How to Organize Your K-Pop Album Collection

Buying K-Pop albums is incredibly addictive. They are all so colorful, different, and give you a little taste of your favorite artists. The problem is: with all of these albums, how do you store them? Keep reading to find out how I store my albums, where I got the things I store my albums in, and what to do when your album collection gets so big that you cannot remember what you have anymore.

How to Store Your Albums

There are a couple of different ways to store your albums depending on the size, and style of your collection. These are the factors you should consider:

• How many artists do I plan on buying albums for?
• Do I plan on including any merch? If so what types?
  • Plush dolls?
  • Figurines?
  • Photobooks?
  • Lightsticks?
• How many album versions do I plan on buying?
• How much do I anticipate my collection will expand in the future?

If you are only planning on buying for one artist, and you are only purchasing one version of each album, if you consider the lifespan of many K-Pop groups (and the 7-year curse), then only a small amount of space is needed. In this scenario, one shelf on a small bookshelf is enough, or you could display your collection on top of a dresser if you are not using that space for something else. If you go the bookshelf route, you can go for one of the following options:

• a bookshelf that is 3 shelves tall, and use the other two shelves for other storage, for books
• a tall, thin and narrow bookshelf, and use multiple shelves for storing.
• a floating shelf, so that you can place it higher on the wall, but it all depends on the albums weight
• A cube storage system, so that the other shelves can be used for other things

If you are planning on buying albums for multiple artists, purchasing all versions for one artist, or including merch in your collection, you will need to think a bit more in-depth about what type of storage you need. Here are some more questions to consider:

• If I’m including merchandise, how do I want it displayed? Should it have it’s own display section, or can it be mixed in with the albums?
• Is each artist going to have it’s own shelf, or will multiple artists be on one shelf?
• How much space do I actually have to display these? If not all of them can be displayed at the same time, how will I store the albums that don’t fit? (Let’s be real, you probably won’t stop yourself from buying your favorite artist’s album just because you think you don’t have space)
• If I have a small amount of space, for how long will this space be limited? Are you planning on moving to a larger place, or buying a house?

In many of these scenarios, storage gets a bit more complex, but when thinking about how to store everything, it is better to overestimate how many albums you have and the amount of space they will occupy than under. Album collections always get larger with each new release, so that extra wiggle room to grow will help you. Caveat: if you actually have no more room for storage for your albums, this is when you need to get creative and keep only your favorite albums out and store the rest either within your place or rent storage if you can afford it.

Below, you can see how I store my collection of 500+ (and growing) album collection, if you want to see how someone with a larger collections manages it:

Best Places to Find Storage For Albums

When considering what type of storage to buy, there are a couple of things to consider:

• Will my collections fit in one or two display “containers”?
• Will my collection expand over time?
• Do I want to store them in a more unique way?
• Do I want to store them in a way that allows them to easily expand?

If you think that your collection is going to expand over time, and you may need more storage for your albums over time, it is always better to go for a type of storage product that is:

1. Larger than your current collection, so that you aren’t immediately running back out to buy more storage.
2. Stored in a system that will most likely not be discontinued

For example, when looking at my collection, I opted for Billy Bookcases from IKEA for the following reasons:

1. The line has existed for ages, and since they are a top seller at IKEA, they won’t be disappearing any time soon
2. You can easily line them up next to each other and they look like a complete set
3. They come in varying heights and widths, including corner shelves, so that if I ever get a library where I can store all of this, I can easily expand what I already have.
4. They’re not ridiculously expensive
5. Can have the appearance of built-in bookshelves if you really want, by putting multiple next to each other, and using molding to appear built-in and hide gaps.
6. They come with a system to anchor them to the wall.

If you are almost 100% positive that your collection won’t expand too much or you are looking for a more unique bookcase, Amazon has a number of really neat looking bookshelves that work well, depending on your style. You can also opt for some floating shelves, but make sure to double check the max weight on all of them. Since they are drilled into the wall, they way not take as much weight as a standard bookshelf.

How Do I Enure My Album Collection Doesn’t Get Too Large?

I may be the wrong person to answer this question, since my collection is incredibly large, and I am also a huge music lover overall, but here are a couple of questions you can consider before purchasing an album:

• Is this an album that I will be upset if I don’t own it a few years from now?
• When I listen to the album from start to finish, do I like every song on the album? Is it an album that I would listen to repeatedly?
• Does the cost to purchase the album justify how I feel about the album, and how I will continue to feel?
• If I was choosing between this album, and that of another artist, would I like this one as much as that album?
• Will this album bring me joy over time? Will it be one that if my collection gets too large that I will give away or sell?

All of these questions are pertinent ones to ask yourself before purchasing any K-Pop album, Additionally, if you are looking to purchase an album and want to know if the price tag justifies the contents, I do have posts for upwards of 300 of the albums in my collection (and counting) that can help you look more closely at what comes with the album.

Help! My Album Collection has Exploded! What Do I Do?

I completely understand this problem. Over time, my album collections expanded from having albums for only one artist (EXO) to having collections for various artists. I went from less than 100 albums to over 500 in a matter of a few years. When your album collection expands, there are a number of things that help keep you organized, and figure out how to handle the collection.

Step 1: Make A Spreadsheet

First, I highly recommend creating a spreadsheet detailing all of your albums, what versions you have, how many, as well as other notes about them. I use Google Sheets for my spreadsheet for the following reason:

• The software is easy to use
• You can access google sheets from your phone, as well as from a computer. This is essential if I’m trying to buy an album off of my phone abd I cannot remember if I have it or not.
• You can add conditional formatting to help you organize better
• Filters also work in Google Sheets
• You can easily create tallies that help you create totals and subtotals of albums
• It is very easy to add new columns or things you want to keep track of. For example, I also keep track of which albums I have taken photos of, and if a blog post has been posted about the album.

For reference, here is a quick screenshot of part of my list (and also a sneak peek into some of the albums that will be posted at some point):

Additionally, I have some very easy to make formulas on this spreadsheet that help me keep even better track of what I have in my collection. For reference, the Versions Missing column auto-fills after I complete the Total Number of Versions & Versions Owned columns.

This spreadhseet has saved me multiple times from buying something that I already owned, as well as helped me keep track of which albums I have already posted about on the blog. It is also incredibly helpful when I’m trying to figure out what albums to buy or post next.

If you are interested in making your own spreadsheet, I have created a template that you can copy into your own Google Sheet to help you keep track of your albums. You can access it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bhSrJ3JUFTvoigpx95JG4T-UjobDD2yZf-GyL3wu-Mw/edit?usp=sharing

You can copy this spreadsheet by doing the following:

1. In the top left-hand corner click File
2. Click Make A Copy

When building the spreadsheet, organize all of your albums by artist, and then put them into the spreadsheet

Step 2: Use the Spreadsheet to Go Through Your Collection

As you are building, or after you are done building the spreadsheet, you may notices some things that you don’t know why you purchased for one of the following reasons:

• You bought multiple versions of an album, and you don’t feel like you need multiple versions
• You found duplicates in your collection
• There are artists in your collections that you don’t like anymore
• You have things in your collection that you like, but you know that a friend will love them more

In all of these scenarios, I have always gone and given the albums to my friends who I know will be a good home for them. As long as I know things that I used to love are still with people who will love and care for them, I feel fine with giving them up.

You could also try selling the albums on a platform like Mercari, which is a buyer seller marketplace, or on eBay. I like both platforms for different reasons and different purposes. I highly recommend that you look through both sites to determine which is right for you.

Step 3: Determine if your current storage system works for the number of albums you have

If you are still struggling to fit all of your albums on the shelf after deciding to give albums to friends, and you cannot get rid of anymore, it is time to reanalyze your storage setup, and modify it. For example, you may be able to reorient your current albums to work better. Consider having some in the shelf horizontal and vertical if they cannot all be displayed in one direction

If you are in a real bind, in order to supplement storage, you can do one of the following:

• If you are using a more unique storage option, and you think your collection will keep expanding, I recommend that you opt for the BILLY bookcases I mentioned above. They aren’t incredibly expensive, and more can easily be added.
• Look into ways that you can store you albums in other locations. For example, you can store ones you don’t want to display under a bed with under bed storage.
• You can also opt for storing them in a storage bin in a closet.

Although not having all of your albums displayed is not necessarily the best scenario for most collectors, at least having them stored means that they are safe somewhere, and not being damaged.

I hope that some of these tips help you all to figure out how to store, and handle the concept of an everchanging K-Pop collection. I have been there, my friends have been there, and we understand that the struggle is real.

Are there any other things that you have questions about with storing albums, K-Nuggets? If so, let me know down in the comments below!

사랑합니다!

–Rachel