Wine cellars are a cherished amenity for oenophiles, providing a secure space to safeguard and showcase their collections. Prominent vintages can be displayed, and steady temperatures keep wine at an ideal humidity.

However, there has been a recent shift in storage trends as changing technologies have allowed wine storage to move from the basement to a more prominent position in the home. LED lighting, cooling systems, and more innovative designs are redefining traditional wine storage. Keep reading for tips and ideas about making wine storage a focal point on the main level of your home, where it can be admired by all.

Location

When deciding to make wine storage a focal point of your home, figuring out where you want your wine to be is the most important part. Dining and living rooms provide some of the most prominent visual spaces in the home and serve as the perfect place to display your storing your wine.

Bumping out closets or even creating storage in existing alcoves can be a creative way to add spaces to store and display wine. Placing your wine in these high-trafficked areas ensures that your collection is readily available for you and your guests to enjoy easily.

Wine Storage: Quantity

Another essential factor to consider when creating wine storage on your main level is the quantity of bottles you want to store. Adding wine storage to spare cupboards or under-stair spaces can be a great way to garner visual interest but decreases the number of bottles you can store. This works great for clients who want to show off a unique collection upstairs but want to keep the rest of their storage in a basement cellar.

However, if you want your entire collection to live on the main level, understanding how to get the maximum functionality from your space is critical. Map out the amount of bottles your wine storage arrangement can hold and go from there.

Functionality

Climate is one of the main reasons basement cellars are so popular. When moving wine storage to your main level, it is important to understand the technology needed to create a controlled environment. To recreate those basement temperatures, you need to add cooling systems where conditioned air is ducted into the wine storage area from the basement. Tempered and UV-filtered glass and energy-efficient LED lights are also necessary to create the proper wine storage environment.

Wine Storage: Visual Aesthetics

You can’t make wine storage your focal point without visual aesthetics. Coordinating the style of your home with the lighting, color scheme, and design of your wine  display can be valuable to creating a cohesive look. Using lots of glass in the space can showcase your bottles and add to the aesthetic appeal. Glass highlights the lighting in the space, and lighting is one of the most functionally important aesthetic design features.

As mentioned above, LED lighting is the most common as LED lights emit no heat, which is essential for the bottles and incredibly energy efficient. Adding LED lighting can also be a way to illuminate the labels of different wines, as well as add different color variations and mood lighting to your space.

Design Style

Modern design is one of the most common in wine storage displays, with the types of materials typically used, such as glass, wood, and metal, common in these sleek design trends. Incorporating modern elements into your space can make the functionality more elegant and clean.

If you are looking for an example of wine storage, please see this historic row house renovation the TMD team completed in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. If you would like to see more custom home bar ideas, see my article Home Trends: Home Bar Ideas. Finally, visit the Projects page on our website to browse through our work.