Transforming an Underground Space into a Luxury Seattle Basement Wine Cellar

We customized all the wine racks you see in this basement wine cellar. That’s why every corner is perfectly fitted to the wall.

A basement wine cellar is a great way to develop unused underground space. Our history is rich with how our ancestors utilized their underground space for storing pottery jugs filled with wine. The result was a magnificent wine aging process that enriched the wine’s taste and aroma. Its taste was so remarkable that the ancient Romans even started using catacombs to store their wine. This history shows how having a basement wine cellar is the perfect place to age your bottles of red. 

Basement wine cellars feel so rooted in our history that they may seem like an intimidating project to begin. With Custom Wine Cellars, we can build your custom basement wine cellars anywhere in Seattle. Our knowledge of building cellars and our craftsmanship with wood and metal is extraordinary. Having a basement wine cellar is not out of reach when you have our team of professional wine cellar builders. 

Let us take you on a tour of one of our recently finished basement cellar projects. 

Assessing the Space Before Building a Basement Wine Cellar

Before building the basement wine cellar, we had to assess the walls and the entire space. It is important that before building a cellar, we know the space we are dealing with so we can accommodate all the factors that need to be considered.

We preserved the original beams for this basement wine cellar and just added insulation in between.

What if the basement wine cellar wall was exposed to the home exterior?

For this project, the house was built with brick walls. It is a beautiful feature to emphasize the cozy atmosphere of the wine cellar. However, there was a wall that was exposed to the exterior. This means that the space could easily be affected by the temperature outside the home. To fix this situation, we added more insulation. 

The perfect basement wine cellar temperature is between 55 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This ensures that your wine ages accurately. If your home experiences frequent sunny days, then the heat might shrink the corks of your bottle. This can lead to the oxidation of your favorite Pinot. If your cellar becomes too humid, mold and mildew can form everywhere, from the walls of your cellar down to the bottles themselves. So it is of utmost importance to have a regulated basement wine cellar temperature.

For this project, we began installing the insulation and treating the wall. After the entire wall was treated, we added the joists and insulation to the wall. For most wine cellars, we recommend and use of closed-cell foam spray insulation. The foam can easily creep into studs, tiny holes, and air gaps, so you’re assured that the room is completely sealed. Although it may be a more expensive insulation system, it proves to be more durable and better for your wine cellar in the long run. 

Having the proper insulation installed in your wine cellar is necessary to keep the wines preserved. So for every project we take on, we always consider the different temperatures and climates of the Seattle areas so that your wines can stand the winter winds in Ravenna and the sunny summers in Victory Heights.

How do we start with our basement wine cellar design?

The windows were a small entryway for light to fill the space. The floors looked like large pebbles that complimented the bricks nicely. With all of these gorgeous details that were already present in the space, we considered them as a starting point for our basement wine cellar design. The space just needed a little more polish and a little more grandeur.

We replaced the original door of this basement wine cellar to make it look more aesthetic.

Small renovations that are skillfully executed could immensely improve a space. It is less costly than having contractors dig up the entire space and start from scratch. The results of these finishing touches are better when done by a professional. 

So with this project, we added wooden frames around the window to give it a more rustic feel. We also incorporated wood into the ceiling to make the space more cohesive. To make the ceiling stand out, we used a ceiling style called coffer ceiling. This adds a decorative detail to the cellar. Through these little touches, the overall vibe and design of the basement wine cellar were elevated. 

Onto wine storage — the selection and making of the perfect wine racks.

There are two options when looking into wooden wine racks: modular and custom. Modular wine racks are ready-made wine racks that you can stack on top of each other. This is a good starting point for your wine storage if your collection is still small. However, to make sure your cellar retains its aesthetic, you need to plan which racks you want and how you want to stack them as you grow your collection. This could be inconvenient and stressful. If you are looking for a more convenient way of growing your storage in the future while maintaining the luxurious feel of your wine racks, we recommend having them custom-built.

With a custom wine rack, the aesthetic of your basement wine cellar in Seattle is guaranteed. You can also choose between wood, metal, and acrylic when customizing your wine racks. 

For this specific project, we used dark finish wood to compliment the colors of the basement wine cellar. We designed the custom wooden wine racks to be able to hold the bottles in multiple ways. There are vertical racks that cohesively showcase the corks. There is also storage that showcases the bottles perfectly by having them lay on a more slanted wine rack. Then we have diagonal wine racks that top off the basement wine cellar with an old-world feel. 

This is how the basement wine cellar looks when only the racking lights are turned on.

If you are looking for basement wine cellar ideas, specifically for your racking, then choosing the variety of wood is an important step. Among the top options for wooden wine racks are mahogany, pine, and premium redwood since they are sturdy and resistant to molds. You can also have different finishes and stains on these woods to perfectly fit the space. 

Build Your Seattle Basement Wine Cellars with Custom Wine Cellars

Instead of using your basement as an unorganized storage space, add value to your home by turning it into a wine cellar. At Custom Wine Cellars Seattle, we can design, build, and install the perfect home basement wine cellars in Seattle. Whether you reside in Bryant, Phinney Ridge, Roxhill, Seward Park, Maple Leaf, or Wedgwood, we can help you turn the cellar of your dreams into reality. Let the Custom Wine Cellars Seattle team know your basement wine cellar vision by calling us at +1 (206) 792-9912.