Organizing the Booth

[DHSLXOP]

Hi everyone. Before i start, I just wanted to mention that I know this topic has been talked about before, and I read those topics, but they don't really answer my questions that well.
Anyway...
As some of you may know from the post in the lighting section, that we are updating some of the equipment in our theater. Another major part of that update, however, is making our booth be more orgainized as well as making sure that our equipment stays safe.
Already in the theater, we have a big cabinet, but it doesn't really work that well, and I was planning on using some of the shelves and putting equipment that is sitting on the floor collecting dust in there.
Things that I was thinking we would need are:
1) Either a case or a wall holder for the mics...In our theater, we currently have all of our mics stacked on top of each other in a box. I know however, that these mics (some older and some newer) are not really safe being one on top of another.
2) A storage unit for our gels...right now, the gels are in a random grouping (like there will be a blue, and underneath a green, and then a red, and then another blue) and I want them to be organized (all the blue, all the green, etc) Also, the gels are sticking together the way that they are, so I want it to be in a way that the gels don't all stick together.
3) A case or wall holder for our three clear com headsets...they're the ones that have the "beltpack" built on the cable, so theres no need for a beltback holder...just where they are now, they are being thrown into the cabinet, and the cables are getting tied together...also, i know that if the cables aren't wrapped properly, they can stop working.
4) Some sort of case for the xlr cables...they take up a lot of valuable room stacked up inside the cabinet, so a case or something would be pretty good for this.
5) Little cubbie type things for adapters and other accessories, that too are being stored improperly in the cabinet
Another thing that I was thinking is...should (eventually) the booths be painted black instead of the white that they are now?
Thanks everyone for their help, in advance and if I'm not being clear on something, please tell me, and I'll try to clear it up.

[soundlight]

FILE CABINETS. Surplus File Cabinets. The best solution for absolutely everything that you've listed. We have two tall file cabinets in our booth for gels (in folders), tools, mics, wireless packs, batteries, headsets, cables, adapters, and manuals. It's absolutely great. I love how it works. And it enables you to put money towards other things if you get them surplus. You can get the "short model" file cabinets, that have half-height drawers, for most of this stuff, but for gels and such you need the full-height drawers. I haven't looked around for the half-height ones, but we have a bunch in our booth. By half-height I mean that the drawers are only 6" high or so, but they're really deep. It works great.

[DHSLXOP]

Originally Posted by soundlight

FILE CABINETS. Surplus File Cabinets. The best solution for absolutely everything that you've listed. We have two tall file cabinets in our booth for gels (in folders), tools, mics, wireless packs, batteries, headsets, cables, adapters, and manuals. It's absolutely great. I love how it works. And it enables you to put money towards other things if you get them surplus. You can get the "short model" file cabinets, that have half-height drawers, for most of this stuff, but for gels and such you need the full-height drawers. I haven't looked around for the half-height ones, but we have a bunch in our booth. By half-height I mean that the drawers are only 6" high or so, but they're really deep. It works great.

Thats a great suggestion...they would work great where in the booth I want to put them...but for mics, should I look for a case so that they don't roll around a lot. Something like thishttp://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_image/product/7e0bf69e4792f324af9350f81b87bff9.jpg ? (All the mics are wired handhelds, as well, so theres no recievers to worry about putting in there)

[DHSLXOP]

Originally Posted by soundlight

FILE CABINETS. Surplus File Cabinets. The best solution for absolutely everything that you've listed. We have two tall file cabinets in our booth for gels (in folders), tools, mics, wireless packs, batteries, headsets, cables, adapters, and manuals. It's absolutely great. I love how it works. And it enables you to put money towards other things if you get them surplus. You can get the "short model" file cabinets, that have half-height drawers, for most of this stuff, but for gels and such you need the full-height drawers. I haven't looked around for the half-height ones, but we have a bunch in our booth. By half-height I mean that the drawers are only 6" high or so, but they're really deep. It works great.

Thats a great suggestion...they would work great where in the booth I want to put them...but for mics, should I look for a case so that they don't roll around a lot. Something like http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_i...f81b87bff9.jpg this? (All the mics are wired handhelds, as well, so theres no recievers to worry about putting in there)

[DHSLXOP]

Originally Posted by soundlight

FILE CABINETS. Surplus File Cabinets. The best solution for absolutely everything that you've listed. We have two tall file cabinets in our booth for gels (in folders), tools, mics, wireless packs, batteries, headsets, cables, adapters, and manuals. It's absolutely great. I love how it works. And it enables you to put money towards other things if you get them surplus. You can get the "short model" file cabinets, that have half-height drawers, for most of this stuff, but for gels and such you need the full-height drawers. I haven't looked around for the half-height ones, but we have a bunch in our booth. By half-height I mean that the drawers are only 6" high or so, but they're really deep. It works great.

Thats a great suggestion...they would work great where in the booth I want to put them...but for mics, should I look for a case so that they don't roll around a lot. Something like http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop_i...f81b87bff9.jpg? (All the mics are wired handhelds, as well, so theres no recievers to worry about putting in there)

Not sure why it posted that three times, when I hit edit

[Foxinabox10]

For the XLR Cables, 5-gallon buckets work well if you wrap each cable with a velcro tie...otherwise some pegboard would be nice.

[avkid]

You could just put egg crate foam in the bottom of the drawers.

[soundlight]

Or you could get blocks of hard foam, put it in the drawers, and use a hot knife to cut the vertical holes for the mics. This way you don't have to invest in a seperate case. We actually just put all of our mics (wired and wireless, handheld and lavalier w/bodypack) in the mic bags that they came with, and put them in to a file drawer with dividers.

[DHSLXOP]

Thank you everyone...these ideas are really helping.

Anyone have any opinion about the necessity of a black booth?

[soundlight]

I think that it's a really good idea. I just blacked our booth this past year with a cheap can of black paint and a $3.95 paint brush (the paint was left over, I bought the paintbrush for the job). It's simple and effective at reducing reflected light out of the booth. Our booth was already mostly black, but I did quite a bit more, and painted the fronts of our file cabinet drawers (which were tan) with a nice, thick coat of black paint. I also have spray-painted the sound console case (which was bare plywood) while the console and other electronics were meticulously covered with plastic.

Basically, I think that it's a good idea, and an inexpensive project. And IMO, it really makes it have a "techier" feel. I like it.