Good lighting can completely change the appearance of a bespoke wine rack.
Rather than simply illuminating the room, carefully positioned LED lighting can highlight the wine bottles, timber, display rows, shelving and architectural details of the wine storage itself.
At Wine Racks UK, lighting can be designed into your wine wall, under-stairs wine rack or complete wine room from the outset, allowing the cables, drivers and lighting channels to be discreetly incorporated into the finished installation.
What Type of Lighting Do We Use?
We use LED strip lighting for our illuminated wine storage projects.
The LEDs are normally installed within channels and diffusers that are built into the racking, worktops or other parts of the design. This gives a much cleaner appearance than simply attaching visible lighting to the finished wine rack.
Warm white is our standard and most commonly specified colour, as it works particularly well with timber wine racking and creates a softer atmosphere around the bottles.
However, other options are available, including:
- Warm white LED lighting
- White LED lighting
- Cool white LED lighting
- RGB colour-changing LED lighting
RGB lighting can be used where a customer wants the flexibility to change the colour of the wine display, although for most permanent wine rooms and wine walls we find that a subtle warm white gives the most timeless result.
Where Can LED Lighting Be Positioned?
There is no single correct location. Because the wine racking is bespoke, lighting can be incorporated into different areas depending on the design and the effect you want to create.
1. At the top of the wine rack
LED lighting can be positioned at the top of the racking and directed either up towards the ceiling, down towards the wine rack, or both.
This can help visually frame a full-height wine wall and gives a soft wash of light around the upper section of the installation.
2. Around display bottles
Many bespoke wine racks include a presentation row where bottles are displayed at approximately 45 degrees, often around waist height.
LEDs can be positioned so that the light falls across these bottles and their labels, turning a functional display row into one of the focal points of the wine wall.
3. Under worktops
Where a wine wall or wine room includes a worktop, LED strips can be installed into the underside of the worktop.
This throws light down across the lower section of the wine racking and can create a particularly effective layered lighting effect.
4. Within the plinth
Lighting can also be built into the plinth at the base of the wine rack.
It can either shine down towards the floor to create a subtle ribbon of light beneath the installation, or shine upwards into the lower section of the wine racks.
5. Around shelves and feature areas
Additional LEDs can be incorporated around focal points such as:
- Central display shelves
- Mirrored sections
- Presentation areas
- Feature bottles
- Decorative shelving
- Wine case storage
Because the lighting is designed alongside the racking, we can recommend positions that enhance the finished wine storage rather than simply adding as much ligh
Does the LED Lighting Replace the Room Lighting?
Usually, no.
Our wine rack lighting is primarily designed to enhance the wine storage itself — illuminating bottles, labels, timber and display features.
Most dedicated wine rooms will also have conventional room lighting installed as part of the wider interior design.
At full brightness, a substantial LED installation may provide enough light to navigate the room, but we normally treat it as feature lighting rather than a substitute for the main lighting system.
Can Wine Rack Lighting Be Dimmed?
Yes. Our LED installations can be supplied as fully dimmable.
This means the wine wall can provide brighter light when you are selecting bottles and a much softer background glow when the room is being used for entertaining.
How Are the Lights Controlled?
There are several ways to control the lighting, and the best option often depends on the rest of the property.
- Remote control
- Conventional wall switch
- Smart plug or smart switch
- Phone or tablet control
- Integration with a wider home automation system
For larger or high-specification projects, customers increasingly want the wine room lighting connected to the same smart-home system used to control the rest of the house.
Where we know which control system is being used, we can liaise with our LED supplier to specify the appropriate LED strips and drivers. Systems such as Lutron and DALI-based lighting controls can therefore be accommodated where required.
In simpler installations, the lights may simply use a remote control or a smart plug connected to an app.
Can the Cables and Power Supplies Be Hidden?
Yes. Concealing the components is an important part of the design.
LED drivers, dimming equipment, power packs and cabling are normally hidden within areas such as the base of the wine rack, a void within the installation or another discreet location.
Where access may later be needed for maintenance, an access hatch can be incorporated without leaving the electrical equipment permanently visible.
Do I Need an Electrician?
That depends on how the lighting will be connected.
If the system is supplied using a standard three-pin plug — for example with a remote control or smart plug — the electrical requirements can be very straightforward.
If you want the wine rack lighting wired directly into the property’s lighting circuit or integrated into a home automation system, a qualified electrician will normally make the final connection.
On larger projects this is normally planned well in advance. We can tell your electrician, project manager or builder where the electrical feed needs to be positioned so that the cable is in the correct place before plastering and decoration are completed.
Planning the Lighting Early Produces the Best Result
If you are creating a new wine room, converting an existing room or including a wine store within a new-build property, it is worth discussing the lighting at the same time as the wine racking design.
This allows electrical feeds to be positioned correctly before the room is finished and gives us much greater freedom to hide the lighting channels, drivers and wiring within the finished installation.
We regularly work alongside clients, electricians, builders, architects, interior designers and project managers to ensure the wine room is designed as part of the wider project rather than treated as an afterthought.
LED Lighting for Under-Stairs Wine Racks
Lighting is particularly effective in an under-stairs wine rack.
These installations are often visible from a hallway, kitchen or living space, so the wine storage becomes part of the interior design of the home.
Warm white LEDs combined with glazing can highlight the timber and bottles while creating a much more subtle effect than brightly lighting the entire enclosure.
LED Lighting for Wine Walls
On a larger bespoke wine wall, lighting can be used to break up a large area of racking and draw attention to presentation rows, worktops and feature shelves.
The lighting layout can therefore become part of the architecture of the wine wall itself rather than simply an accessory added afterwards.
LED Lighting for Complete Wine Rooms
For a complete wine room or wine cellar, we can use several layers of LED lighting throughout the racking.
This might include top lighting, presentation-row lighting, under-worktop lighting and illuminated feature shelves, while the room retains its own separate ceiling or architectural lighting.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wine Rack Lighting
What colour LED lighting is best for a wine room?
Warm white is our standard recommendation and the option chosen for most projects. It works particularly well with natural timber and tends to create a softer, more luxurious appearance. Cool white and RGB colour-changing lighting can also be supplied where required.
Can LED lights damage wine?
LEDs are commonly used for wine rack lighting because they generate far less heat than traditional incandescent lighting. The lighting is also normally used to highlight the racking and bottles rather than continuously flooding the wine with intense light.
Can I control my wine room lights from my phone?
Yes. Depending on the installation, the lights can be connected to smart switches or plugs, or incorporated into a larger smart-home control system.
Can the LEDs change colour?
Yes. RGB LED strips can provide colour-changing lighting. Most customers choose warm white for everyday use, but colour-changing LEDs can be specified where a more flexible or dramatic lighting scheme is wanted.
Can you add lighting to a bespoke design?
Yes. Because our wine storage is made to order, lighting can be incorporated into the design around the positions of the bottles, shelves, worktops, plinths and other features.
How much does LED lighting for a wine rack cost?
The cost depends on the amount of lighting required, the total length of LED strip, the number of illuminated areas and the control system being used.
For this reason, we normally price lighting as part of the individual wine rack or wine room design rather than applying a single fixed price to every project.
Design Your Wine Storage Lighting With Us
If you are considering lighting for a wine wall, under-stairs wine rack or complete wine room, the easiest approach is to include it from the beginning of the design process.
Tell us the approximate size of the space, what type of wine storage you are considering and whether you have any existing electrical or smart-home system that the lighting needs to work with.
We can then recommend where the LEDs should be positioned and incorporate the lighting into the bespoke racking design.