So, I moved out into an apartment and my cd rack (generic Wal-Mart, holds like 500 cds or so) just isn't cutting it anymore.  Figure this is the best place to ask since a significant number of you have large collections.  What kind of cd case do you recommend?  Where are good places to buy them?  How much should I expect to spend?  I've also noticed that a lot of the cds I buy (LE's, box sets) don't tend to fit on a standard rack very easily -- stuff like the Final Fantasy XI box set, some of the game boxes that have soundtracks (Zwei!!) and big box sets like KH/Dragon Quest/Wizardry.  Something that could accomodate those would be nice, as they way I have it now they're kind of laying on the side at the bottom or stacked on the top of the rack.  My previous house was pretty dusty, this one doesn't seem like it will be dusty at all, but are certain racks better for preventing dust (closed ones?)?

Preferably I'm looking for something modern and glass, not really a big fan of the whole oak/wood/cabinet look, and I realize I'll probably pay more for that, but since my collection is already overflowing on the current rack, I figure now would be a good time to upgrade to something more stable that will last me a while.

The usual questions apply that I may have missed, and anything you may think of that would help me decide would be great.  Any help would be appreciated.

Wish I could help. I just shove my shit into protective plastic cases and hoard them in my lower drawer.

Edit: And with the stuff I bought from you mooks offa this site, even that is overflowing a little.

I have a big 'ol chest, or what you might call a "Footlocker" I stick my albums in, but that houses only about 200 albums (double cases counting as 2 albums), unless you stack 'em on top of the ones I have already slated at the bottom, in which case, it might be able to hold 400-600 albums, but then I'd have trouble getting at the ones on the bottom.

It cost only $50 at Target, and it looks a-very nice! I kind of use it as a gauge as to whether I should start selling or not; I just keep my 200 best that I listen to enough to keep, like, daily.

After all, it has wheels on the bottom, so when I have to move, I can just wheel the thing on out, instead of having to CARRY the thing in my arms.

But I like to rip all my music onto my computer, and then file it away into the chest; if you actually like the listen to the stuff off of the disc itself, this idea will probably prove less practical.

Right now, my CD storage is a bunch of U-Haul moving boxes I haven't bothered to unpack from the last few times I've moved.  Sometimes I think if I actually bother to get shelves and take them all out, then I will have to move and then it will be a bitch to pack it all up again.   =p

All of mine are adjustable Atlantic shelves with three of them being the smaller 4' tall by 2' wide rack type.  You can configure them to hold CDs or DVDs, and they hold around 300 CDs.  These sell for around $60 each (I paid about half of that).  The other two I have are bookshelf style and are nearly 6' tall and 3.5' wide.  They hold about 1,000 CDs, and you have a bit more flexibilty with reconfiguring shelves if you want it to be able to hold DVDs or boxsets.  I have only one of these setup right now since they're so huge and I haven't needed the second one yet (they also weigh 75 lbs, so be warned on that).  They go for $120 each (again, I was able to get them for about half of that).

I like the smaller rack ones better nice they're nicer to look at, more stable, and don't weigh as much in the box, but they simply don't hold very much.  The bookshelf ones are pretty ugly and not as stable, but the sheer number of CDs they hold is pretty great.

I recently had this problem, since I now finally have my own place where all of my games and CDs and whatnot are all together.  For my music I ended up going with two Ikea Leksvik towers.  They were only $50 and I'm really happy with the quality

Ikea site: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80073163

Them in my room: http://www.highlyderivative.net/~joe/Apartment/CDs.jpg  (They're awfully darn tall and I had a hard time getting a picture without it being a weird angle.  Wall brackets are a must)

I had originally wanted something with glass doors, but that will probably have to wait.  I DID manage to get something with glass doors for (75% of) my video game collection, though.  This is the Ikea Billy bookcase with Byom doors on it:

http://www.highlyderivative.net/~joe/Ap … /Games.jpg

And that whole wall, because I feel like it:

http://www.highlyderivative.net/~joe/Apartment/room.jpg

I'm really happy with all of that stuff.  Oddly enough, that's pretty much the only relevant Ikea stuff in my place.  I've mostly been getting furniture from World Market.  Ugh... stuff's expensive.

As far as other options, there's a place called Home Decorators (affiliated with Home Depot) that sells this piece of furniture:

http://www.homedecorators.com/P/Oak_Ven … Doors/120/

Had it come in a dark brown, I probably would've gotten one of those for my storage.  I saw one in one of their showrooms and thought it was really nice.

I have one of those clothing bins with the slidable drawers by Rubbermaid in my closet just underneath my shirt hangers. Costs about $20 at Walmart, and if you stand up a jewelcase on its spine it fits perfectly. I've managed to fill an entire unit with 650 CDs (which reminds me I need another because I have a box lying on the floor with about 200 more discs). Probably could get more in it without box albums and DVD-style cases.

I really came to the realization that unless you absolutely need to display them somewhere for easy access most CD racks just don't cut it.

Very nice post, thanks for the pictures and links.  I like the style of the Billy Byom with the door, but it looks like it's built more for game / DVD sized material.  I assume I could buy it and adjust the shelves accordingly, is there an ability to buy additional shelves (not the whole module, just the shelf that lies across), because I assume that if I adjust them to DVD size I'll be missing a couple shelves and will have a large gap between the bottom and the last shelf (larger than even the largest boxes I have).

For the rest of the posters, I'm mostly interested in organization, easy access and view-ability.  I'm done with the whole box thing, I've spent too much money on the cds I have to not show them off in a professional, organized manner.   I like the idea of a glass enclosure because it looks good and provides (hopefully) some protection against dust and such.

This is a good start, much appreciated, keep 'em coming!

* Edit: Also, side-note, is your cable modem on the floor on top of the plastic mouse "pad" that came with Mario Paint? lol

I have Ikea shelves, too, but I have the Benno towers.  10 of them.  They're all lying down on their sides because my ceilings are too low.  Before these, I had a couple Sauder CD racks.

I have the ikea expedit bookcases in black
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50103086

we have several of the 2x4 units and one big 5x5 unit in the bedroom..
the squares are each 14" inside... only drawback,, holy shit do they show bunny fur. in summer a swiffer doesn't even last a day...

when we goto ikea, i like going up to employees and asking about products but pronouncing them like a hillbilly

The Billy series is actually designed for books, not DVDs/CDs.  I just like the glass doors.  Yes you can buy additional shelves - the one in that picture actually already has two additional shelves in it.  To get more in, you'd probably have to drill a few extra holes (which I don't see being all that difficult) just because of the way the pre-drilled holes are arranged and the spots that are taken up by the door brackets.

Uhh... yeah, actually.  I love the SNES mouse pad and I've used it for aaaaaaaall kinds of things over the years (back when I was a teen and in my parents' house I used to put one on my bed so I could set a drink down while sitting next to it playing games on the TV in there... no spills!).

I have a basic setup. Since I mp3/computer everything I put them away in these:

http://www.bagsunlimited.com/cart/detai … _id=xcd100

and place the albums in these:

http://www.vgmworld.com/catalog/index.php?l=other

Edit: I don't have anyone (offline) to impress with any of my collections so displaying them is rather pointless.

I dont have many videogame soundtracks so it all fits on a book shelf section. I do have one of those towers though for my dreamcast games and a few others which holds quite a lot!

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p … 759638.htm

Maybe it would be a good idea for you too since you can adapt the shelves to different heights depending on the size of cd.