A Simple Guide To Showing Off Your Record Collection
Updated: Sep 11, 2020
Your records are all over the place, the jackets and vinyls are mismatched, and you can’t seem to figure out how to organize your collection in a way that won’t leave your mom disappointed when she comes to visit your new place. We get it, we've all been there. Young, free and careless with our vinyl records.
Now you're finally looking bring some sense of calm, cool and collected (pun intended) to your living space and want to organize your records as well as do a little decorating. Well, we've come up with a few ways to help you out. This post will guide you through a few steps to create an organized record collection that even your in-laws will admire.
Choose The Best Storage Cabinet For Your Space
A key step to obtain a well-organized and presentable record collection is having a legitimate record cabinet. No cardboard, no milk crates. Our line of high quality handmade record cabinets will fit into your space, no matter how large or small.
Our small record cabinet with an accessory drawer is perfect for urban
dwellings or people with smaller record collections. The 75-100 LP capacity record cabinet can act as a stand for your favorite turntable and still impress your family and friends.
Our medium record cabinet with a 150-200 LP capacity fits perfectly into mid-sized apartments and homes. Our 40” medium record cabinets are ideal for people just starting to grow their record collections. We offer the choice of two component drawers with our medium record cabinets.
We also offer large record cabinets / custom built-ins for obsessive audiophiles, serious collectors, and musicians. Our 225-300 LP capacity record cabinets suit larger spaces well, and their sleek appearance will impress your guests. Our large record cabinets come in 3 varieties, each equipped with all the fancy accessories you’d expect in a state-of-the-art cabinet.
Organize Your Records
The next step to obtain a well-organized and presentable record collection is to organize your records in a logical manner. First thing’s first, though -- make sure that each record jacket in your collection is matched up to the correct vinyl, or else all the work you’re about to do will end up being a backbreaking waste of time.
Depending on the size of your record collection, the diversity in genres, and chronological difference between your oldest and newest records, there are a few simple and easy ways to organize your collection.
Here are the three options we prefer the most.
1. Alphabetical - Organize your records in alphabetical order according to the first word of the band name. Within each band, organize your records once more in alphabetical order according to the first word of the album title.
2. Genres - If you have a ton of different genres and don’t want to mix your baroque and old-school hip hop collection, follow the same instructions above, but break down your collection according to genre.
3. Chronologically - This takes a bit more work as release dates are not always simple to find in your record jacket. It’s a really fun way to organize records though, especially for music historians and listeners with a very wide chronological range of records.
There are many other ways that you can organize your collection: by color, when you bought the record, the record’s value, "autobiographical" etc., but the three methods above are the most common and the most understandable for your guests.
Decorate Your Record Space
It takes more than a rug to tie your record collection together, dude. Those sick vinyl collection / turntable set up posts on Instagram? Well - they usually have some home decor accessories in common that accompany their listening spaces; indoor plants and wall art.
Floor plants are in style right now, for good reason. They add another dimension to your listening space, allowing even the novice vinyl lover to appreciate your collection. Indoor plants like pothos ivy, aloe, and jade will compliment your record space well and are very low-maintenance. And remember as DJ Khaled says: "You gotta water your plants. Nobody can water them for you."
Functional wall art can be a simple and easy addition to your setup. Displaying the currently playing record is art on its own.
Wall art is pivotal to a good looking listening space but you don't have to get too crazy with it! If you love it that's all that matters! Just grab a level and put up some prints and photos that mean something to you. It will come together, I promise. A framed photo of your family, your favorite band’s poster, or a cool vinyl inspired art print. Etsy is a great resource as well.
It’s time to get your record collection together. We hope that this post helps you on your journey to better organize your vinyl and impress your guests or just your cat.