A Builder Transformed His Staircase Into a Brilliant “Wine Cellar” That Can Hold 156 Bottles

(TMU) — Every wine collector starts out small. What begins with a couple surplus bottles in the cupboard soon becomes a full wine rack on the kitchen counter. When this becomes insufficient and you have bottles floating around the home, you realize that it may be time to buy a refrigerated wine cooler. And then, sooner or later, that too is overflowing. What next?

While having a wine cellar sounds appealing, for many homeowners the idea is simply impractical. However, for true wine-lovers there has to be some solution for keeping your wine in good shape and preventing it from spoiling due to exposure to heat, sunlight, and the general wear and tear caused by home living. Indeed, under some conditions wines can improve if stored in the right place.

So why not have a wine staircase capable of storing 156 bottles of wine, among other features?

The creative and unique idea of embedding a wine cellar into the “dead space” of a staircase belongs to Australian builder Murray Berrill, owner of Murray Berrill Constructions in Victoria. Berrill had the brilliant idea during the course of renovating his own home.

In addition to holding 156 bottles of vino, the staircase has a built-in thermometer to ensure that the wine remains at a perfect temperature while it is stored.

Murray told Daily Mail:

“I hate dead space when renovating a house, as you’re essentially paying for nothing.

So we thought of putting the wine in drawers in the staircase rather than behind it.” 

While Berrill had never previously built anything like this new wine staircase, the idea was incredibly easy to take from the drawing board to reality and took a mere week and a half to complete.

First, the builder made sure to ensure that the bottles would fit snugly within a structure that would be strong enough to function as a wine storage staircase.

Next, he was able to use pre-made drawers that he bought from a hardware shop.

After ensuring that the drawers were properly insulated and fitted with the built in thermometer, all of the pieces of the puzzle fit together precisely.

Berrill is now hoping that he can include a cooling unit in the staircase so that some of the wines can be chilled inside the storage unit.

The builder estimates that the entire project cost roughly $5,500 AUD, or about $3,500 USD, to complete.

Upon sharing the finished product to his company’s Facebook page, Berrill’s DIY project quickly gained its share of fans.

One person asked:

“I would love to do this in my house!! Do you have any plans I could purchase from you???”

To which Berrill responded “only in my head, sorry.”

Another person commented:

“Hmm, I always thought I preferred single-storey dwellings. I’m feeling a possible change coming”

While one more person described the idea ecstatically, commenting: “[Oh my God,] it’s the stairway to heaven!”

Since gaining coverage from the Mail, Berrill’s wine staircase has been the envy of wine connoisseurs and homeowners all over the world. We’re sure that this concept will be taking off in the years to come.

By Elias Marat | Creative Commons | TheMindUnleashed.com