Building a wine rack in a kitchen cabinet

Build A Wine Rack In A Kitchen Cabinet

If you like to show your wine collection in an elegant and stylish way, building a wine rack into an existing kitchen cabinet is a good idea. You can build a wine rack in your kitchen cabinet on your own, providing you have the right tools, materials and instructions ready. Here are the steps on how to build a wine rack in your kitchen cabinet.


You will need:

  1. Kitchen cabinet
  2. Electric drill
  3. Pencil
  4. 1 by 6 inch board
  5. Table saw with dado blade
  6. Wood screws

Steps:

  1. First, remove the cabinet door, shelves and shelf brackets from the kitchen cabinet. Measure the depth of your kitchen cabinet as the length measurement for the shelf side brackets. The cabinet depth should be at least 20 inches if you want to be able to close the door. You can still build a custom wine rack if your cabinet is not that deep by simply leaving the door off for an open wine rack. Leave at least 10 inches between the wine rack shelves, and determine how many shelves you can build into your wine rack. Divide by 10 inches for your cabinet\’s height measurement for air circulation.
  2. Then, cut the side brackets from 1 to 6-inch boards. Cut the board to the length determined by the cabinet depth for each pair of side brackets. Make two shelf brackets by ripping it in half lengthwise. Cut 6 inches from one top edge. From the front on one edge of each bracket piece, measure 6 inches and mark an inch wide by 1 ½ inches deep notch at that point. Use a router bit or stacked dado blade on your table saw. Cut out the notches. Repeat the step to cut second set of notches 2 inches from the back end on the top edge of each shelf bracket. Sand and finish the side brackets if needed.
  3. Next, measure the width of the inside of the cabinet. Measure and cut shelves of that length from 1 by 6 inch boards. Each length of board will make either two shelf fronts or two shelf backs. Draw a line lengthwise down the exact center of each shelf\’s front board. Make a measurement along the center line to mark the position of the neck holders. Drill holes along the center line with a 1 5/8 inch hole saw. Make two shelf fronts by ripping the board in half lengthwise. Draw a line down the lengthwise center of each wine rack shelf back. Measure and mark the center of each wine cradle. Use a 4-inch hole cutter to cut holes along the marked center line. Rip lengthwise to make two shelves from each piece. Sand and finish before assembling.
  4. To assemble the wine rack inside the cabinet, measure the placement of wine racks shelves on each side of the inside of the kitchen cabinet. Attach the brackets securely to the sides of the inside of the cabinet with glue and wood screws. Make sure the notched edges are up and the 6-inch lengths are toward the front of the cabinet. Slide the wine rack shelf backs into the notches at the back of the shelf brackets. Sand if needed. Finally, slide the wine rack shelf fronts into the notches at the front of the shelf brackets and sand to fit if necessary.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Wine Racks (Mini Workbook)

How and Why to Build a Wine Cellar, Fourth Edition