Small Basement Wine Cellar with Stylish Wine Racks: Keeping the Cost Down Without Compromising Quality

Another wine cellar design and installation project were completed by Coastal Custom Wine Cellars, one of our partners in building refrigerated wine rooms in Austin and the nearby areas. They have been in the construction industry for many years now. They were able to transform a small basement into an efficient and stylish wine cellar using a wood wine rack system that makes a statement. Learn how they did this while keeping the cost down.   

Keeping the Cost Down: Building a Gorgeous Small Wine Cellar in a Basement   

When doing a wine cellar building project, it is crucial to stay within the budget. In one of their projects, Coastal Custom Wine Cellars was contacted by a homeowner who needed help to transform a tiny space in their basement into a beautiful wine cellar.  

With their extensive experience, creativity, and passion for creating refrigerated wine rooms, they were able to transform the small space into an undeniably gorgeous wine display and storage area. Like the homeowners in this project, you do not have to break the bank to build your dream wine cellar.

With the help of a professional who understands your requirements, the clients were delighted to have a safe and head-turner wine room in their home, while keeping the cost under control. Since the room was relatively small, Coastal Custom Wine Cellars also had to maximize the capacity of the space. 

As a master builder, Coastal Custom Wine Cellars performs a thorough assessment of our client’s needs to ensure that everything is in place and all of the owner’s requirements are met. They scheduled an on-site visit and gathered relevant information to help them create the perfect basement wine cellar design for a small space.

They took into account every detail and created 3-dimensional images. When the client approved their design proposal, they started the construction process. They framed the wine room and completed the electrical work before installing the wine racks and refrigeration unit.   

Designing Wine Racks That Add Elegance to a Small Wine Cellar 

When designing wine racks, it is crucial to consider the aesthetic and functional preferences of the owner. At Coastal Custom Wine Cellars, they always want their clients to be proud of the wine rack system that displays their bottles.  

You can choose kit wine racks, which are ready-made and available in various sizes and heights. However, in this particular project, the Coastal team installed custom wine racks so that the client’s desired features could be incorporated into the design and the wine rack’s measurement fit the size and shape of the narrow wine room.  

For the material, they used Premium Redwood, a wood species that exhibits its natural beauty even when left unfinished. In addition to the aesthetic appeal, these wood wine racks are also durable, can withstand the high humidity in a refrigerated wine cellar, and are highly resistant to decay.   

Wine Racks on the Left and Right Walls 

Upon entering the lovely wine cellar, you will see the mirrored racking on the left and right walls. We incorporated diamond bins at the center and rectangular bins at the top. There are column wine racks with display rows on both sides. The display rows pitch the bottles at a 15-degree angle to keep the wine in contact with the cork.  

Wine Racks on the Back Wall 

On the back wall, Coastal Custom Wine Cellars installed a rectangular opening with a tabletop to provide a space for decanting and serving wines and for additional bottle storage. At the top section are slots for storing wine bottles individually. Below the tabletop are three storage bins for wooden cases. 

Creating the Perfect Environment Crucial to Wine’s Aging Process 

You cannot achieve the optimum wine storage conditions necessary to age wines properly. Using a regular air conditioning system designed for homes will deteriorate your wines. Therefore, you must consult with a knowledgeable builder who understands the role of a wine cellar cooling system in preserving the desirable qualities of your wines.  

With many types, sizes, models, and brands of refrigeration units available on the market today, some people fell into a trap. They chose a particular climate control system because of its affordability and let a non-expert install it to save money. They did not know that technical requirements had to be considered in choosing and installing a wine cooling unit.  

Always hire an HVAC expert to ensure that your refrigeration system fits your needs. Installing the wrong equipment will cause fluctuating temperatures and varying humidity levels, resulting in one or more of the following wine storage problems:

• Spoiled wines due to too much heat inside your wine cellar 
• Oxidized wines due to loss of cork’s sealing ability   
• Mold growth due to condensation formation because of very high humidity levels 
• Damaged cork and wine labels due to mold growth  
• Adverse effect on the structural integrity of your walls, ceiling, and wine racks due to mold growth 

When choosing the size of the cooling unit for a project, they will do a heat load calculation to determine the BTUs needed for the wine cellar. The factors that will affect the result are the size and location of the room, the amount of glass to be utilized on the walls, windows, ceiling, and doors, and the installed insulation value.     

In this project, Coastal Custom Wine Cellars decided to install a Slimline 2500 wine refrigeration unit supplied by WhisperKOOL. It is designed for wine rooms up to 500 cu ft. in size. They installed the equipment above the door.       

Do You Need Help with Transforming Your Space into a Gorgeous Wine Cellar? We Will Help You! 

If you are planning to turn a space in your home into beautiful wine storage and display area for your collection, Custom Wine Cellars Austin will help you! We work with local builders like Coastal Custom Wine Cellars. 

Do you have any questions? Please call us at (512) 772-4378!