Custom Modern Wine Cellars for a Chic, Farm-Style Orange County Home
Many Orange County homeowners are considering modern wine cellars as a beautiful and functional addition to their home. Their first function is to securely and effectively protect and store the precious wines within. But a secondary and equally important function is that the cellar is stylish, contemporary, and beautifully designed. The CustomWineCellar.com team is proud to showcase this stunning example of one of those modern wine cellars.
For a beautiful home in peaceful Newport Beach, highlighting modern design was one of the objectives for its wine cellar. We wanted the cellar to radiate the same warmth, hospitality, and glow as the rest of the home’s interior, so we proposed a modern wine room design that was more oriented towards a contemporary style.
We are specialists in creating wine storage solutions that imbibes both traditional and modern, and our team was stoked to take on the project and produce a uniquely contemporary wine cellar!
The Excitement for Modern Wine Cellars
Modern and contemporary design reflects a gentle and peaceful atmosphere, one that could make you feel at home and relaxed when grabbing a bottle of wine. It’s the style one would go for if you’re looking to create a visually tranquil space, especially when it can be seen from other parts of the home.
This home’s wine cellar can be found in between the family room and formal dining area – a perfect spot to conveniently get some wine whatever the occasion is. The small room was previously a powder room with a sliding door, under the stairs, so you can imagine the irregularity of the room’s ceiling and shape.
Using traditional design in a relatively compact space can potentially make it feel smaller and more cramped. But the clean lines, surfaces, and pattern of modern design can help us make use of the size of a space. Or even better, modern wine cellar designs make a room feel bigger.
Black-Framed Glass Wine Cellar Door
Welcoming guests into this lovely wine cellar is a single glass door with black metal framing. The glass panel is dual-paned which means that it is composed of two glass panels sandwiching a “spacer”. These spacers typically contain argon gas, to enhance its insulation capabilities.
The door also features a simple, 24-inch, metal handle that one can easily grip and pull when entering and leaving the cellar.
For security, the door is equipped with a manual lock and key system, and a separate magnetic lock to ensure the door is tightly closed when it’s not in use.
A Stylish, Eco-Friendly Approach to Flooring
Going onto the floors – not all wine cellars redo their flooring. Some may add an extra layer of insulation, but the materials that cover it remain. To differentiate this wine cellar further from the adjacent room, we decided to go with a different shade of wood.
We repurposed wine barrels, particularly the staves, flattened and resurfaced them, and brought them in to line the floor. You can still see the stave marks on some of the planks, and they provided extra character to the room!
Contemporary Wine Racking Design: A Mix of Different Materials
This extra under-the-stairs wine room features five walls. Because we wanted to maximize the small space a little, we built custom wine racks on all sides — but of course, with a twist!
We combined different types of racks to add flavor to the display and they’re all made up of either wood or metal!
Wooden Wine Racks for Modern Wine Cellars
Wooden racks are not only for traditional wine cellars; they also look good in modern wine cellars too! In this wine room, we installed four separate wooden wine racks, with each occupying one wall of the room.
The Left Tequila Wall
Upon entering this modern wine cellar, to the left you’ll see what our clients like to call their “tequila wall”. Dedicated for all things tequila, this wall is clad with a custom made wooden wine rack built from white ripped oak.
The arrangement and shape of the individual shelves in the tequila wall are unconventional too. In the middle section, you’ll find a lighted shelf which we custom-built with acrylic LED panels. These panels give the bottles a special glow from the bottom.
In some parts of the shelf, we cut out about ½ inch into the wood to create channels for LED ribbon lights. This enhanced the shelf’s character as the lighting emphasized the rich color of the wood.
The Main Wine Wall
Right across the tequila wall is the main wine wall which features four reveal rows that display the bottles in a slightly inclined position.
Crate storage of various sizes and shapes occupies the upper section of the rack where you can currently find wine bottles stored upright. At the bottom section, you can find deep horizontal storage spaces that can store bottles in a cork-forward way.
The Tools Rack
Near the main wine wall is a half-wall –height wooden rack intended for the decanters and glass stemware. There is ample counterspace on top so the owners can safely and comfortably pour a glass of wine. Again, like all the other wooden racks in this cellar, the tools rack is also made from lacquer-polished white ripped oak.
The Rack With the Wine Cooling
Lastly, opposite the tools racks is where you can find our custom-made wine rack that doubles as a cover up for the cooling unit. This rack is directly beneath the staircase, so the height wasn’t as tall as the other wooden wine racks.
This racking consists of four rows of deep horizontal racks that store wine bottles in a cork-forward fashion. Beneath these rows is a wooden louvered grill where cool air from the refrigeration unit can easily pass through.
Custom Metal Wine Racks with Special Lighting
For this home’s metal wine cellar racks, we installed 17 rows of VintageView’s Vino Rails and them a few inches in front of a white stone wall. These rows are lined up in four columns, grouped by twos. The metal racks are attached to metal posts fixed onto the floor and ceiling at the ends.
To give this side of the display some personality, we attached cool-toned LED lights at the back of the metal posts to give that subtle glow. From the outside (and through the glass door), the metal racking display alone already looks stunning!
Metal Racks on the Ceiling?
Here’s another interesting feature you don’t always see in typical wine cellars — racks on the ceiling!
To match the stylish, contemporary interiors, we added tiling work on the ceiling. This included the surface right beneath the stairs. We also installed individual metal bottle holders on the tiles for an impressive display.
Modern Split-Type Cooling System for That Year-Round Temperature Control
A wine cellar wouldn’t be complete without its dedicated cooling system. Between self-contained and split-type, we decided that a ductless split-type was the best option for this space. This small room didn’t have a lot of wall space to install a duct or a self-contained system. To solve the issue we brought in the RM4600 wine cellar cooling unit by US Cellars Systems. This is a system where the condenser is attached to the evaporator via a coil. We ran the coil up to the attic where we placed the condensing unit.
This powerful cooling unit would work hand-in-hand with the cellar’s insulation to keep all the wines fresh and of quality!
Modern Wine Cellars at their Best
Our team at CWC.com was very grateful for the opportunity to build the wine cellar of their dreams for our clients. It was exciting to convert the room into a ritzy wine cellar with distinct design features. Our experts love being able to transform simple spaces into more useful, more valuable rooms!
If there’s an extra room or closet in your home, you want converted into a wine cellar, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here at CWC.com! We’d love to answer all your questions and see how we can build a great home for your wines.
