New Jersey Home Wine Cellars – Playa Vista Project

With the permission of our client, we are going to take you on a short tour of one of the jobs we completed recently. Do you see the picture above? Now, imagine FITTING an entire wine cellar underneath it. Sounds impossible, right? Well, if that was the case, then the client would not have contracted our services!

Of course, we understood why our client chose that space for installing a wine cellar: just like any good homeowner, he wanted his home to not only look inviting to his guests, but to also serve a highly functional purpose too. We accepted the challenge, and we set about working on it.

The Process of Cooling

Originally, the thought we had for the unused space was to simply enclose it by putting it in a seamless glass wall and have the front of it refrigerated. However, since this space also occupies the “common area” of the household, it would prove to be wholly impractical for anyone living there. On another note, pushing through with this original idea would have been too cost-prohibitive for the client. Thankfully, we then realized that the solution we were looking for was in front of us the entire time.

As it turned out, that “solution” came in the form of a self-contained refrigeration system by Le Cache, which the client had already owned for a couple of years. He was using that refrigeration cabinet to store 200 of his 348 wine bottle collection. So, we then arrived at this conclusion: rather than installing a new bulky refrigerator to hold all 348 bottles in that space, we suggested that he use the space underneath the stairs as a passive display for his “everyday” wines. We laid out the plan on how we would be able to do so (which you can see in the picture posted above), and he liked it.

After that came the “highlight” of the whole job: installing the New Jersey wine cellar racks themselves!

Wood, Diamond, and Everything in Between

The purpose of the wine cellar plan was to serve as a space for displaying the client’s wine collection and storing them. So, for this purpose, we designed a high-reveal display row which was pitched at a fifteen-degree angle so that it follows the contours of the stairs. It proved to be a good choice too, since it allowed the liquid contents of the wine bottles to maintain contact with their respective corks. In addition, it opened up the option of installing ribbon lighting above the display row.

As for the remaining wine racks, these are all single-bottle storage, universal openings, that we designed to hold even large bottles like magnums or champagnes. We also included wood storage bins in a couple of rectangular openings below, a diamond bin for bulk storage,  and even an extended tabletop spanning the width of the entire wine rack. After all, it’s not a dedicated wine space if there’s no surface to place a wine glass on!

Finally, the Alder wood wine rack, if you’re curious to know about it, was painted with a rustic stain. We chose to leave the lacquer off, since it looked like the natural color of the rack, and fitted very well with the color scheme of the floor.

A Functional Wine Cellar for the Modern Home

The client was very pleased with the appearance of the finished New Jersey wine cellar project. If anything, the design you have just read about here is indicative of the quality we give to all of our clients. It certainly proved to be a fun project for us, and we’re looking forward to the next client who wants to provide us with another challenging job!

Do you think you can be that client? Well, please contact us at +1 (732) 455-9132 and get a 3D wine cellar design for FREE!