One of the most important lessons I’ve come to learn after building a home is how to maximize space. In some instances you can make a mistake, but sometimes when you discover the perfect purpose for an unusually sized nook or corner, it’s serendipitous! That is exactly what happened when we were struck with inspiration lightning for the space underneath our stairs—it was a perfect cove for wine. Yes, wine! Traditionally, wine cellars are built, well, in the cellar, to keep the wine at the optimal temperature. Now you see wine being a focal point in homes to showcase collections or as towering displays that draw the eye upward in a restaurant. After discussing our plan with a few friends, one said,
“Wow. That’s a serious commitment to wine.”
And I couldn’t agree more. Here are some behind-the-scenes views of how ours was built. Who knows? Maybe you, too, have been dreaming of a wine wall in your house and this will inspire you to make it happen.
Working closely with our architect we began formulating how best to achieve the desired look on our plans. By adding a platform at the end of the hallway (my idea, thank you!), we were able to add the needed height to be able to walk deeper under the stairs and add more overall height to the interior.
We had the framers create a shape that followed the angle of the stairs.
The walls were sheetrocked with moisture-resistant drywall. (No…that is not my does-not-want-to-be-in-my-blog husband featured here in my blog…)
After the walls were primed and painted, the glass panel was measured to fit the desired shape and the door was installed. We really need to get a lock installed, too, to keep out the kiddies (and the mommies)!
Here you can see where we added tube lighting to frame the inside of the storage space. (This was the brilliant idea of our electricians, High Mountain Electric.)
This small corner space can be added storage for wine…boy, I really need to stock up!
The ceiling height under the stairs goes up about 10 feet, so we added a pendant light for ambiance. This particular light is from Pottery Barn.
I searched online for the perfect wine racks and found these label-forward racks from Vintage View. They were so pleasant and helpful. A representative guided me in ordering the correct number of racks at the perfect heights. We wanted to maximize storage capacity as well as have a contemporary look and feel.
We opted to hold off on the cooling system for now, but the room has the wiring for it behind the walls (baby steps). We did spray-foam the post framing to keep it very well insulated.
So, what do you think? Not such a bad view! Now we just need a whole lot of wine and, well, just about everything else to finish off the room.
Tusen takk, thousand thanks, and thank you for coming over!
Torill
6 Comments
Simply stunning!! What a beautiful and functional use of space!!
Thanks Julia!
Torill, I love your space! Thank you for sharing with me.. I’ve shared with the team and suspect we will see you on our social media platform!! #VintageView
Thanks Katie! You guys are the best!
We just love your work with our products. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much!