Before making this DIY wall wine rack, we were storing our wine bottles in a box in the basement… not ideal! Our kitchen is also on the smaller side with a major lack of upper cabinets, so in addition to needing wine storage, we needed a place for wine glasses as well!!
This DIY wine rack is both functional and beautiful!! But maybe i’m bias?! The brass gallery rail is my favorite detail! It gives that vintage feel I love so much. And that part isn’t as tricky as you might think! You can find those details in my step-by-step instructions below 🙂
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TOOLS
- Miter Saw
- Circular Saw (or Table Saw)
- Framing Square
- Drill
- 1″ Forstner bit
- Jigsaw
- Pocket Hole Jig
- Speed Square
- Nail Gun
- Sander
- Clamps
MATERIALS
- (1) 1x12x2
- (1) 1/2″x6x4
- (1) 1x6x2
- Wood Glue
- Pocket Hole Screws
- Foam Brushes
- Rags
- Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner
- Honey Stain
- Warm Satin Polyurethane
- Lamp Parts (see step 5 for details!)
DIY Wine Rack Inspiration and Dimensions
The completed DIY wall wine rack measures 25″ in length, 5 1/2″ depth, and 11 1/4″ height. It can fit seven bottles of wine (or champagne) and six wine glasses! For us, this was the perfect size. But if you’re a wine enthusiast with a big wine collection, you may need to adjust the measurements for a larger DIY wine rack!
This free wine rack plan was very helpful as I designed mine! Her DIY guide recreates this modern style Crate & Barrel wine rack. I loved the size and simplicity of it, but I wanted more of a traditional design, so I put my own little twist on it 🙂
DIY Wooden Wine Rack YouTube Video
Here’s my video tutorial on how to make a wine rack! I recommend watching the process first and then this blog post will hopefully answer any additional questions you might have 🙂
Step One: Cut Your Wood
The first step is to cut your pieces! I made this wine rack out just of three pieces of wood! You also have to option to get a sheet of plywood and rip your pieces to size. It’s a little more expensive (and more work) to buy the sheet of plywood, but you’d have a lot of leftover plywood to use!
DIY Wall Wine Rack Cut List
| DIY WINE RACK PIECE | BOARD SIZE | DIMENSIONS |
| (1) Back piece | 1x12x2 | 11 ¼” x 23 ¾” |
| (2) Side pieces | 1/2″x6x4 | 11 ¼” x 5 ½” |
| (1) Wine bottle shelf | 1x6x2 | 4 ¾” x 23 ¾” |
| (1) Wine glass slots | 1/2″x6x4 | 4 ¾” x 23 ¾” |
| (2) Support pieces | Scraps of the 1x12x2 | 3″ |
I chose to use red oak because it stains wonderfully, but it’s more expensive than other options. Pine doesn’t stain as well, but you can still get a beautiful finish. I’ve found a method I love and shared those details in this blog post!
For an even less expensive option, try using scrap wood (if you have some)!! This DIY wine rack really doesn’t require much wood!
How to make the wine glass slots
If you’re making the same size wine rack as me, you’re in luck! I’ve got the measurements for you! If not, you’ll have to measure the length of your board, deduct 6″ (or 1″ for each glass), and divide by 7 (or however many spaces in between the glasses).
For example: 23 3/4″ – 6 = 17 3/4″ / 7 = 2.53
I didn’t get a clean number, but I knew it was right around 2.5″ so that’s what I did and the ends were just a bit bigger!
Once you get the proper measurements, use a framing square to make straight lines for everything. You’ll use this as a guide!
To cut the wine slots, I started by making a hole with a 1″ Forstner bit, using scrap wood underneath so I didn’t drill into my table! You could also use a hole saw or a spade bit for this part.
Once I had all my holes, I just used my jigsaw (with a fine tooth blade) to cut the rest!
To sand in those wine slots, I used this really inexpensive sanding drum kit that you can just attach to your drill. If you don’t have this, you can just sand by hand! The rest of the board can be sanded with an orbital sander if you have one!
How to make the arched sides
The beauty of making your own DIY wall wine rack is that it’s completely customizable! Outward curves like I did on my DIY pantry door spice rack is another pretty option!
The first thing I did was set up the boards with the gallery rail and a bottle of wine. It’s very helpful for me to visualize! Once I saw it all together I just marked where I felt the bottom of the arch should be.
First I marked two lines. One horizontal line 5″ from the bottom and one vertical line 2.5″ from the side. Then I just placed a gallon size paint can on top and adjusted it until it touched both the horizontal and vertical lines. Once it did, I just traced the curve cut it out with my jigsaw!
I’ll admit, my curves weren’t perfect! They rarely are when using a jigsaw, but they were good enough 🙂 Plus they got smoother after sanding! It helped to clamp both side pieces together and sand them at the same time!
Step Two: Stain
At this point, you should have all of your pieces sanded! I did 120 grit sandpaper followed by 220 grit and then wiped off the dust with a tack cloth.
After that, you’re ready for pre-stain wood conditioner! I always use this for woodworking projects because it’s a nice base for accepting stain. It helps prevent your finish from being uneven or blotchy!
I used this pre-stain wood conditioner because I used an oil-based stain. If you’re using a water-based stain, use this pre-stain wood conditioner. Follow the directions on whatever product you end up using, but typically you’ll apply it, let it sit for 5-15 minutes, and then wipe off the excess.
For the stain I used Minwax honey. Normally i’d apply it with a good quality brush, but I realized I didn’t have any so I opted for a foam brush which works great as well!
Similar to the wood conditioner, you’ll apply the stain going in the direction of the wood grain, let it sit for 5-15 minutes, and then wipe off the excess. These are the rags I use!
You could totally stain your DIY wooden wine rack after assembling, but personally, I prefer to stain before. Why? Because wood glue doesn’t accept stain so if there’s any excess glue around your seams, those areas will be very noticeable especially if you use a dark stain. Ask me how I know 🙂
For the pieces of wood that needed to be stained on both sides, I waited for one side to dry before flipping and staining the other. For the back piece of wood, I only stained one side (PS don’t forget to choose the prettier side!) and the edges since I knew the unstained side would be up against the wall.
Step Three: Assemble the DIY Wooden Wine Rack
The first piece I attached was the shelf that the wine bottles will sit on. This board definitely requires the most support!
To determine the placement, I laid the back piece down first. Then I placed the wine slot board followed by the support pieces, and lastly the wine bottle shelf. The wine slot piece should be flush with the bottom of the back piece. Once everything was in place I marked where the top of the wine bottle board would be and drew a straight line using my framing square. If this is confusing, watch my YouTube video of the assembly!
The next step is to make pocket holes on the bottom of the wine bottle shelf. Using my Kreg Pocket Hole Jig, I made three pocket holes; two on the ends and one in the middle.
Once my pocket holes were done, I applied a generous amount of wood glue to both the shelf piece and the back piece and spread it out with my finger. I aligned the shelf with the line I drew, wiped the excess glue off with a wet rag, and grabbed my speed square to make sure the shelf created a nice 90 degree angle.
Lastly, I used 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws to secure this board in place. Despite using the speed square, my board was tilting down a bit which we can’t have when we’re talking about wine bottles. Luckily I was able to tilt it up to right angle as I tightening my clamps. I let this sit clamped for a couple hours, but 30 minutes should do!
Next up I attached my two little support pieces (these go right on the ends) and the wine glass slot piece with wood glue. For extra support I used my nail gun with 1 1/4″ brad nails from the back and the bottom.
I did consider using wood screws from the back into the shelf piece, especially since the screw holes would be hidden in the back, but I was a little worried that the wood might split. If you do decide to try that, just make sure you use pilot holes!
Once again, I clamped these pieces and allowed them to sit for at least 30 minutes before moving on.
The last step was attaching the side pieces! I used wood glue and brad nails for this part. I didn’t worry about filling the nail holes because they’re so tiny it’s hardly noticeable! I clamped everything up and let it sit for one last time 🙂
You’ll notice I did the assembling in phases, but if you don’t have much time you can totally do it all at once. I don’t have many large clamps so it just seems easier for me to do it this way!
One thing I wanted to note is it’s very important to find wood pieces that aren’t warped! This is standard practice when it comes to woodworking, but I somehow forgot to check this time around 🙁 The 4ft board I used for my side pieces was pretty warped.
Do you see the gap between the side piece and the shelf pieces? Luckily it does touch towards the back and I don’t think it’ll be an issue since the end panels don’t need to support weight.
Step Four: Protect
Polyurethane protects your project and it really brings the stain to life with a shiny finish. This warm satin polyurethane is always my go-to when I’m using oil-based products! If you’re using a water-based stain, try this polycrylic!
Apply 2-3 thin coats going in the direction of the grain! Keep an eye out for drips too! Try to smooth those out before they start to dry.
Don’t forget to sand in between coats with a high grit sandpaper like 220 or 320! This helps with a smooth finish and also allows you to sand any drops or imperfections. It does look a little scary during the process, but I promise with your next coat it will be nice and shiny again 🙂
Step Five: Adding the DIY Wine Rack Brass Rail
I’m so excited to share about the brass gallery rail detail! It really adds so much to the wine rack design!
Brass gallery rails can get really expensive, so i’ve seen people share a hack where you can use lamp parts instead!! My friend Ashley used them for a DIY shelf and shared a very helpful breakdown of the parts and the process in this blog post!
This is exactly what I ordered for my own wine rack:
- (2x) 10″ long brass pipe stems
- (2x) ball armback end pieces
- (1x) tee ball armback
- (3x) beaded neck pieces
- Universal super glue
The brass parts came to $38 total ($10 of which was shipping) which I think is a great price especially since it’s real brass. They’re so beautiful!
First you’ll screw together the pipe stems and armbacks. Then you attach the beaded neck pieces using a few dots of super glue!
To attach the gallery rail to your wine rack, you have a couple options. Ashley mentioned using wood dowels in her blog post which is a great option!
I decided to do it the easy way and just use the super glue to attach mine! However, I applied a bit too much and the excess turned cloudy. It’s not hugely noticeable, and you can kind of scrape off the cloudy buildup, but just go light on the glue!
Step Six: Hang DIY Wall Wine Rack
The last and final step is making this a wall-mounted wine rack!! If you make the same size as I did, you can expect your fully stocked wine rack to weigh about 30lbs. The wine rack itself weighs 10lbs and the wine bottles and glasses will weigh about 20lbs.
You have the option to screw your wine rack directly into studs if that’s possible for you! The screw holes can be strategically placed so they’re hidden by wine bottles.
But we didn’t have studs where we needed them so I decided to use some heavy duty D rings and anchors. We used two of the largest anchors from this pack for our plaster walls. It’s just important that you make sure the wine rack is nice and level so mark a level line for your D-rings and use as laser level (if you have one) when hanging!
Another great way to hang this DIY wine rack would be a French cleat!
DIY Wooden Wine Rack
This DIY wall wine rack has been the best and most convenient addition to our dining room! I’ve never been more excited to pour myself a glass of wine, especially with new set of wine glasses we ordered!
To see more of the process and the finished look, check out my YouTube video!
So, what do you think?! Are you adding this to your list as your next project? I promise you don’t need expert woodworking skills to make this beautiful wine rack! Plus, I’m here if you have any additional questions 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Elisha
