A common theme amongst recent enquiries received at Winerax has been the question: “Please can you help us get our garage back?”.
Now don’t get us wrong, we are no saints here, and our garages are equally challenged, just not where our wine is concerned!
We all start out with great intentions for our garages with plans for clever pegboards to store our tools on, etc., this despite the fact that although we typically only use a Phillips head screwdriver, a Stanley knife and a hammer for most of our DIY activities, it has not stopped us collecting a vast array of tools many of which we don’t even know how to use! The end result is no peg board, and boxes of tools, or maybe a shelf, lying around the place, and of course we can never find the one tool we need when we need it. Unfortunately, Winerax cannot help in this regard, but we do sympathise with the problem.
Similarly we know that we should do something with the various gardening implements and machinery that we have accumulated over time, rather than leave them scattered around the place. A storage wall or racking maybe?
The bikes and the various accessories for them, not to mention the half completed projects, the camping equipment, etc. all add to the equation, and eat into the floor space that should be hosting the wheels of our car.
In truth, the only clear space that we have is the path to the beer fridge; plus, as soon as we get our boxes of beer home we unpack them straight into the fridge rather than leave them lying around!
If only the same were true for our wine, which unfortunately usually stays in its boxes spread around the floor, and this is where Winerax can help. Now we can’t guarantee to clear enough floor space in your garage so that you can park your car there, this rather depends on how much wine you have compared to the other items mentioned above, but it’s a start, and it may be the push you need to organise the rest of your things too?
If you need an added incentive, keep in mind that there could also well be the odd bottle of wine tucked away in a box that is currently hidden from view behind or underneath some of these other items!
Now, we know that starting out on such a project can be difficult, and that it is very easy to procrastinate and come up with excuses, some of our favourites are:
- “I know where my boxes are and what’s in them” - really? Go on, test yourself, we’re willing to bet that you don’t know where they all are or even how many bottles and what wine it is that is in each box. Of course just sorting your boxes out will probably gain you some floor space too, so it’s not a wasted exercise!
- “The boxes protect the bottles” - what exactly are they being protected from? You, as you can’t find them?
- “I don’t have space for a wine rack” - pull the other one, although it is true that you might have to initially move some boxes out of the way to position your wine rack, once installed you’ll easily reclaim this space and more!
- “Flat pack furniture is always frustrating” - we agree with you on this one, but not where Winerax is concerned!
- “I don’t have the time” - How much time do you spend searching for a specific bottle of wine with your current storage methodology, and do you always find it?
- “Cost” - come on, how much do you spend on your wine, and more pertinently how much have you spent on your car, and aren’t these investments that are worth protecting?
So you’ve got your excuses ready, and we don’t want to argue with you, but as a way of refuting some of these assumptions we would like to offer the following observations:
- By far and away the easiest method of knowing how much wine you have is to have it stored on a wine rack where it is readily accessible, and you can tell at a glance how many bottles / spaces there are.
- A wine rack can help you organise your wine too, i.e. by type, winery, age, whatever your preference, and if you really want to get organised you might want to consider using Cellar Tags too!
- Winerax wine racks have been designed to “protect your wine” - they provide safe and secure storage for the bottle, as well as protecting the labels from damage whilst allowing them to be easily read without disturbing the wine. Plus, if the bottle is sealed with a cork, it will also help prevent the risk of drying out the cork and the problems associated with oxidisation as a result (storing upright in a box will definitely not do this!).
- Winerax’s modular system allows it to fit almost any space, and you are not restricted to a fixed design, but they can be built to suit your specific requirements; and because it’s modular you can expand it at any time so you never need to run out of storage space for your wine.
- Winerax wine racks might be delivered in a flat pack kit-set, but that’s where the similarity with this often derided format ends - no tools (not even your favourite screwdriver, definitely not your hammer, but you may want your Stanley knife just to open the box!); no fixings (so you definitely won’t be missing any in the box!); so simple that you hardly need instructions, but we give you some anyway (“slot / slide /click” four times and you have one module for four wine bottles ready to use!).
- Time? Hmm, this is a difficult one as we all work at a different pace, but we recently timed a novice constructing a WRX12 and it took them just one minute from start to finish!!! Obviously you might be quicker or slower, but it’s hardly a major project, and certainly doesn’t warrant clearing your diary for, unlike some of those other household “projects”.
- Cost - how much does your average bottle of wine cost? Again, not easy to calculate as we all have different tastes, etc. but a WRX12 probably costs no more than two bottles of your wine, and in many cases less than one bottle, plus it lasts a lifetime and can be refilled again and again at no additional cost - if only that was true of our favourite tipple!
Still not convinced? Well, we’re not sure that we can help, and procrastination can be a wonderful thing, especially when sitting back and contemplating the “problem” with a glass or two of wine; assuming that is that you know where to find the bottle in the first place…..
Here are some before and after images if you are still looking for inspiration?