How do you arrange your DVDs/VHS collection?

[hellbilly]

My DVDs are arranged by earliest release year in alphabetical order stored in six IKEA Billy shelves. Works best for me in finding movies.
I also got all my movies listed at IMDb "my movies" under my account. It's very helpful for me in arranging my collection (I can display my IMDb movie list in different ways) plus I get all the movie info only one mouse click away.
For a test I sorted out titles in my collection that got less than a 5.0 rating at IMDb and stored them in a seperate shelf. As it turns out most of these titles are actually movies I rarely watch.
And yeah, got extra shelfs for my box sets and Blu-ray discs but I'm already running out of space. Time to get rid of some of those under 5.0 rated movies  

[vukxfiles]

My DVDs are arranged by earliest release year in alphabetical order stored in six IKEA Billy shelves. Works best for me in finding movies.
I also got all my movies listed at IMDb "my movies" under my account. It's very helpful for me in arranging my collection (I can display my IMDb movie list in different ways) plus I get all the movie info only one mouse click away.
For a test I sorted out titles in my collection that got less than a 5.0 rating at IMDb and stored them in a seperate shelf. As it turns out most of these titles are actually movies I rarely watch.
And yeah, got extra shelfs for my box sets and Blu-ray discs but I'm already running out of space. Time to get rid of some of those under 5.0 rated movies  

Why would you get rid of bad movies when you like them?

[hellbilly]

My DVDs are arranged by earliest release year in alphabetical order stored in six IKEA Billy shelves. Works best for me in finding movies.
I also got all my movies listed at IMDb "my movies" under my account. It's very helpful for me in arranging my collection (I can display my IMDb movie list in different ways) plus I get all the movie info only one mouse click away.
For a test I sorted out titles in my collection that got less than a 5.0 rating at IMDb and stored them in a seperate shelf. As it turns out most of these titles are actually movies I rarely watch.
And yeah, got extra shelfs for my box sets and Blu-ray discs but I'm already running out of space. Time to get rid of some of those under 5.0 rated movies  

Why would you get rid of bad movies when you like them?

I wont get rid of the ones I like. Most are blind buys/stinkers I will never watch again. They will have to go.

[3mnkids]

Movies I watch frequently go on the bookcases, ones I watch occasionally get the drawers of the coffee table and those I rarely watch or those I hate get the inside of a huge trunk I have.. That's how I organize.    I would like to alphabetize them but its just too big of a job and im lazy.

[Torgo]

I have all of my DVD's (and CD's) alphabetized throughout 5 book shelves that are about 6 feet tall each.

I have a pretty huge DVD collection (close to a thousand) so if I didn't alphabetize them I wouldn't be able to find anything.

I had kicked around the idea at one point of organizing them into genres, but that gets problematic with some movies that are hybrids of particular genres. 

[WilliamWeird1313]

I used to do categories, but I have one of the OCD-addled minds that gets crazy with the hairsplitting and I drove myself crazy going "well, this is nazisploitation, kung-fu, AND zombie horror... which section should I put it in? should I start a new category for naziploitation kung-fu zombie movies? wait!!! if i do that, this will be the only movie there! that's stupid!!! hmmmm... maybe i should..." and so on and so on. Eventually I redid the whole mess and just slapped everything together and then went in alphabetical order, though not STRICT alphabetical order (the idea that I'd have to put Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 BEFORE Hellraiser on the shelf galls me, so I put sequels with one another, regardless of titular eccentricities... TAKE THAT, BRIDE OF REANIMATOR!!!)

[vukxfiles]

I have all of my DVD's (and CD's) alphabetized throughout 5 book shelves that are about 6 feet tall each.

I have a pretty huge DVD collection (close to a thousand) so if I didn't alphabetize them I wouldn't be able to find anything.

I had kicked around the idea at one point of organizing them into genres, but that gets problematic with some movies that are hybrids of particular genres. 

A THOUSAND!!!
Did you buy all them, or are some pirates?

[AndyC]

At our old house, I built a built-in pine bookcase covering a whole wall. Half was designed to accommodate books and half was built to hold movies. We filled both sides immediately. When we moved a few years ago, we opted to store books and movies in different rooms, and bought multiple flat-pack shelving units for both. We have a wall of books in the office and a wall of movies and CDs in the rec room.

As for the order, I used to organize them any way that made sense. Genres and subgenres together, new movies separate from old movies, movie series (such as Godzilla) in their own sections, and certain stars and directors got their own section. Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example.

However, having a daughter in the house changed that. As soon as she was old enough to move about, she was pulling movies off the shelves for the heck of it. Then she was pulling them off to look at them. And for a while there, the tape would fall out of the box every time she picked one up. When she figured out how to put them back, she stuck any movie in any box, and put them anywhere on the shelf. After repeatedly trying to put them all back where they belong, I finally gave up. As long as they're on the shelves, I'm happy. Of course, now she's finally big enough to leave the movies alone.

[JaseSF]

According to my girlfriend, DVDs are my addiction. She's even jokingly suggested having me on Intervention because of them  . Seriously I have over a thousand DVDs   and I feel a bit buried and overwhelmed by my own collection. I just get so tempted by cheap bin titles and dollar store titles so yeah I have a lot of crap in there too. They are all over the place...I've tried to organize them but the task becomes too big and overwhelming and I get beat out. Seriously it would take me days to get it all in order. Mostly I try and keep the stuff I'm less likely to watch repeatedly in back of the stuff I tend to rewatch more often. Of course I do have hundreds of DVDs I've yet to even get around to watching too.

[Andrew]

I have quite a few DVDs.  My best guess is around 3000.  I have a huge metal Boltz DVD rack (with multiple extensions) that covers much of one wall.  They're all in there alphabetically.  That is out of space, so a number of bookshelves hold the overflow until I purchase another expansion for the Boltz rack. 

That's the Badmovies.org collection.  The good movies are on a set of shelves, alphabetically, in our living room.

[Sleepyskull]

I categorize my movies first by the general time period in which I got them and then alphabetically. It's worked great so far! I also keep lists on my computer to help me keep track.

[hellbilly]

I've tried to organize them but the task becomes too big and overwhelming and I get beat out. Serriously it would take me days to get it all in order.

I re-organized my entire collection (about 1,400 DVDs) a few weeks ago. It took me four or five days but it was well worth it. I seeded out movies I had bought multiple times over the years (better editions) taking up valuable shelf space, got rid of junk cluttering my shelves and placed other Region coded discs seperately.
The first step may be the hardest but its better to keep your collection organzied and maintained before things get too chaotic 

[The Burgomaster]

I have quite a few DVDs.  My best guess is around 3000.  I have a huge metal Boltz DVD rack (with multiple extensions) that covers much of one wall.  They're all in there alphabetically.  That is out of space, so a number of bookshelves hold the overflow until I purchase another expansion for the Boltz rack. 

That's the Badmovies.org collection.  The good movies are on a set of shelves, alphabetically, in our living room.

Interesting.  This is sort of like "movie discrimination" or setting out the "good china and silverware" and hiding the everyday stuff in the cupboard.  I have all 3,500 or so of mine lumped all together . . . the good with the bad and everything in between.  Perhaps it's wrong to have an Oscar winning movie beside a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie or an Andy Milligan movie.  I never really thought about the etiquette involved here.

[Torgo]

I have all of my DVD's (and CD's) alphabetized throughout 5 book shelves that are about 6 feet tall each.

I have a pretty huge DVD collection (close to a thousand) so if I didn't alphabetize them I wouldn't be able to find anything.

I had kicked around the idea at one point of organizing them into genres, but that gets problematic with some movies that are hybrids of particular genres. 

A THOUSAND!!!
Did you buy all them, or are some pirates?

I bought them all.  I always joke that it's the reason why I don't have nearly as much money saved away as I should.

I have a bunch of burned stuff as well from friends who have net flix accounts which probably amounts to another 250 to 300 things.

And I got a HDTV back in April and I'll probably be going Blu-Ray sometime early next year (I've just been up-converting stuff until then) which means I'll be replacing certain titles in Hi-Def so the whole process will begin anew somewhat. 

[GilbyFromMagoombo]

By Genre/Category and sometimes by actor/actress if I have a lot... Chuck Norris gets his own spot.