It begins with one bottle then a second, third, fourth and before you know it, things are a little out of control and your entire home is filled with wine bottles of all shapes and sizes. This is the precise reason wine cellars were invented in the first place—for storage of wine bottle (whether full or empty). Of course, nowadays wine cellars also double up as status symbols in many homes.
Building a wine cellar is not a cheap affair. You have to consider certain elements like air conditioning, sunlight penetration, humidity, ambient temperature and the actual design of the wine cellar. You can easily make a deadly mistake and interfere with the natural aging of your wine eventually altering its taste negatively. You definitely don’t want this.
The good news is that you can build a wine cellar on a budget. It might not look and feel like the ones you see online built by leading wine cellar builders but it will serve the same purpose. Here are some tips for putting together a wine cellar on a budget.
1. Use Your Basement
A wine cellar needs to be cool and dark. What better place to build one than the basement? This will cut the cost of cooling the room all year long—even for summer when you will need some air conditioning in there. This goes without saying that if you don’t have a basement, you can consider another dark spot such as a dark room or the space beneath your closet.
2. Recycle old furniture
Yes, old furniture can make for excellent storage components for wine bottles. The rule of thumb is to always ensure that they create a cool atmosphere and promote little movement. If you can follow this basic guideline, use that chest of drawers or wooden crate you no longer need.
3. Beware Of Insects
Insects love setting up shop in items made from wood. The wine cellar is no exception. They will chew their way through wine corks without a second thought. Top wine cellar builders recommend plugging an odorless insect strip to avoid this problem. You can also wrap your bottles in plastic so that they are airtight.
Even if you don’t have the big bucks, making a wine cellar can be a fun and rewarding experience. Hopefully, the above highlighted ideas will help you make a cheap wine cellar. Enlist the help of your friends and family (as long as you pour them a drink afterward) and don’t be afraid of bringing in your personal style to the project.
