Build A Liquor Shelf With LED Lights To Unwind In Style

There's nothing quite like a cocktail — or mocktail –- at the end of a long day or with a lovely meal. While there's certainly nothing wrong with serving your delicious wind-down beverage from the top of your refrigerator, you could also gift yourself and your guests a little touch of elegance, and step up your liquor storage style. You don't even need a whole pantry or closet to make a mini-bar. All you need to relax in style is a shelf and some thoughtful lighting. And the liquor, of course.

Start by considering where you'd like your shelf to live. If you're a big fan of after-dinner drinks, perhaps it makes the most sense in the dining room. Or, perhaps you prefer to indulge in an aperitif while you cook, making the kitchen the best choice. You'll also want to consider the size of the liquor collection you'd like to display. More bottles equals more length, and likely more weight — obviously.

The building of the shelf itself, may actually be the hardest part — what with table saws and routers involved. If you're that kind of handy, simply select your wood of choice, cut it to the desired length, router out the groove for your LEDs, set the lights in place, and mount the shelf. For the rest of us, however, it might make more sense to install a ready-made shelf and go from there.

Mount some industrial strength shelf brackets, like these Heavy Duty Industrial Shelf Bracket from Starunder, and have your wood shelf cut to the appropriate size. You could even consider repurposing a cutting board or section of butcher block. Another sophisticated option would be to upgrade to box shelves. These likely won't offer as much space, but if you have a smaller liquor collection, it would make a lovely gallery-wall inspired faux-bar.

Subtle, intentional lighting will transform your liquor shelf into a small work of art. Run lights along the inside of your shelf box or the back of your shelf to highlight the bottles. These DayBetter LED Strip Lights are dimmable, you can control from your phone, and you can change the lights' colors based on the occasion. With some elegant LED lights and a sturdy shelf, you can take your liquor collection from dust-gathering to distinguished.

You can get even more creative with some stick-on tiles applied to the wall above your shelf or inside your shelf box. These AULIGET Peel and Stick Backsplash Tiles come in a wide variety of colors and run about $1 per tile for a pack of four. The tiles will not only make it easier to clean up splashes and protect your walls, they will also help to reflect the light — which might be the most elegant touch of all when it comes to your liquor shelf.