Designing a Lower Level Around Wine: Inside a Canton Wine Cellar and Bar

“What would you do with a whole floor made for wine and good company?”

In this Canton home we designed, the answer was a wine cellar behind glass, a bar nobody wants to leave and a tasting table by the fire.

Most lower levels get a beverage fridge and a couple of stools. If you collect wine or love to host, you can ask for a lot more than that.

When we design a lower level, we start with one question: how do you like to entertain?

Give the wine a room of its own

Your bottles deserve better than a closet under the stairs. In this home, the cellar is wrapped in dark wood with racks from floor to ceiling, and a black drum chandelier with crystal drops hangs over a round stone topped tasting table. It feels like the private room at your favorite restaurant.

Somewhere to open the good bottle

A counter inside the cellar gives you a place to open and decant without leaving the room, with diamond bins below for the bottles you reach for most. And because the whole cellar sits behind glass, guests can see straight in from the bar and the table.

Make the bar the place people want to be

A mini fridge and two stools tell guests to grab a drink and move along. A bar like this one tells them to stay. Black and white tile runs the full back wall, the ceiling glows gold, and fringed black stools line a curved counter in deep red. Behind it, the bottles sit on a curved shelf wrapped in gold mosaic that catches the light once the sun goes down.

A tasting table by the fire

Wine is better shared. Between the bar and the cellar, a long table seats a crowd in red velvet chairs with a gold birdcage chair at each end, all under a black and gold art deco ceiling. Along the far wall, a linear fireplace in white stacked stone is framed by tufted black velvet banquettes for anyone who would rather settle in by the fire.

Why it pays to bring us in early

A wine cellar needs its own cooling and a properly sealed room. A bar needs plumbing, drains and power in the right places. Glass walls and ceiling details have to be worked into the structure. That’s why we like to be at the table before the walls go up, working alongside your architect and builder, coordinating the trades and running install day, so all you have to do is walk downstairs and pour a glass.

Ready to design yours?

We take on a limited number of full home projects each year so every one gets our full attention. If a wine cellar is on your wish list, we’d love to talk about it.

xo, Summer + Serena

P.S. If a build is on the calendar for next year, now is a good time to reach out. Cellar cooling, custom stone and lighting all carry long lead times, and starting early keeps them from holding up your schedule.