A couple of questions.

[Woundup]

1. How do all you home theater owners hide your cables and keep them neat?

I have tried cable ties but that didn't seem to work, does anyone have any other suggestions for products or house hold items that would work?

2. Where do you keep your media stored?

I have a DVD rack that I bought at BB but that is already full and overflowing and to be honest for what I paid for it, it just seems really cheap. I am looking for something that is attractive and able to hold CD's and DVD's and still be ascetically pleasing. Does anybody have any suggestions for companies that make great media storage?

[ZoomZoom71]

Big Brad will probably pipe up on this one. He's admitted he's OCD about his cable runs.

[Quo]

no advice on the furniture front!?!? come on, zoom! You're slackin!

I get frustrated with prices and quality, so I make my own shelves, etc. when I can. So much crap out there these days...

Seems like zip ties would work great for the cables... but don't look behind my equipment... do as I say, not as I do!

[Lord Sam]

Oh it's really easy. Have a good friend who does home theater installs for a living and have him run the cables through the walls and attic for free. That's what I did.

Ok, that didn't help at all, I know.

[lovekeiiy]

ties help. A lot of it depends on how much equipment is in the area and their input/output layout. I try to keep my power cables away from the speaker and signal cables; not always successful though.

Don't look at mine setup. It looks like ivy vine of electrical wires. But then I have a receiver, cable box, vcr, cd player, dvd player, power center, xbox 360, two home stations from sirius radio, component video/toslink switcher, and wires for a 7.1 surround sound.

[ZoomZoom71]

Originally Posted by Quo

no advice on the furniture front!?!? come on, zoom! You're slackin!

I get frustrated with prices and quality, so I make my own shelves, etc. when I can. So much crap out there these days...

Seems like zip ties would work great for the cables... but don't look behind my equipment... do as I say, not as I do!

OK, Quo, since you called me out....

My first thought on the need for DVD storage was to put 'em in a closet. I have a wide linen closet just around the corner from my gear, outside the 3rd bathroom that would be perfect for DVD storage. My wife doesn't like seeing the DVD cases sitting out, so we have 'em put away. I'm not using this closet for that purpose, simply because we don't have very many DVD's.

I think I understand what Quo is sayin' about price and quality. Unless you spend a boatload of cash, you don't really get good quality furniture. Around here, we've got a few local, non-name-brand furniture places, which get their stock from smaller-name manufacturers. Their stuff tends to be a lot more durable, but priced about the same as the cheap stuff you find at the big box places. If building your own stand isn't an option, look around for a small mom-n-pop furniture shop. For instance, one of our local one's is called Annie Oakley's. They've got a lot of Oak stuff, but also carry other wood finishes.

[Serren]

Some componet racks have built in channels that the wires hide in. Cool. Entertainment centers are good at also hiding wires.

I placed all my stuff in a closet in the room behind where my tv sits. This is super clean.

I also don't like DVD's and CD's visible, so I keep all of these in the garage! I do have a small rack for my games though.

I would say go shopping and see if you can find a cool option.

[BrewCityUpstart]

For DVDs, we have a 'roll down' type thing- kind of like a rack with a wooden shade that rolls up/down.

[GoatMother]

Games/Movies in the closet as well as controllers when not in use. Wires, I need to work on that as well, so I can't help you on that one.

[AZRaiderH8r]

We were actually at Ikea one day (ugh) and found this. It's a wall mounted media storage unit. The ones we got are a nice smokey gray color (with dark tempered glass) that matches our Mits and component rack perfectly. I think each one holds 60 DVDs, and I could have sworn that we spent 39.99 each on them. We put them directly behind our TV, and they look great.

http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/store...roductId=74873

[dmiller68]

I use the closet idea...

[Peench]

Shoot. I don't know if I have a photo of our DVD storage. I built a funky storage thing in the corner. Free standing shelves inserted into a white painted 4x4 in the corner with a fancy cut top piece. If I can find a picture of it, I'll post it.

[Jon Liu]

Peench, I don't know if it was necessarily funky, I'd say it was more cool than anything. My wife liked your DVD storage, too!

[Peench]

Thanks Jon. It was fun to build, though I did have to add shelves when our collection grew too large!