How to build a wine rack in an island

Hey hey there! I’m back with a bit of progress on the kitchen island that I’m STOKED about. If you remember last week I shared my final plan for extending our kitchen island. The plans went from a stone countertop and an extra cabinet and perhaps a wine fridge to just a DIY bookcase that will hold the microwave. Sooo…the cost went down a LOT.

When I shared the plan a couple of you mentioned that the seats were too close together as I had it planned:

And yes, the chairs will get cut down soon. :)

I wasn’t really too worried about that but wouldn’t mind a little more space for the chairs and to build the supports on the side. So my mind started turning and I came up with a small addition to the island to give us a slightly longer island – a wine rack. :)

So exciting! I drew up my plans for it and figured out my measurements. This thing is simple folks – it’s just a tiny bookcase. But because I’d have to have all my cuts done at Lowe’s (I don’t have a table saw) I knew I had to figure it all out perfectly before I started.

I got the size of each piece figured out and then headed out to get the wood and have it cut down. On my way out to the car I checked my wood stash and HELLO I had three pieces leftover from the reno. Dude. I couldn't believe it – I didn’t have to buy one piece!:

Not included in this pic is a long piece I used for the back, top and bottom that I cut down myself.

I used basic drywall screws for most of my wood projects because they grip so easily. (They are called coarse thread drywall screws.) Although I predrilled most of them so the wood wouldn’t split. I started by attaching a side to the back and then figured out the size of each cubby:

You have to take the length of your board minus the thickness of each shelf, including the top and bottom, so that takes some math but then I was able to get them spaced out correctly.

I am pretty sure for optimum wine storage they should lay at an angle, but this isn’t a wine cellar where we’re going to store them for years…these are gone in a few months weeks days so I’m not worried about it.

Using screws for everything instead of nails was probably overkill but I wanted it to be really sturdy. Here’s a look at the side from the back:

To ensure I got the wood when I screwed in I would mark where it was along the back.

Here’s how it looked half way done:

I left the side off so I could hang it up – otherwise I wouldn't be able to get in there to screw it into the side of the island: 

You’ll notice I didn’t make it as wide as the island and that’s because I didn’t want the bottles to be able to go back that far, and making it longer was just a waste of wood.

I went ahead and primed it while it was open as well. Then I screwed the other side on. This thing is super sturdy and isn’t going anywhere!

I planned to add a base on the bottom for extra support but it’s not needed because of the next part of the plan. But here it is done:

Because I was at the mercy of the Lowe’s staff for the cuts the shelves aren’t all exactly the same, but once I put trim on the front to finish it out and paint it, you won’t even notice! Or maybe you will but something like that doesn’t bother me too bad.

I wasn’t sure what color the island will be (I think I’ve figured it out since last night though) so I’ll have to reach in there to paint but there’s room to do so. I’m not crazy worried about the backs anyway cause we’ll never see it. :)

Last night I finished up the DIY cabinet that now sits next to it (that the microwave will go in) and that one is supported from the bottom and attached to this so there really isn’t any need for base under there. It’s not much to look at right now but it will look much more finished off when I’m done trimming it all out. :)

I’ll show you that progress soon, I’m SO excited with how it’s coming together! We had to go with a more expensive butcher block that’s longer to accommodate the extra length but we’re still saving a ton doing it this way. Can’t wait to show you the progress – when I get it done. ;)