Are you Elegant, Stylish and Obsessive?


Here's a problem that is driving me insane:

I have a very modest collection of software compared to many of you, but even with only 300 ish CDs and 100 or so DVDs, I am already going out of my mind with jewel boxes, DVD cases etc.

Many of my friends simply buy the big, unnaturally fibered zippered storage books and discard their jewel boxes, but I find these cases quickly become very heavy, they are aesthetically unpleasant to look at and to hold, and the pages themselves become heavy when filled with discs. A very mass produced, low rent solution, in my opinion.

I thought I had an idea buying a 300 disc changer, thinking I would alphabetically file the CDs and/or movies in the changer and then paste only the paper notes (without discs) in gorgeous, hand made in Florence, leather bound books/photo albums which could then be flipped through quite pleasantly while sitting in front of the fire, remote in hand.

This however seems harder than I imagined. Would I keep just the liner notes or the notes from the back of the CD case as well? How would I fasten them into the pages of the leather albums to save them and review them easily?

It seems that the sizes of the leather albums are always a bit off, they are very $$$ expensive, and then the process of retrieving a disc from my cheesy every day changer to then transfer into my SCD-1 or 9000 ES DVD player for more critical listening also seems to be impractical and a big pain.

Can anyone think of a way to perfect this system or suggest something else that will keep things organized, allow quick and easy access to all music and movies, and allow review of liner notes in a cool, sophisticated, aesthetically pleasing kind of a way without cluttering my bachelor pad or bookcases with jewel boxes or resorting to cheesey plasticky paged Case Logic etc albums?

Obviously, I could just keep them in a cabinet, organized alphabetically with dividers and perhaps with a halogen light etc, but that would be too easy.

I would also tear through different directors, musicians etc in a frenzy deconstructing the whole system in one weekend, and I am equally picky about furniture.

Has anyone else agonized over this? Let's hear your clever ideas and solutions!
cwlondon
First, consider a 200 milligram dose of Zoloft. I hear it works wonders for OCD patients. (I'm joking, of course...)

Second, check out www.rackittm.com They hve everything you need. I use their products myself, and am thrilled.
How about one of the hanging rack systems used by most dry cleaners? It would be an unusual industrial statement and could be affixed to the upper walls and ceilings of your "pad" while being aimed to gracefully slope, within hand's reach, @ your seated position. Either that or a nice "easy" cabinet with drawers and/or doors.
My solution was expensive but it makes me happy. If your taste runs to modern you also might like it. I bought shelving from Vitsoe (www.vitsoe.com) that has beautifully engineered metal shelves just perfect for CD cases. I lined one wall of my foyer with it. Two roughly 3' sections, each with 10 shelves, holds 1720 CD's. A 2' section with 10 shelves would hold 620 CD's.
Gthrush1- OCD?? obsessive compulsive diabetes?? what's that gotta do with anything!! :)
How about getting a stylish laptop computer and setting up a professional AD/DD/DA on a USB hub with 3 330 gigabyte outboard hard drives, and using a jukebox program to select your music. You could then pre-program your entire listening session at the outset, and never have to touch your remote or Cd player all night. If you want to see the covers and liner notes, you can scan them into your computer for viewing when you want. Of course, it's not Florentine leather, but....