - bought a nice leather cd case for all of them. we chose a nicer one so that we could have it out in our living room without looking too junky. and it's actually pretty convenient to be able to flip thru the pages and browse. he couldn't bear for me to throw away all of the cases, so we just stuck the empty ones in a big box and stuck it in the attic. (of course we haven't revisited it since, but still!)
ReplyDeleteWell, we only have about 300 or so movies but we have A TON of seasons so...who knows how many that adds up to! Right now we use a large trunk, the dvds are organized alphabetically and there are two rows on top of each other. The trunk serves as a coffee table. It's not the greatest solution but I do like that it is out of the way and that the dvds don't become part of the decor. I have also tried storing them in a book as well as plain jewel cases but neither option really worked for us. It was too easy for dvds to "go missing" whether borrowed by friends or just disappearing into thin air...believe me, both hubs and I have been on a rampage more than once when the dvd is just gone-and neither of us are the forgetful type of person who would misplace it. Soooo yeah, the dvds stay in the cases now-if they leave the house they leave it in the case (which is much harder for people to loose it seems) and there is a book that must be written in whenever someone other than hubs or I takes a movie out. If you want to get them off the floor, the track shelving would probably be the way to go!
ReplyDeleteGo through them, make sure you dont have doubles. Then we bought a big DVD case that holds 750 DVDs. We labeled everything with a label gun, and tossed out the cases.
ReplyDeleteHmm- I don't know my parents have tons of DVDs ( I mean like well over 500- my dad went through a phase.) And my mother tried everything. First she got a DVD holder that held 300 DVDs - but then they out grew that. Plus it was hard to find what you wanted. they she got books and placed the DVDs alphabetically in them. But that is tough if you get more because you can't add. Not they just bough lots of skinny shelves. It isn't the best option- but it is what works. If you come up with a good idea let us know!
ReplyDeleteI like your shelf idea. And if you can handle not having them in alphabetical order, then you could always color code them. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy Hubby and I have over 800 DVDs because, well he's crazy and we have been collecting them since before we were married. When we moved into our new home my brother made a custom DVD shelf. It was great. :)
ReplyDeleteI bought the paper sleeves and wrote the name of the movie at the top of the sleeve. Then I bought 4 plastic boxes and divided the dvd's into 4 categories and put them in the boxes. The boxes are in a cabinet. I won't even pretend they are in alphabetical order :) but it's pretty easy to flip through them and a much smaller amount to store and let's face it, the dvd's aren't very attractive even on a nice shelf. I coudn't throw away the cases so they are stored under a bed.
ReplyDelete