There was a time when I proudly displayed my collection of DVDs. Today, I’m embarrassed I still own them! A few years ago, I decided I could no longer stand the amount of room they were taking up in my home—they had consumed every inch of space in our entertainment center. I couldn’t bring myself to donate them and I knew I wouldn’t make enough money to justify trying to sell them. I set out to find a way to keep the movies but regain some space. I found a lot of good options so I’ll share them all, pick the one that works best for you.
Before you decide how to best store your movies, first, go through your collection and get rid of anything you know you’re never going to watch again. I spent many nights roaming Blockbuster picking DVDs to purchase—this was around the time Blockbuster realized it wasn’t going to last and they ran that ‘buy two, get one free’ promotion—it was impossible to find a decent third movie to take with you and I ended up with a lot of movies not worth owning, those were the first to go.
But, what to do with the remaining DVDs? Let’s explore some options…
Storage Bins
If you have a relatively small movie collection and you’re just tired of looking at the cases displayed out in the open, storing them in an attractive bin or basket can help them blend in with the decor of your home. These baskets or bins would look great sitting on a console table, entertainment center, or even on open shelving.
If you want to save on a little space you could transfer disks to slim jewel cases before storing them within a bin or basket. These hard cases will provide good protection for your movies especially if you are traveling with them or lending them out.
These thin plastic sleeves save you a great deal of space. I love that they allow you to save the DVD insert so it’s easy to recognize the movies at a glance.
This is the method I chose for our collection. I took an overflowing entertainment center of DVDs, transferred them into sleeves, and they fit within a basket I already had on hand. You’re looking at our entire remaining movie collection—about 130 disks. I have them stored alphabetically in two rows. Family-friendly movies are in one row so it’s easy for the kids to pick out their movies—of course, you could store them in a separate bin. This system makes it simple to flip through our movies on the rare occasion we actually watch a DVD, but they take up hardly any space so there’s no more guilt about hanging onto all these disks for a little while longer.
Album
If you’re going to store your movie collection within a cabinet, or take it in the car, I like this basic disk album. With a zipper closure, the disks will withstand being jumbled around. This option also allows you to keep the movie insert making it easy to browse or find the specific movie you want to watch.
This program allows you to convert your Blu-rays and DVDs to digital using your computer’s disk drive. You’ll pay a one time licensing fee to download and use the service, but you won’t need to purchase any baskets, bins, or albums.
VUDU is an app where you can watch movies for free (with ads), rent movies, and convert your movie collection to a digital library. Search the app for your movie, scan the proof of purchase barcode on the DVD or Blu-ray insert, and—typically for as little as $2—obtain the digital version for your VUDU library. Because you’re simply purchasing the digital version, there’s no risk of technical difficulties in the conversion process.
With so many options for streamlining your movie collection, there’s no excuse for owning a cluttered mess of Blu-rays and DVDs. VUDU gets my vote for the least hassle and most space saving movie storage hack. If you just can’t let go of the disks, give one of these other options a try!
Make it a Blockbuster night. Pop in a DVD and start organizing!
Just for fun, comment below with the number of DVDs + Blu-rays you still own!