Wine Rack

I practically live in the kitchen (by choice), but it's small, so we're always looking for better ways to utilize the space.  Last summer, we purchased this wine rack at Crate and Barrel and it has been well worth the money.

We enjoy wine with our meals several times a week and it was always a hassle going to the basement to grab a bottle or pulling up a stool to reach the top cabinet where we used to store all our delicate stemware.  Now our champagne flutes, wine glasses, and pilsners are always easy to reach from the dinner table and we can also store up to 16 bottles in the kitchen.  The rack is super narrow, so it fit a corner that was previously underutilized by some baskets.  I keep my most frequently used cookbooks on the second shelf, some cute decorative items on the top shelf, and the bottom shelf is large enough to serve food or drinks when we entertain.

This rack is a great example of utilizing vertical space in small spaces.  It's especially excellent for our home because we don't have a formal dining room, so all of our meals are served in our cozy kitchen.  We've found that we need creative storage solutions for storage, cooking, and entertaining to fit our small food preparation and serving space.  This wine rack definitely fit the bill.