Begin your cellar
Journal

Notes for the room ahead.

Three working notes for the early stages: counting what you keep, choosing materials and preparing for the designer visit.

Architectural study of a glass-walled wine room with wood racks, a pale stone wall and a round stone table.
Design studiesGlass walls around wood bays, a backlit stone wall and a round stone table.
Pale painted wine racks with individual bottle slots, angled display shelves and hanging stemware in a central niche.
RackingOne bottle to a bay in pale racking, rising to the sloped ceiling, with a niche for glasses.
Planning#

Start with the collection.

Before you choose a rack, take stock: how many bottles you keep now, which formats sit outside the standard, and how much room you want to grow into.

Note how often you open a bottle, whether you like labels facing out or corks forward, and which bottles you reach for without thinking. Those habits will shape the layout more usefully than a picture from a catalog.

A simple count and a few photographs give the designer a useful start for the visit and quote. The layout can be refined once the room is measured and the collection is seen in place.

Wine bottles on metal rails beside diagonal wood bins, an exposed brick wall and a stone counter.
Wood cellarsSlim metal rails hold bottles label-out, beside dark diamond bins and an exposed brick wall.
Materials#

Wood, metal, or a little of both?

Look at the room before choosing a material. Painted racking can recede into the architecture; wood brings grain, warmth and weight; metal keeps the lines thin and the view open.

Consider how each will sit beside existing floors, doors and light, and whether display or density matters more in the space you have. A mixed approach can let one material carry the architecture while another does the close work.

Samples are worth seeing in the room, where daylight and artificial light change how they read. Choose the material in context, and ask the designer to reflect it in the project quote.

Ceiling cooling vent and recessed lights above pale wood wine racks, with an arch and hanging stemware at the rear.
CoolingA ceiling vent set between recessed lights, above pale bays, hanging stemware and an arch.
Room preparation#

Think beyond the cooling unit.

A cooling unit is only one part of the room. Insulation, door seals, glazing and the way the unit exhausts all affect how a cellar performs.

Raise these questions at the designer visit so the enclosure and the equipment are planned together. The right solution depends on the room’s construction and heat load, and should be reflected in the project quote.

Ask for an assessment specific to your space, and keep the questions with your plans as the design develops. The room comes first; the equipment follows.

Explore the details

More cellar notes

Proof of craft

A closer look at the cellar.

Explore the gallery
Wood-lined wine cellar with tiered racks, brick walls, stone steps, a counter and wooden crates in a niche.
Wood cellarsIndividual bays stack above a brick crate niche, over stone steps and a stone counter.
Wine bottles on metal rails beside diagonal wood bins, an exposed brick wall and a stone counter.
Wood cellarsSlim metal rails hold bottles label-out, beside dark diamond bins and an exposed brick wall.
Pale painted wine racks with individual bottle slots, angled display shelves and hanging stemware in a central niche.
RackingOne bottle to a bay in pale racking, rising to the sloped ceiling, with a niche for glasses.
Wine bottles displayed label-forward on metal rails against a wood-backed wall.
RackingSlim black rails cradle every bottle label-forward, floor to ceiling, backed in wood.
Glass-front wine refrigerator with wood shelves beside a cabinet and carpeted staircase.
CoolingA glass-door cabinet with bottle rails inside fits neatly into the stair alcove.
Ceiling cooling vent and recessed lights above pale wood wine racks, with an arch and hanging stemware at the rear.
CoolingA ceiling vent set between recessed lights, above pale bays, hanging stemware and an arch.