Without the remote control, it is very hard to operate your television, let alone your home media system. Each component of your home media center comes with its own remote, which can lead to an ever-growing mess. Not only is the clutter of remotes on the coffee table annoying, it can be enormously frustrating to grab a remote and point it at the TV, only to find out it is the remote for the DVD player.
There are two ways to corral these devices.
Get a Remote Control Organizer
A very budget-friendly option is to designate one special area or container for all the remotes. You can find a remote control caddy in most department stores. There are many options available, from plastic (the most affordable) to leather. Most remote caddies sit on the floor or coffee table and have individual slots for all the remotes.
If you do not want to spend the money on a specially designed caddy, or you can't find one that fits your décor, you can designate a basket or bowl for the remotes. Some home stores sell cloth pouches that hang over the back of the couch or recliner and hold the remotes along with other items like magazines.
If you are shopping for new furniture, consider a coffee table with pop-up storage or drawers. Lazy Boy and other furniture manufactures have added pouches on the sides of their sofas and recliners. These are a great place to drop the remote control. Some recliners include a secret compartment on the arm, a great place to stash the remote.
There are very few arguments against choosing a special container for all your remotes. The toughest part is finding a storage piece that matches your taste, and training your family members to put the remotes back in the correct spot.
One Remote to Rule Them All
The second option is a bit more lavish and slightly more complicated. You can purchase a programmable media center remote control that allows you to run all your home entertainment equipment from a single device.
A single remote is very easy to store, and it is nice to have everything at your fingertips. A few manufactures have budget-friendly universal remotes that start at about $50. Good-quality programmable remotes start at $100. Logitech offers the Harmony 510 remote, which allows you to combine the functions of five remotes into one device. High-end remotes with LCD screens start at around $150.
The downside is that it's easy to misplace a single remote control, and if it breaks you lose the ability to control everything. The other major issue involved is programming. It takes time to configure the remote and input codes for all of your devices, and you may need to repeat the process every time you change the batteries.
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