Extreme Space Saving: DVD Storage

Hi!

Space is a huge issue in our house - we have a three bedroom house, there are five of us, and I have an awful lot of stuff.

I saw this on Pinterest from Eat Sleep Decorate a while ago - I was so taken with the idea that I mentioned it in this post a few weeks ago.

I've been buying DVDs for over 14 years now - every so often I have a clearout but I'm still left with hundreds of movies and loads of boxsets that I really don't want to get rid of. BUT. They take up so much space, and I can never find what I'm looking for. Sometimes a movie I haven't seen in ages will pop into my head and by the time I find it, I can't be arsed watching it. When I saw this idea, I immediately ordered some blank cases on eBay. I used this seller, and bought 300 clear cases. There are loads of other sellers with the same products, and if you're willing to wait a few weeks, you can get them much cheaper from Hong Kong. 

I made a template from a piece of card and used it as a guide to cut the DVD covers down to size, then I traced around it making sure to get the title of the movie within the square. I had serious fun doing this - cutting stuff out was one of my main pastimes as a child (my Mam's friend used to give my sister and I all her Vogue and Cosmopolitan magazines to chop up). I don't know how I managed to NOT take any pictures of this process - but you'll know what I mean. 

Here's the difference between the entire six seasons of Dawson's Creek in original packaging vs all six split up into plastic cases (two discs to a case, but they'd take three at a very tight squeeze)

I bought a twin pack of storage baskets in Penneys for €8 (it had one big one and one smaller one) and another basket from Heatons for €5. I did almost 200 single movies, 60+ children's movies, and seasons 1-7 of Buffy, 1-6 of Dawson's Creek and Season 1 of Gilmore Girls before I ran out of covers - one basket for movies, one basket for children's stuff, and one basket for TV. 

I arranged the movies in alphabetical order, I didn't bother with the dividers - to make it easier, I just laid them out in piles on the table as I was going along - for example I'd put Mean Girls and Mermaids in the M pile, or The Blind Side and Beetlejuice for the B pile. It meant I could just pick the piles up and stack them one after another starting with numbers, right up to Z. 

I threw out all the plastic covers, my husband kept asking me if I'd regret destroying the proper cases but you know what, I can't afford to get sentimental about a load of plastic tat when it saves this much space. Seriously. I filled three huge black bin liners with cases and boxes - the amount of empty space they were taking up was unreal. I am unsure what to do with some of my big box sets like Ally McBeal, The X Files or Friends - they're already boxed so I might just leave them, but all the rest will be getting the same treatment when I order more sleeves. "But they'll be worth money some day" says husband - that is how people end up on Hoarders (he thinks everything will be worth money some day, I should make him read that Beanie Baby book). I will cry over my lost millions if DVD boxes suddenly shoot up in value - for now - I HAVE SPACE!! 

I genuinely can't believe that the entire household DVD collection fits into one corner of a press now, it's amazing!! 

After this picture, I decided I wanted to do the dividers, so I used some small envelopes and printed out some alphabet printables because I couldn't find my label maker (sadface). I put double sided tape onto the letters and cut them out. 

I cut the envelopes either side of the sticker to make it easier to see the letters.

I also wrote the names of the movies in each section on the envelope, that way I know what's there at a glance. 

I'm so tempted to do the CDs next......