The Stunning DIY Wood Project Every Wine Lover Needs For Their Countertop

We can all agree that one of the most perceived drinks of sophistication is wine. Whether you love the rich taste or just fancy yourself a collector of rare bottles, putting wine on display in your home is always a great way to up the illusion of grandeur. Unfortunately, not everyone has a gigantic mansion with a gorgeous wine cellar. A lot of us wine lovers live in small apartments or houses and don't have room for a proper wine cabinet. Just because you live in a tight space doesn't mean you shouldn't get to show off your wine collection. Create a DIY countertop wine rack using fine wood to showcase your assemblage.

If there's one DIY you have to get behind as a wine enthusiast, it's this TikTok wine bottle holder by woodworker Dustin Christian. The piece is a hive of hollow wooden squares that you can set on any table or countertop. It's easy to put together, and you only need 1-by-6 poplar boards from Home Depot and, from Amazon, a $29 electric multitool, $12 wood glue, $7 mallet, and some $10 wood stain. It could cost about $88 if you buy 6 feet of wood, or it could be less if you already have some of the tools or opt for a less costly wood. This is certainly more than what you'd pay for a similar wine rack from Amazon for just $23. However, you can't put a price tag on the sentimental value you get from making it yourself or for a loved one.

This DIY wine holder is put together by pounding boards of grooved wood together. Therefore, you need to get your measurements as precise as possible. Make sure you are using 1-inch-by-6-inch wood boards for the best results. You will need four 1-by-6 boards cut to 12 inches long and two at 9 inches. You will only be grooving the four longer pieces, so set the two shorter ones aside. 

The idea is for them to look like a giant tic-tac-toe board. Make two deep grooves of equal distance from each other 4 inches from each edge. If you have a desk saw, you can line up the boards and cut them all at once. If not, measure and mark the spots on the wood and use the electric multitool to cut them out. Stain the pieces of wood before working with them any further so it won't be difficult for you to do so later.

After they dry, rub some wood glue on the base of each groove on all boards and fit them together like teeth before giving all four boards a good pounding with a mallet on every side. Once this is secure, screw the remaining two boards to the sides of the tic-tac-toe board. All that's left is to place bottles of wine in each opening. You can have the rack engraved with a sweet message like "Home Is Where The Wine Is" to make a thoughtful seasonal present or housewarming gift.

With your new wine rack, you'll feel like a true wine connoisseur from the way it'll make your home decor pop, especially if you have other woodwork in the house. However, you can customize it to be reflective of you and the other furniture in the house. If your house has a more eccentric vibe, paint the wine holder a vibrant color rather than staining it. Add wood finishing for some extra gloss if a raw rustic touch isn't what you were aiming for. Brush on a Minwax polyacrylic topcoat for shine and extra protection from the elements. A quart costs about $25 on Amazon. This rack can hold eight bottles at once. For a larger collection, multiply that number by adding more boxes. 

Because this rack will be holding wine bottles for display, you have to make sure that you store the wine properly. Wines can withstand a lot, but they are still sensitive to certain conditions and their taste quality can be affected. Don't place the rack on a countertop near a window, for instance. Wine bottles stored in the sunlight get ruined by a fiasco known as "light strike" wherein the UV light messes with the aging process in the wine and causes reactions that produce sulfur. Keep the rack in a cool, dark spot on the counter where you can easily reach for a bottle of vino during happy hour.