Here it's not so much that there are many CDs that I really cannot locate anymore or definitely have misplaced, but it's more a case of not immediately knowing where to look for them at any given moment without searching in several places ... I ran out of my well-arranged CD storage space (holding 600 CDs in a wall-mounted IKEA rack) quite a few years ago, then moved all my R&B/Blues, Rockabilly/Roots R'n'R and Country/Western Swing CDs into separate racks and boxes (different versions, from IKEA too, unfortunately discontinued years ago) sorted within these styles and periods.
So the remaining main problem now (a "luxury problem", I know) is how to maintain some systematic order among my jazz CDs. With a fairly large number ariving over the past 3 years, up to now these have been in several different places dictated by when I bought and shelved them (those shelved more than, say, 4-5 years ago take up more than all the initial space available in that wall-mounted 600-CD rack).
To re-sort them in a way where everything is better locatable, I recently ordered (at Amazon) stackable boxes with lids that hold 100 CDs each (something like these in the link below). The first four have been allocated as follows (more will be ordered to expand these or for other styles):
- Swing + Chronological Classics CDs (most of my CCs are Swing anyway)
- Cool & West Coast Jazz
- Bebop, Hard Bop & other Modern Jazz
- European jazz
https://www.amazon.com/BCW-Storage-Box-Lid-Compartments/dp/B0FJMB9W4S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DY5ELNGHVCI8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jqNPgE4P-SICP3pgKKLF51o1noljJSSdtsBTcy_v1J9PKE6jRDsdWQJwGQOPhQei_BAsPG-s-wGgA8XfjTTs7mjNDzsR6ch0s9oRUeu2k3Z9U1s83oTrdKPIMVfEuMQuaqqqW7x9_NwuQwh0wI6BXimqxJvBvf566Xm7Rwqz2XGJ2D8YzeZ7R-jpvJQI1JqTmxp4ap4n0Z92ZKEIXZTnCo-_6gb9ydQkH63uDaXUkXp8aE6MX4BkpWHPWAtprYr_-7sZHxE2SBU-bz7CLDHXHrP0XlCOMK2hUU6HHCKKSLA.YscaQC8trYqtxt0c5xNrQHmG_RvSHiBAm29c7ZjZsyI&dib_tag=se&keywords=Protected+cardboard+CD+box&qid=1771429532&sprefix=protected+cardboard+cd+box%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1
Eventually I'm afraid there will be no option but to rearrange all the CDs so that those that I tend to spin most often will go into the 600-CD wall rack and the others (except most box sets - whether CD or LP-sized - which are separate again) will go into the 100-CD boxes. No more to-and-fro searching, then, I hope.
And I'm still battling with myself over whether to reallocate space freed on shelves in the adjacent room specifically for my "vinyl overflow" to accommodate at least certain CDs after all.