2018-2019 Designer of the Year: Wine Rooms

Winner: Barbara Owens, Owens Interiors at Home, Texas

The conceptualization for this wine room was to create an experience for a guest. The home's wine room is just off the kitchen and the client wanted something that would catch a guest's attention. As a nod to the clients' healthcare business, they requested something that referenced the bible verse, First Corinthians 13:13. So the gates entering the wine room read "LOVE HOPE FAITH".

   

The metal stainless doors close so seamlessly guests are often unable to determine how to get inside. Once inside you step onto an infinity floor. It is an optical illusion created with a light box that gives the impression that the wine cellar is many floors below.  The perception is so real most react by taking a quick step back off the glass floor (much to the clients' amusement). The design concept began as a "tongue in cheek" for a wine cellar because they really do not exist in Texas! 

               

The barrel vaulted ceiling lined with ebony smoked bricks provides the backdrop for the contemporary stainless light fixture. Dark ebony stained cabinetry is set against creamy Austin stone walls and provides ample storage for wine bottles. This "wine cellar" creates an experience for a guest long before they ever get to experience the wine.