Wine collectors who own over a hundred bottles find it more practical to have their own residential cellar than have their wines stored at a commercial storage facility. With a cellar in their home, they have a more convenient access to their favorite vintages. When people decide to have a home cellar built, they usually choose an old or underutilized room in their house to convert into a wine storage space, which is makes it very practical and reasonable.
Recently, we completed a conversion project in Monterey — a county on the Pacific Coast of California — where we transformed a client’s pantry into a custom cellar featuring nice small wine cellar designs.
Check out the full details of this project below and hopefully you can get some useful insights on how to proceed with your own wine cellar!
Custom Wine Cellar Conversion Projects are Surprisingly Inexpensive in San Francisco
Residential custom wine cellars provide convenient access and endless enjoyment to genuine wine enthusiasts. If you have been thinking about having a wine cellar built in your home, but are having second thoughts about the expenses of the construction, you need not worry anymore! Closet wine cellar conversion projects in San Francisco are surprisingly affordable. You simply need to choose an unused space in your house and hire an expert builder to construct your storage structure. A good contractor can effectively and efficiently transform any old room into an impressive wine cellar.
Award-Winning Small Wine Cellar Design in Monterey County
Custom Wine Cellars San Francisco is a trusted storage builder with many years of experience in constructing well-designed and functional wine rooms. Our team of contractors maintains customer satisfaction by keeping a primary goal in mind, and that is to provide high quality racking and cooling solutions. We never settle for anything less than the best for our clients.
Recently, we had a client who approached us for a construction project. A family in Monterey County, south of San Francisco, California wanted our team of builders to renovate their small pantry and convert it into a wine cellar. They wanted our designers to create a cellar that would suit their budget, while meeting their aesthetic and functional requirements.
Although it was challenging to build the cellar they wanted and remain within the budget, it was a challenge our experts were ready to take on. In fact, this project was so exceedingly successful that we received the Best Wine Cellar Remodel Award for it!
Our designers created 3-dimensional drawings of the wine cellar, so that the client could have a better perspective of the construction plan. The 3D illustrations included all the various elevations of the wine cellar, such as the left wall (Elevation A), the back walls (Elevations B and C), and the right wall (Elevation D). Considering the space, our goal was to focus on a small wine cellar design that is both appealing and functional.
Dissecting This Small Wine Cellar Design: Elevation A (Left Cellar Wall)
Since the space is under the stairs, its ceiling is not flat all throughout. A part of the pantry’s ceiling (the left side) is slanted. Our team mounted a wine racking system with slanted tops on the left wall, so that the racks follow the descending height of the ceiling. The racks installed were intended for storing 750ml bottles.
Elevations B and C (Back Cellar Wall)
Our builders divided the back wall of the area into two elevations. Elevation B had the shortest racks in the cellar. The bottom section of the racking system is made of double-deep X-bin cases, which were intended for bulk storage.
Above Elevation B was a tabletop and a horizontal wine rack. The tabletop was to be used as an area to place bottles that were about to be consumed. It could also be used to display wine cellar accessories, such as decanters and cork openers. The 3-deep horizontal wine racks allowed bottles to be stored with their labels facing forward. Label-forward racks help make it easier to find certain bottles in a cellar, because you can easily identify them at first glance!
Elevation C is on the right side of the cellar’s back wall. The top and bottom section of the racking installed on this wall can accommodate 750ml bottles. The middle section has a display row that highlights the best of the client’s wines.
Elevation D (Right Cellar Wall)
The right wall of this custom wine cellar was installed with 6-inch deep wine racks that go all the way up to the level of the door. The depth of the racking was a little bit shallower than the other racks, because the right wall was close to the doorway.
The refrigeration unit was installed above the racking on Elevation D. To make the HVAC system look like it was part of the racking, we covered it with a louvered grill and box made from the same material that the racks were made of.
Uniquely Elegant Wine Racking Design for a Small Space
The client’s pantry was located under the stairs in their home. The room was oddly shaped, and there was limited space. Our team of expert builders had to design a wine racking system that would fit the room perfectly and maximize the space inside.
Our contractors used wooden wine racks made from Mahogany. Lacquer was applied to the wood to enhance its appearance and make its colors look bolder. The racking system installed had a total bottle capacity of 496, but the client was able to store 514 wines when the cellar was completed.
A Gorgeous Wine Cellar Door
The door installed in this project was a stunning entryway to the custom wine cellar. It was a Tuscan style, rectangular wine cellar door with an arched glass that had an intricate wrought iron design. A custom stain was applied to the glass to match the design of the client’s kitchen cabinets. Custom molding was also added to complement the existing moldings in the home.
Installation of a Robust Residential Wine Cellar HVAC System
Our team of cooling experts installed an RM 2600 split refrigeration system. This was an ideal setup because there was limited space in the cellar. Only the evaporator was installed inside, while the condenser was placed in the client’s garage. Using pipes, cool air was brought to the cellar from the condenser and warm air was vented out.
Start Your Custom Small Wine Cellar Design with the Experts!
Small spaces carry a lot of potential as a wine storage room. No matter the shape and size of the room, it can be utilized as an effective wine cellar as long as you go with a design that’s highly functional. At Custom Wine Cellars San Francisco, we can help you turn your small rooms into something valuable for your home and wine collection like this Monterey kitchen pantry!
