There are great wine bars and winery tasting rooms in Western Washington where you can try and buy some of the best wines produced in the United States. From chardonnay to viognier, cuvee, roussane, rose to merlot, cabernets, malbecs, carmenere and hundreds of other varietals, if you have a growing wine collection you’re surely not alone. The only problem might be where to store all that Washington wine!
If your new home wasn’t built with a dedicated wine cellar, don’t despair. There are plenty of great wine storage solutions and creative ideas for wine cellars for small spaces that will give you a way to store or display your growing Washington wine collection.
7 Creative Wine Cellar and Storage Ideas for Your New Home
Empty Nest? Convert a Bedroom Closet
A bedroom closet could be an ideal wine storage solution. If you have a spare room or a guest room whose closet isn’t needed for clothing, converting it with modular wine shelving could instantly transform it into an ideal wine cellar, especially since it can protect wine from direct sunlight.
Built-In Kitchen Cabinet Remodel
Many electric wine refrigerator and storage units are sized appropriately to fit under counters. You can even choose to remodel your kitchen’s island or wall cabinets to feature built-in wine cellars that afford ideal wine storage and chilling abilities. Another advantage to building in wine storage in your kitchen cabinets is that your bottles will be close at hand when you’re ready to serve a favorite Washington wine while entertaining, with dinner or whenever the mood strikes. You can also simply add pull-out drawers made for wine storage to your existing cabinets, instantly creating storage for dozens of wine bottles in a small space.
Basement or Main Level Under-Stair Wine Storage
If you have a basement, converting the area underneath the stairs leading down to include wine storage could be ideal, especially in that it will protect your wines from both direct sunlight and heat, since basements naturally stay a bit cooler. Even if you don’t have a basement, using the storage area underneath your staircase as a wine cellar could be an ideal option. Just like with a closet, you can go with inexpensive modular wine shelving or custom-built storage units.
Spare Room
If you have an unused study, master bedroom sitting area or some other small space in your house that is under-utilized, converting it to a wine cellar could give you ample storage space for not only your Washington wines, but stemware, barware, china, serving pieces, crystal and other items often saved for special occasions. You could even add a small counter height table to this room to hold your own wine tastings with friends and loved ones as well as counter space and a dry bar area for pouring wine or mixing cocktails.
Converted Console
You may be able to build wine shelving into television consoles, sofa tables and other similarly-sized cabinets or even replace existing shelves with modular wine shelves. Likewise you can add modular wine shelving to your existing pantry to instantly create storage for dozens of your favorite wines.
Repurposed Fireplace Shelves
Those hard-to-merchandise shelves that flank either side of your fireplace? They would make ideal wine cellars for your new home. Install pre-made wine shelving solutions or have your neighborhood handyman build in criss-cross shelves or square slots for wine bottles. Add under-cabinet lights to put the spotlight on your stemware or add stemware racks to hang wine glasses upside down. Just like with converted kitchen cabinets, this offers wine storage that will make selecting and serving your favorite Washington wines to friends and loved ones super-convenient.
Deliberate Décor
There are many wine storage solutions designed to let you keep your wine out in the open instead of stowed away, making it part of your décor like a work of art.
Washington State is one of the nation’s leading wine producing regions, in fact, home-grown winery excellence has put regional vintners like Chateau Ste Michelle and others on Wine and Spirits Top 100 Magazine’s list for several years. Chateau Ste Michelle even holds the record, having appeared on the list 22 times, a distinction shared by only one other winery. The growth of the wine industry in Washington State means there are many good tasting rooms and wine bars located both in central and eastern Washington’s “wine country” as well as western Washington where you can enjoy some of the world’s best wines, produced with grapes grown right here at home.