Choosing what type of wood you want your wine wine cellar to be built with can appear daunting at first glance. There are typically three types of wood to choose from: Mahogany, Redwood, and Pine. Each of the options will give you a specific look, while all of them will maintain a certain elegant feel that most homeowners want in their wine cellar.
A wine cellar made primarily from mahogany has the benefit of being extremely resistant to warping over time. Wine cellars are generally more humid than the rest of the house, which, over time, can start to affect how wood holds up structurally. Swelling is also a non-issue with mahogany based wine racks, since the wood has the natural capability to maintain it’s shape consistently through a wide range of humidity levels.
The way that mahogany looks in a wine cellar is another big selling point, along with its durability, which makes a lot of people choose to use this type of wood during the construction process. While the color of the wood is not extremely dark, it is quite a bit darker than what you might see with traditional woods, such as maple or oak. For this reason, mahogany furniture is fairly popular in the U.S., and using the wood in a wine cellar can help keep with a certain look a homeowner may be trying to maintain. While most types of wood can be stained in order to achieve the exact hue desired, mahogany takes stain exceptionally well, allowing you to go into very dark shades of brown without completely drowning out the grain patterns.
Redwood trees generally grow best in humid air along the west coast of the U.S., which makes it very well suited for use in a wine cellar. Natural oils in redwood help repel moisture to keep the wood from losing its form, ensuring that it will stay exactly as it was placed for years. Since redwood is less porous than most other types of wood, it does make it relatively difficult to stain, since both oil and water based stain cannot get inside the wood fibers easily. Naturally occurring oils found in redwood also contribute to the fact that for the most part, the natural color of the wood is almost always going to be your best option.
You have the option of selecting either All-Heart Redwood, or Premium Redwood if you decide to go the redwood route for your wine cellar. All-Heart Redwood is generally darker in color, and that darker color is fairly uniform throughout the entire piece. Premium Redwood is a good option if you are looking for somewhat less expensive building materials, since it is just as durable as the All-Heart variety, but the color variance is higher on each piece.
If you plan on converting an existing space into a wine cellar, you may be able to use pine wood to create the rack and shelving space. Using pine will keep your costs down, since it is by far the least expensive of the three most common types of wine cellar woods, but it is not the best at holding up to humidity. If you plan on utilizing a a climate control system with your wine cellar, which will maintain a slightly higher humidity than the rest of your home, you will not be able to use pine since it will warp.
The upside to pine, other than its relatively low cost, is the fact that stains and lacquers take to it very easily. You can stain pine wood just about any way you want, in both transparent and solid colors. If you are looking to go somewhat non-traditional in your decorating or design choices, pine might be the way to go, especially if you will not be using a system which regulates the humidity in the wine cellar.
No matter which wine cellar wood you choose, it’s hard to go wrong from an aesthetic point of view. It all comes down to whatever your personal preference happens to be for your wine cellar. Achieving the rustic feel that a darker wood can provide is one way to go, while a lighter colored wood can keep your wine cellar looking brand new for years. Between choosing a type of wood for the cellar and choosing the finish for the wood, you should be able to strike a balance that matches perfectly with the look you want to cultivate.
