5 Steps To Organize Your Minnesota Entertainment Center

As spring cleaning gets into full swing, it's a great time to create a fresh, clean look around your entertainment center. Below are five helpful tips to get your entertainment center organized, clutter free and looking streamlined.

1. Disconnect, remove and clean everything.There is no efficient way to organize an entertainment center without first starting with a clean slate. Take out and unplug everything from the area, then give your shelves and entertainment devices a good dusting. Once everything is away from the entertainment center itself, you will be able to really see potential ways for reorganizing the area to best fit your needs.

2. Discard what you do not use. Everyone has items in their entertainment center that haven't been used in years. Take a good look at your movies, CDs and games. Throw out everything that you haven't watched or used at least once in the last year. Using this technique, you may be surprised at how many movies and CDs you don't need anymore. Danielle Wilson, a homeowner in Rosemount, says, "I didn't even realize that I had collected more than one copy of the same movie until I started to clean out my entertainment center."

3. Place all electronics back and focus on organizing the cords and cables. According to local resident and entertainment center efficienato Al Decker, "Your entertainment center is only as organized as the power cords behind it." He states that there are so many entertainment centers that have to be nearly taken apart and unassembled in order to reach the power outlets and cords. "The best advice I have to give," he states, "is to unplug and remove everything from your entertainment center and then plug the cords back in a way that makes everything easy to access." He also suggests getting twist ties, cable ties or velcro to shorten cords to the exact length needed for connection. In this way, cords will no longer get tangled and twisted together, making it easy to see where every cord connects without the extra mess. Also, consider purchasing a universal remote in order to reduce the number of remote controls lying around your entertainment area.

4. Reorganize your remaining DVDs, CDs and games. Now that all of the unwanted movies and CDs have been removed and your devices have been plugged back in, it's time to figure out how to organize your remaining CDs, games and movies. Keep all different types of media separate. For example, keep the DVDs, CDs and games all on separate shelves or in bins. From there, you can organize each of these categories further, by genre or in alphabetical order.

5. Sell or donate what's left. Just because you don't want those extra movies and CDs anymore, doesn't mean that others won't enjoy them. Consider donating or selling all of the extra CDs, DVDs, games and devices to local stores or charities. See below for a list of places to sell your unwanted, gently-used entertainment items.

The following local businesses may be able to help you get started:

The St. Paul location of this store has a consignment section at which all CDs and movies from local musicians and artists can be sold.

Whether you want to trade in your games for newer items or just want a cash payout, Level Up will buy your gently-used games.

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Related: Best Independent Bookstores In Minneapolis-St. Paul

For more great tricks, tips and advice about your home, visit CBSMinnesota.com/YourHome.

Alicia Stewart, a clinical dietitian at a metro hospital in St Paul, MN, has the unique role of working both as an acute care clinical dietitian, as well as an out-patient counselor. She has worked with hundreds of clients on various health topics, including diabetes, weight management, family health, and other chronic health conditions that can be controlled and improved with the right food choices. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.