Confession = I love wine. Love love looooooove wine. So of course living back home in the Bay Area means I have quick access to the wine country. 45 minutes north and I’m there. But my wine stash?… Let’s talk about how I had been storing it away.

You know how most homes have a coat closet as you walk in the front door? Kinda looks like this…

Well, this is what the inside of mine looked like…

5 cases of wine, plus more wine stacked above on the shelf, and 3 hanging backpacks. Lovely.

I don’t hang coats in here (they are hanging in each persons respective bedroom closet) so why not store away my wine stash in this space? Just how much wine is in that stash, you wonder? Have a look…

The closet also houses one small fuse box for the left side of the house…

As well as the old, cumbersome alarm electrical box…

And other random wiring. Eventually when the kitchen is re-done, this closet won’t be here anymore…which means that annoying alarm box will be a-goner too. However, in the meantime, I am trying to make use of every possible square inch this kitchen has to offer. Why not turn this closet into an official “wine closet”?

The timing couldn’t have been better too because I am working on a very exciting project with Martha Stewart’s company…and that project required me to tear down one of the Elfa closet systems I installed last summer. With the Elfa materials available for use, I re-used it and cut it down to fit into this space.

First thing was removing that old shelf and rod. After making sure everything was going to work…

Can you believe this?

The excitement over here. It can’t be contained, I tell you!

More pictures, please!…

The closet is 96″ high and 29″ across. Within this space I was able to fit 2 standards (the vertical rods), 5 12″ x 24″ shelves (on top) and 8 16″ x 24″ shelves (2 on top and 6 on the bottom)…as well as that beautiful decor shelf. Each shelf fits 7 bottles comfortably.

Love!

On the tabletop I added a piece of art my 9 year old created for me on my birthday this year. Just placed it inside a free standing plastic frame. I also hung a wine bottle art piece I’ve owned for at least 10+ years. Fits perfectly in here and was one of those “how did that happen?!” moments…

I added some faux grape vines too…and one small bunch of faux grapes…

Not like this space is getting much sunlight for something “real”….

I added a small container of napkins for company…

This space is perfectly laid out between the kitchen and living room, making it easy to open while company is over. We can pour wine in here and still be close to the kitchen and living room / entertaining area…

So glad I decided to do this project!

Some of you may be wondering if I plan on doing anything regarding temperature control. I’m looking into that now, but not sure it’s going to be worth the investment since I’ll be tearing this space down shortly for the kitchen remodel.

And…if any of you are wondering what exactly is stored away in here or you’re looking for new wine rec’s, these are my go-to’s…

I promise you will not be disappointed!

Merry Edwards Sonoma Coast Pinot, La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot, and Cakebread Savignon Blanc. These 3 = heaven!

Have a great day!