IKEA Hacks for the Perfect Wine Rack

If you’re anything like us, you probably have something of a love-hate relationship with IKEA. We all know there is better quality furniture out there, and one day we fully intend to be able to buy our cabinets, bookshelves, beds, and cupboards without the need to spend hours swearing and sweating over their construction… but for now, it’s hard to argue with the fact that IKEA’s Nordic design and affordability makes it the number 1 choice for almost all of our furnishing needs.

For wine lovers, IKEA might not seem like the obvious choice when it comes to buying stylish and user-friendly wine racks. The Swedish giant of home decor actually does sell a small handful of wine racks, and we’re sure that they do the job perfectly well. The problem is, they’re rather small (and that would never do), and they can’t help looking a bit too, well, IKEA-ish for our tastes. For all of Sweden’s qualities - and there really are many - it’s not a country famed for either its decadence, or its love of fine wine.

Thankfully, we’ve uncovered a satisfying list of hacks which will allow you to easily transform IKEA standards into cool, funky, and spacious wine racks and cabinets, perfect for storing and showing off your ever-growing collection of quality bottles. All it takes is a little imagination, a few hours with your trusty allen key, and that special kind of patience that you only ever have to call upon when either building IKEA furniture, or looking after your friends’ kids. Believe us, though, the results are well worth the effort… and well worth cracking open a decent bottle for, too.

A quick word of warning before you begin: however tempting it might be, IKEA furniture construction and wine drinking aren’t the best mix, so be sure to save that bottle for once everything is finished. Check out our favourite IKEA wine rack hacks below!

Billy Bookcase

Let’s start with an absolute IKEA classic - the Billy Bookcase. Versatile, simple, and minimalist, the narrower versions of this bookcase make for an ideal wine rack. Your best bet is to cram one of these skinny sets of shelves in between another item of furniture and a wall - squeezed next to the fridge works well, but it probably depends on the layout of your room. By doing this, you can set up plenty of space for your favourite wines, and add some sturdiness to these shelves, which have a tendency to wobble a bit if unsupported.

(photo by Ikea)

Expedit Shelves (now called Kallax

The Expedit shelving unit isn’t the most attractive of IKEA items, but with a bit of creativity and a few DIY skills, it can be effectively transformed into a stunning wine rack. Once you’ve assembled your Expedit (which is, thankfully, one of IKEA’s most straightforward designs), slap a wooden panel on top of it to make a bar surface you can easily stain to fit your decor. Use some pieces of wood to divide the spaces into triangular cubbies, onto which you can rest your bottles. Et voila! You have a wine unit that wouldn’t look out of place at a trendy wine bar in your front room.

(photo by homedit)

Akurum Wall Cabinet With Perfekt / Horda Wine Shelves, Finished with Bodbyn / Lidi Glass Doors

This is one for the more ambitious IKEA hackers among you, but the results are absolutely worth the time and effort it takes to construct. You’ll need to assemble the Akurum Wall Cabinet and Perfekt Wine Shelves separately, then use the bolts and clamps included to attach them to each other. Once you’ve done this, you can insert a rack for your wine glasses, and use the butcher’s block as a stylish serving bar. Finish the build with some stylish glass doors, and you have a complete drinks cabinet to call your own. Sorted!

(Photo by As Fancy)

Expedit Bookcase

If you’ve got a sizable wine collection you want to show off, you’ll be in need of a larger piece of IKEA furniture to turn into a giant wine rack. The Expedit Bookcase (one of the bigger ones) is perfect for this. Get creative with diagonal slats of wood or MDF, and you can easily make stylish cubbies to rest your bottles against. Also, you can leave some of the shelves free to store crates, wine glasses, decanters, or any of your other wine accessories.

Grundtal Double Towel Bar

This has got to be one of our favourite IKEA wine hacks, and it’s absolutely perfect if you’re after a more sleek and modern aesthetic. These metal towel racks are actually the perfect size on which to rest horizontal bottles of wine, and you can use as many as you wish to get a wine rack which suits the scale of your collection. You don’t have to have them in the bathroom… but we kind of like the idea of having bottles to hand for when you fancy a long, relaxing bath!

Besta Shelf Unit with Inreda Shelves and Ivar Racks

Fancy getting handy with your tools and transforming a handful of IKEA components into a really slick and beautiful wine rack and cabinet? This hack - when done properly - ends up looking so cool, it’s hard to believe it was never intended to look this way.

You’ll need to get hold of 8 Observer bottle racks, as well as a drill and rotary tool, and some wood stain and wood trim, too. First of all, cut the bottle racks and brackets so that they fit nicely into the Besta shelf unit. Drill the receiving holes in the brackets, and then slide in the bottle racks - they should then slide comfortably into the shelf unit. Repeat, until you have eight beautiful shelves for your wine collection, and fit the whole cabinet somewhere your guests can admire your handiwork!

(Photo by Visaopanoramica.com)

Okay. Now that's taken care of, here comes the fun part. Time to fill the wine rack. Take our fun palate profile quiz here and we’ll recommend three bottles that we think you'll love according to your results and get you started.