Home Wine Cellars – The New Trend

Homeowners are finding more reasons to entertain at home, making wine cellars a more feasible investment these days. With some careful planning and a wonderful imagination, a home wine cellar can create an incredible chic look that will transform any room into a stylish, yet elegant addition.

During the initial planning process, it is important to determine the quantity of bottles you’ll need to store and the availability of space within your home. One of the great features of building a wine cellar is that they don’t require an incredible amount of space to be functional and look beautiful light, temperature, humidity and vibration will have to be considered so that your investment is protected. If expensive wine is included in your collection, you may be required to incorporate more sophisticated controls to prevent spoiling.

Most custom-made racking systems allow you to store each individual bottle separately so not only can you read the label easily, but you can also select a bottle without rearranging your collection. These racking systems also secure your bottles, allowing your wine to lay flat so there is less risk of sediment being disturbed. Horizontal storage will also prevent the corks in wine bottles from drying out (dry cork can also lead to more breakage when the wine is eventually opened). The taste of any bottle of wine, regardless of type or age, benefits from being properly stored.

Other features of the home wine cellar are purely decorative in nature. A small table (that may be made out of a wine barrel) is commonly placed in the middle or in a section of the cellar to accommodate wine tasting or create a small conversation area. Wine memorabilia, including prints of important wine events will make a home wine cellar into a great conversation area. The lighting selected for the room should be diffused for proper ambience.

Cellar finishes range from contemporary stainless steel designs co authentic finishes, such as rustic oak or pine. When choosing a theme, it is a good idea co keep the design consistent with the rest of your home.
There are some great advantages of having a home wine cellar:

You’ll have bottles you’re familiar with on hand. For wine connoisseurs, having a cellar is like having a pantry well stocked with great ingredients. lt means having both young and vintage wines that you’re familiar with, so that making dinner is easy and exciting to put together.
You’ll have good wines for impromptu occasions. Especially if you don’t have a wine merchant conveniently located down the street, a wine cellar means chat you have great wine around to serve unexpected guests or to bring to a last-minute dinner invite.
You’ll be able to take advantage of reduced prices or sales. Deciding to stock up on wine means that, for reasonable prices, you can buy recent releases that will be hard to find or will dramatically increase in price years from now when the wines come to maturity. Wine scores may also offer great pricing on some of your favorite wines throughout the year.
You’ll have wonderful wines for special occasions. Whether it’s to enjoy with a few friends over dinner, as a gift for your best friend’s milestone birthday, or to open to celebrate your kids’ college graduations, you’ll have wines to savor for years to come.

Home wine cellars are just another great reason co chink creatively when it comes co home design. With so many new products and finishes available on the market today, the possibilities of creating an authentic wine room are endless.

E-mail your decorating questions and photos to designers@kohon.ca or visit website www.kohon.ca