Wine cellar under the stairs

Find out how we turned a useless, quirky nook in the basement into a wine cellar under the stairs and created a sophisticated, charming and functional storage space. 

A million years go (Okay, like 20), I was in Italy with my family and touring beautiful churches, staying in gorgeous hotels and eating in divine restaurants. I will note now my grandmother paid for this trip because I was a poor 22-year-old just out of college with absolutely no money. But, my grandma could take us places and that summer it happened to be Italy.

I remember reveling at the architecture of even the most mundane buildings and loving the details that went into it all. Nothing was overlooked and everything was thought of. Spaces I particularly loved included the small nooks and the grottos that had been turned into functional, beautiful spaces like wine cellars. As I grew older and learned to enjoy red wine, I dreamed of having such a space in my home someday.

With our recent basement remodel, I was finally able to make that dream a reality.

Making a wine cellar under the stairs a reality

We started this remodel last year and we finally finished it just before Christmas. I was holding off on showing everyone because, well, I’m slow and I want things to be perfect before I show them. That said, I don’t have this space perfect yet. We have so much space for wine that I don’t know if it will ever truly look full, especially now that I have to take blood thinners everyday.

However, I love this space. I personally think it will be something that will forever make our home unique and it’s almost something you might expect to find in an 122-year-old home. It has a bit of old world personality, with some tile that actually came from Italy and some modern conveniences too.

A funky space under the stairs

When we bought out house the basement area was unfinished, and it was split into two sides – the old side that was the original foundation for our home in 1900 and the new side that was dug out and built in 2017. The new side was dug much lower than the original side of the basement, which was great because it gave us essentially another family room space that we could utilize. It makes the perfect space for a movie, football game or slumber party. Keira just had a sleepover for her birthday and it was a wonderful spot for them all to hangout all night long.

BUT, they didn’t dig out the old side of the basement. This too seemed fine because frankly we needed more storage space and that provided the perfect space.

However, this left us with a 2 foot step from one side of the foundation to the other. And it cut right down the middle of the house so the space under the stairs was higher opened to the family room-like space, but had a higher floor since it was technically the old side of the house.

Making the space work for us

In our old house in the suburbs, we put a reading nook under the stairs for the kids because it opened to the playroom. Here, I wanted something more sophisticated and another space to lounge just didn’t seem needed. In this little, quirky space, I finally had one of those nooks like they did in Italy and I had a plan for it.

We deiced to make the space a wine cellar under the stairs and in doing so, it really gave me a chance to be a little brave with color, tile and design a space that I had never designed before.

First, we decided to keep the concrete as is for the space. It would have cost a fortune to remove even just that bit of concrete that existed. Also, since it was near the stairs for the entire house i wanted to make sure we weren’t going to disrupt anything.

Because of this, the space is smaller than normal. I can stand up in it, but I’m 5’2. For Kevin at 6’1 it truly is a wine CELLAR under the stairs. He can grab what he needs but it’s not a space to spend time.

Designing the space

When it came to designing the wine cellar under the stairs, I knew I wanted it to feel a bit different from the rest of the house but still feel like it “Fit”. The wine cellar under the stairs was going to have three components really. 1. A space to hold bottles, 2. A counter kind of space because I didn’t want just a wall of wine. This meant that were would be an area for a backsplash. 3. A fridge to hold white wine, craft beer and soda.

The tile

I knew I wanted a tile “backsplash” area to be more than just subway tile. While I love subway tile in my shower, but since the space I was designing was small and tucked away, I wanted more of a design. I wanted something that felt special and worldly. I chose Merola tile with a star design that you can find {HERE}. It has a bit of an old world, aged look to it and it’s main color was a sophisticated, beautiful blue. It reminded me of tiles I had seen in Italy all those years ago.

The storage Compartments

Because I went in a different direction with the tile, I decided to go in a different direction with the build of the wine storage and keep it simple. Originally I had wanted to use all reclaimed wood. However, due to cost, restrictions and complications with the sizes of individual wood pieces, I decided to go in a different directions. We built the storage space with regular lumbar and I instead had it painted.

I was excited to use a gorgeous blue from Sherwin William called Waterloo. I love this color so much I’m using it in a lot of other projects this year, including the greenhouse.

The counter area

Since we weren’t going all the way up in the walls with wine storage in the wine cellar under the stairs, I was going to need a counter. But, since the space is so small, I knew this area would be mostly for decorative items. It couldn’t be a really functional counter. Due to this, I decided to bring back my reclaimed wood here and really create a charming feel for the space with its warmth.

The wine fridge

We went back and forth about having a refrigerator in this space. We had one in the basement bar we created in our old home and it never really seemed to work well. However, we did want to have the option of having a bottle or two of white wine chilled and a place for some craft beer. I purchased this refrigerator {HERE} and so far, so good. It actually works really well and I’m considering getting a second one for a space in the kitchen.

A few last details

For the tile on the floor, we used the same tile that we used in the rest of the basement. I really like the wood look tile on the basement floors and appreciate that if it ever floods, the tile should remain in good shape. You can find the Vintage Lace tile we used {HERE} and a full review of it {HERE}.

Lastly, you may have noticed that we arched the entryway to this space. I love this little detail. It was a last minute idea and something that really sets the space apart. In fact, I think it adds to that European-kind-of-look. At first the space was going to just be finished on a slant like the original ceiling in the BEFORE photos. But that didn’t feel right. It was actually Kevin that suggested arching it and I’m glad he did!

Oh and if you’re wondering about the brick we used on the walls, I’ll tell you all about that in another post next week.

Thank you so much for coming by today, friends. I hope that this wine cellar under the stairs inspires you to think about the little nooks in your home that can be made into charming, sophisticated corners that really stand out.