Wine cellars aren’t just for wine vendors, bars, and hotels alone. As long as you store more than three to five bottles of wine, that’s an indication that you need your own wine cellar. With this definition in mind, wine connoisseurs and those that simply have a lot of wine bottles at home will benefit from this guide. Similarly, those that are fascinated and attracted to elegant home decor can buy into the idea of a well-placed, perfectly designed wine cellar. But instead of spending money to buy an expensive wine cellar, learn how to design it in this article.
The Preparation Stage
There are a few things to do before making your DIY wine cellar. These things are referred to as the preparation stage. Here are the factors to take into consideration during this stage:
- Placement
You have to take into consideration where you plan to place your cellar when it’s finally designed. One of the most recommended areas to place a wine cellar is in the basement. However, if you have limited space, you’ll need to find an ideal part of your home where you can keep a few bottles. You can also allocate enough space in your kitchen for a small wine cellar. Another unique wine storage space that you can utilize is under your staircase. In addition, to choose an ideal location for your wine take into consideration the coolest area of your home or an area that has higher levels of humidity.
- Wine Cellar Cooling Units
Wine Cellar HQ stock wine cellar cooling units, and help you to break them down by the type of installation you’re looking for, eg you can shop for ducted cooling units, split cooling systems, and through-the-wall cooling units. Refrigerating bottles of wine will keep it from going bad or aging too quickly. There are different types of cooling units, including ducted cooling units, split cooling systems, and through-the-wall cooling units. You should invest in a high-quality cooling unit that can keep the temperature at an optimum level. Although it can cost you more now, it’s a great deal to invest in a quality unit that gives value to your money in the long run.
- Material
There are different materials available to make your wine cellar and deciding on what material is more durable and affordable for your preference is recommended. You can pick from different types of materials, ranging from glass, wood, concrete, or steel. Additionally, while picking the material, you should also consider which material will make a good insulator and can withstand moisture.
- The Number Of Pockets
The number of pockets in a wine cellar depends on how much wine you plan to store. For example, wine connoisseurs need a lot of space because of their preoccupation with finding the perfect bottle of wine/wine brand. However, if you are a simple homeowner, a few pockets will be ideal.
The Designing Stage
After preparing or planning out the things you need to get started, you can move on to designing your perfect wine cellar.
Step 1: Look for Inspiration
Designing a wine cellar without inspiration is like playing a game without any idea of the rules. Though there are no rules to cellar designing, you would need to feed your creativity with some inspiration online.
Step 2: Get the material
After deciding on a particular inspiration or design, the next is to pick the material that goes best with the design. Recall that in the preparation stage, you would have already noted what materials can hold in moisture and are well insulated. Now, you can go ahead to get the material you need. Your choice of design will determine the quantity of each material you need to get.
Step 3: Start constructing
At this stage, you can either get a professional to help you out or you can take the do-it-yourself (DIY) route. Either way, you simply need to go straight to your allocated space (which you picked during the preparation stage), then construct the wine cellar where it is most accessible. Note that it shouldn’t be too high or too low to reach.
Step 4: Install the cooling unit
After the construction has been completed, you can install the cooling unit. In that regard, it would be best to call a professional wine cooling unit installer. Doing this would ensure that the cooling unit will be properly installed and the temperature will be ideally set for your bottles of wine to be in the right environment.
Step 5: Customize your wine cellar
You should recall that the goal is to design the perfect wine cellar. Therefore, it’s but right to customize it based on your preferences. It would be a great idea to research online for visual design inspirations. For instance, some people add LED bulbs, incorporate mirrors, and paintings to their wine cellar for a personalized feel.
Tips to Note When Designing the Perfect Wine Cellar
- The best temperature that will help your wine to mature to its full potential is a low temperature of about 12 to 15°C. Therefore, keep your cooling unit within this temperature range all year round.
- Keep the humidity level at about 50-70%.
- Lessen movements or vibration to avoid faster aging of the wine.
- Do not trade function for aesthetics.
- Look for lighting that does not emit too much heat. Some great ideas are a soft-glow pendant, LED, and other UV-free lighting options.
- While building, remember that not all wine bottles have the same shape. Therefore, it will be best to take these into consideration. Using adjustable racks, pockets or shelves can make sure all wine bottles fit well despite their shapes and sizes.
- Dream big and be wild with your creativity but don’t break the bank. Think about your budget and work around it. You don’t have to go over your limit to create the perfect wine cellar.
Conclusion
Although a wine cellar is not a necessity, it’s always a good addition for those who appreciate the taste of a good bottle of wine. If you’re going to be storing more than 3 bottles of wine, then you’ll need the right storage. A wine cellar can provide your bottles with the best environment it needs. However, they need to thrive well and last long, after all, a bottle of wine is only as good as the cellar it sleeps in. Now that you know what it takes to design a wine cellar on your own, all you need to do is follow the list and celebrate with a bottle of wine after.