Organize Media Drawers

Organize media drawers to make managing it easy. This will also help you enjoy it even more because you can find what you want to listen to or watch quickly.

First step when you organize media drawers is to take everything out of the drawers and group them into CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, video games etc.

Then create sub categories within each of the above mentioned groups.

You can categorize CDs by content (music, audio books, inspirational or self help, meditation, photos etc.). Music CDs can be divided into groups of instrumental (piano, violin, guitar etc.) and vocal and then by year (80‘s , 90‘s etc.) or type of music (classical, country, rock, jazz etc.). Store CDs within each category in alphabetical order of the artist or the title whichever you prefer.

Similarly sort DVDs by type like movies, exercise, cooking, spiritual, motivational, self help, home movies etc. Group movies again by genre (like action, comedy, drama, horror, musical, science fiction etc.). Sort them again alphabetically by artist or title. Keep collections of movies together (example: Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings).

Sort and group children’s movies separately by genre or type (like animated and non-animated) and then alphabetically by title.

Do the same with the video games.

Home movies and photo CDs an be grouped by person, occasion (wedding, graduation etc.) and year.

Donate or sell items you don't want anymore to make space for the once you want to keep.

You can make an “Excel” sheet or similar to keep track of what you own.

Next step when you organize media drawers is to put items back into the drawers.

If you have deep drawers that are not full extension, put what you use frequently in the front of the drawers. What you don’t use as often can be stored in the back.

You can use divider tabs cut to size to separate each group. Divider tabs have raised edges where you can put labels on. Cut them so that the labels rise above the group of CDs and DVDs making it easier to find what you want.

You can also reuse cardboard pieces, notebook covers, greeting cards or any kind of thick paper (like card stock) instead of divider tabs to separate each category of CDs and DVDs. Card stock comes in different colors if you would like to color code each group of CDs and DVDs. Cut the paper with a little raised edge or you can get self-adhesive index tabs (that are write-on or with printable inserts) at supermarkets or office supply stores to write/print category names.

You can buy drawer dividers to create compartments for each group of CDs, DVDs and video games within a drawer.

You can make your own drawer dividers using thick cardboard pieces (or thin pieces of plywood or MDF) cut to size. If using plywood or MDF, cut it a little smaller than the depth of the drawer (but needs to sit snugly) so that you can put scratch guards on both ends to prevent damage to the drawers.

If your drawers are tall or deep, put CDs and DVDs in boxes and label the boxes like "Drama: A-C”. You can get inexpensive plastic boxes or baskets from super markets or dollar stores for this purpose. Another option is to reuse shoe boxes or shipping boxes. You can stack these boxes to utilize the height of the drawers. Using boxes will make it easier to get to the ones at the back or bottom. You don’t have to take out all CDs or DVDs in the front (or top), just the box in the front (or top).

See if you can arrange the CDs/DVDs in such a way that the spines with the title are facing you allowing easy identification.

A space saving option when you organize media drawers, especially if you have limited drawer space, is a CD Wallet or a CD/DVD binder. They come in a variety of sizes (like 24, 112, 320 Disc etc.) and are available at supermarkets. These are very economical and holds a lot of CDs and DVDs. They take very little space because they are not as bulky as actually keeping the CDs and DVDs in their cases. You can use index tabs that are write-on or with printable inserts to create labels for each category and stick to the edge of the binder pages.

You can then store the empty CD/DVD cases in a storage area like the basement, utility room or attic. You can reuse shipping boxes for this purpose.

Enjoy your newly organized media drawers. Be sure to maintain it.

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