We All Enjoy Fine Appointments   --  Not Only Newly-weds

The Sparkle of Fine China

One of the first items to consider for your new home is china, whether it's a casual, contemporary pattern in durable earthenware or a formal, traditional pattern made from fine bone china. Either way, you should choose good quality china to set the most attractive table.

Many couples enjoy planing for two china patterns: one for casual dining and one for formal entertaining. In fact, many brides keep a few place settings of their fine china on hand at all times for serving romantic candlelit dinners for two or special weekend breakfasts in bed. What are the differences between an informal stoneware and fine china? Stoneware and earthenware are thicker and heavier while china is lighter and more glasslike.

Fine china, or porcelain, is made from kaolin clay, a fine white clay found in China, feldspar and flint. These materials are fired at extremely high temperatures to form a nonporous ceramic. Bone china is a variation which includes bone ash to intensify whiteness. To see the difference between porcelain and other china, hold a piece to the light and place your hand behind it. You should be able to see the shadow of your hand behind the porcelain.

You may be pleasantly surprised by the many patterns available when you first visit the store where you will set up your bridal registry. Actually, you might even be overwhelmed. Choose your pattern only after looking at many different styles. Your choices range from solid-band borders to all-over florals. If the look of your home is modern, you might consider a bold geometric. For a country or Victorian theme, there are many lovely patterns with florals or simple lines.

At the outset of your marriage you will need standard five-piece place settings: Dinner plate, salad or dessert plate, bread-and-butter plate, cup and saucer. planing for additional pieces such as cereal or soup bowls, serving platters and vegetable bowls will round out your entertaining essentials. You might also consider adding demitasse cups and saucers, a coffeepot and/or teapot, salad bowls, soup tureen, gravy boat and table accessories, such as napkin rings, which may be available in your pattern.

It is a good idea to plan for enough china for eight to 12 people. Although you may not receive a complete set of your china, you will probably acquire enough to host a small dinner party soon after you return from your honeymoon. Through the years you can add to your collection as your family grows and your entertaining increases.

When it comes to proper cleaning and storage of fine tableware, little effort is required to keep your china squeaky clean and ready for entertaining. Many fine china patterns can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher using a mild detergent on a gentle cycle. Be sure to place each piece in a secure position so that they do not tap each other during washing. Because extremely high heat can sometimes damage fine china, it is best to let dishes air dry by stopping the dishwasher before the dry cycle begins and leaving the door ajar.

Some patterns such as those with gold edges or hand-painted details need extra care and should be cleaned by hand. When washing by hand, be sure to place a rubber mat in the bottom of the sink and use hot, sudsy water. Dishes with dried-on food should be soaked in warm water for several minutes; never use abrasives such as scouring powders and steel wool on fine china.

Fine china should either be stored in plate racks placed on cabinet shelves or stacked with a piece of flannel placed between each dish. Hang cups separately from tiny hooks or stack them no more than two high.

There's nothing prettier than a glass-front china cabinet for displaying gleaming plates and delicate tea cups. Keeping your china in an accessible place rather than in a hard-to-reach cabinet or guest room closet, will make it easy to use your china regularly. If you're lucky enough to have a fireplace in your dining room, consider decorating the mantle with plates, or add a special accent to your dining room table by placing an elegant soup tureen there for a centerpiece.

The Brilliance of Fine Crystal

Your graciously appointed table will be enriched by the brilliance of stunning crystal glasses and your guests will know you appreciate their company as they raise their glasses to toast your hospitality.

You and your partner should choose a fine crystal pattern as a companion to your china and flatware. And like china and flatware, an endless variety of crystal patterns awaits you at the store. Some patterns feature intricate cuts or floral etching. Others are more subtle with a few simple lines. And some crystal is elegantly simple with no decoration at all. You'll also find that bowl shapes vary from perfectly rounded to elongated. Observing various manufacturer's lines of crystal will help you become familiar with the many shapes and styles. Beginning with the basics will prepare you for many occasions in the first years of your marriage.

How does crystal differ from simple glass? Sand mixed with other natural elements
produces glass. When lead is added to the mixture, the result is crystal, which is heavier, clearer and much more brilliant than glass. Crystal is also softer than glass, allowing it to be cut into exquisite and intricate patterns.

Crystal can be classified according to function: stemware and barware. Many couples enjoy planing for both. Most stems are multipurpose and can be used for a variety of social gatherings. A wine glass is essentially all-purpose and can be used for everything from fresh-squeezed juice in the morning to soft drinks in the evening.

When you plan, begin with the three basic sizes of crystal stemware: wine glass, water goblet and champagne glass. You'll find that iced tea and juices can be attractively served in the water goblet, and if you choose a traditional coupe size champagne glass it can be used for ice cream and other fancy desserts. Flute- or trumpet-shaped champagne glasses can also hold some desserts and puddings.

Plan for a dozen of each of the basic sizes. Later, you can add to your crystal collection with sherry glasses and brandy snifters. Of course, you always have the option of planing for barware as well. A high-ball glass is used most often for mixed cocktails, soft drinks, iced tea and milk. A low-ball glass holds straight drinks with ice as well as morning juices. Since barware is often used before guests are seated for dinner, it is perfectly acceptable to choose a different pattern for your formal stemware than your more casual barware.

With proper care crystal will last for generations. Since it is breakable, choose an open-stock pattern so you can easily replace any broken glasses.

These days, most fine crystal patterns can be cleaned in the dishwasher. Some newer models even offer a gentle cycle specifically for china and crystal, with a special rack to accommodate stemware. Be sure to arrange each piece in the dishwasher carefully and securely. If you feel unsure about using the dishwasher, your best bet is to wash each piece by hand in warm water using a mild, sudsy cleanser. Be sure to place a rubber mat in the bottom of the sink for cushioning. Adding a splash of household ammonia to the water will help your crystal maintain its sparkle, and a little vinegar in the rinse water will reduce spotting.

If you discover a tiny chip in your crystal you may gently file it down with a very fine emery board. However, anything other than the tiniest chip should be repaired by a professional.

To avoid breakage, crystal should be stored right side up to protect the delicate rims of the glass. Barware is often hung upside down on special bar racks. Space crystal stemware evenly on shelves so that no pieces touch -- crowding can result in tiny cracks and chips.

The Enduring Beauty of Silver

For centuries, sterling silver has been the hallmark of gracious living as well as entertaining. Receiving gifts of silver listed on your bridal registry is certain to impart an enduring sense of tradition to your new home. For many, it is the treasure of a lifetime meant to be enjoyed often and passed down from generation to generation.

Today's casual lifestyle can be enhanced by the elegant addition of fine silver at any dining occasion, whether it's a formal dinner for 12 or a country picnic for just the two of you.

Because your choice of silver will probably become the most expensive part of your tableware collection, it is important that you make wise choices and recognize the advantages of fine silver. The pattern you choose should reflect your good taste as well as complement your choices of china and crystal. When you begin to shop you'll discover that there is a seemingly endless array of patterns available. Many patterns have been in existence for over a century. Your first step will be to determine your basic style preference: traditional or modern, ornate or simple.

From this point you may choose from classic baroque, Victorian, colonial American, provincial, modern Scandinavian and many others.

Besides the pattern, you will need to determine the flatware grade you want. Sterling is the highest quality of silver and is therefore the most expensive, with price based upon weight and the degree of craftsmanship. If you choose domestically produced sterling, each piece will be stamped "Sterling" indicating that it meets the U.S. Government's standard for solid silver, which is 9.25 percent pure with 7.5 percent of an added alloy, like copper, for durability. European sterling products are stamped with the weight percentage of silver.

Silverplated flatware is less expensive but enjoys the same lustrous look of sterling. The difference is that whereas sterling is solid silver, silverplate is made with an outer layer of silver electroplated to a base metal.

Silver comes in a variety of settings. The one you plan for will depend on your entertaining needs and your budget. However, you always have the option of adding to your settings in later years. When choosing among patterns, the Silver Information Center offers these tips to follow to help you make the best selection:

Hold each piece of the setting to compare weights and balances. Each piece should feel comfortable in your hand.

Look closely at the tines of the fork. The tines should be even and have rounded edges.

Study the bowls of spoons in various patterns to determine the style you prefer. You will find that shapes of pieces will vary from pattern to pattern.

Take note that knife blades are often stainless steel, not sterling, for the sharpest
edge.

Realize that silver comes in two sizes. American is the most common size. Continental or dinner size is larger and most often found in European silverware patterns.

The most common setting is the five-piece place setting which includes a dinner fork, dinner knife, salad or dessert fork, dessert or soup spoon and a teaspoon. Four-piece place settings are usually minus the soup spoon while six-piece place settings commonly include a butter spreader. It is best to plan for eight to 12 place settings of silver, the same number for your fine china and crystal patterns.

Serving accessories such as a cold meat fork, pierced serving spoon, gravy ladle and cake or pie server should also be included in your bridal registry.

If you're a hostess who likes to entertain lavishly, there are pieces of silver whose functions you may have never heard of, let alone used -- fish forks and knives, oyster forks, cream soup spoons, demitasse spoons, and cheese and fruit knives. These are pieces you may want to acquire later on.

Be sure to ask your bridal registrar if your silver pattern is available in open stock. This will enable you to purchase additional pieces through the years as you complete your set.

Besides its beauty, one of sterling silver's greatest assets is that it becomes even more beautiful and lustrous with frequent use. Equally important, using your silver regularly reduces tarnish and helps it to develop a patina, a gleaming finish which enhances the silver's radiance. Since you will want all of your pieces to acquire or develop a similar patina, rotate the pieces when you use them.

Although many patterns are dishwasher-safe, the best method for cleaning your flatware is by hand in hot, sudsy water using a mild detergent. Any crevices in the pattern can be cleaned with a soft-bristle toothbrush. Each piece should then be dried with a soft, cotton cloth to avoid spotting. If you put your silver in the dishwasher, be sure to use a gentle setting and to load each piece carefully in the basket. Handles of forks and spoons should point downward; knife handles should point up. Remove all pieces before the drying cycle and hand dry. Extreme temperatures can damage the silver.

Even if you use your silver frequently, it is a good idea to give it a polishing once or twice a year with a recommended cleaner. Consider planing for a wooden silver chest lined with tarnish-proof flannel to store your silver in. Never store silver in newspaper, which promotes tarnishing, or in plastic, which may adhere to silver and cause damage.

Other Planning Selections

Your bridal gift registry should include more than tableware. Bed, bath and table linens, cookware and appliances, kitchen accessories, lamps, picture frames and even furniture are items for which you should consider planing in order to give your guests a variety of gifts to choose from.

Stocking your kitchen with quality cookware and handy appliances such as an electric blender or a sleek coffeemaker will simplify entertaining occasions and daily food preparations. When choosing cookware, look for heavy-duty aluminum, stainless steel or cast iron pots and pans. Many cookware items are available in vivid colors to match your kitchen color scheme.

Special attention should be given to comfort and care when selecting bed and bath linens. Be sure to include specific patterns and manufacturers on your registry so that guests will know exactly which hunter green bath towel you prefer.

When choosing sheets and other bedding, look for quality. The thread count of sheets will tell you how many threads are woven into each square inch. A sheet with a high thread count will provide a smooth, luxurious feel. In addition, high thread count sheets are stronger and more durable than sheets with low counts.

Quality sheets are also determined by their fiber compositions. Linen sheets are spun from flax and are best suited for summertime. While somewhat expensive and requiring special care, linen sheets can be an investment because they will last as long as 20 years. The most popular choice now is 100% cotton, which is practical in any climate and becomes softer with frequent use.

Choose a comforter and pillow shams to coordinate with your sheets. Consider selecting a comforter that matches more than one set of sheets. Many comforters available today are reversible, offering you several decorating options.

Personal preference will also determine your choice of blankets. Wool blankets are best for cold weather while thermal weaves are comfortable in warmer weather.

For the bath, all-cotton towels are unquestionably the softest and most absorbent. Choose between looped terry towels that are thick and thirsty or sheared terry towels that are velvety to the touch. Select colors that carry out the scheme you've set for the bedroom. You will have several choices to make regarding patterns and colors -- stripes, solids and florals.

Don't be surprised to learn that you may be able to plan your entire bedroom
furniture suite and mattresses, or choose a sofa and loveseat, accent tables, area
rugs and decorative accessories. More and more department and specialty stores
offer bridal registry services to help you furnish your entire home or apartment.

With a little planning and creativity, you can make choices today that will bring comfort and pleasure for years to come.

Shining Examples

By Emerson Howell Nagel, Special to the Chicago Tribune

On a sunny afternoon, it's a treat to stand just inside the sanctuary doors of the chapel at the Quigley Seminary at Rush and Pearson Streets in Chicago. The sun dances behind the glass in the West Rose window, its brilliant light streaming down in mystical rays of emerald, ruby, topaz and sapphire. Looking at the other 14 nave and seven sanctuary windows bathing the chapel in a prism of breathtaking pyrotechnics, you get a sense of why stained glass has been used to depict holy images almost since man figured out how to melt sand.

Stained glass isn't just for churches, though. It can be just as beautiful in your own home. And you're in the right city for it, too. Chicago is one of the world's centers of stained glass, according to E.B. Smith, who founded the recently opened Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier.

Museum curator Rolf Achilles adds that many bungalows built in Chicago between 1910 and 1940 had 6 to 12 art windows.

The bungalow windows are generally Prairie-style, geometric: "The long sliver of glass with a gold square set in lead is the staple of bungalows," Achilles explains.

Stained glass in your home can be as simple as a single piece of textured colored glass or a complex design of glass in a matrix of lead holding together the individual mosaic pieces.

Sidelights and transoms, skylights, decorative screens that separate living spaces, cabinetry, every type of light fixture, and of course, windows are ideal for stained glass, which adds a striking decorative accent to any home. Even light bulbs are getting into the act. General Electric Co. recently introduced the Stained Glass Bulb, which is hand-painted with at least 25 random blocks of color.

The design projects a multicolored image through translucent white or ivory lampshades to mimic the look of stained glass.

Stained glass windows for homes run the gamut from simple repeated patterns of squares or diamonds called gauge work to complex, ornate designs.

Simple or not, the principles of stained glass are the same. The design is created by color, combinations of colors, variances in thickness of glass, texture, placement, and the use of lead.

The latter is an art unto itself, since the lead came (the track used to hold the pieces of glass together) forms the separations that create a pattern.

The glass comes from all over the world--England, Germany, France, Spain, the United States, and lately, China and Mexico. . The Kokomo Opalescent Glass Co. in Kokomo, Ind., produced a lot of glass for Tiffany, which made a name by incorporating stained glass into the designs of lampshades.

Jim Edbrooke, an artisan at the Botti Studio of Architectural Arts in Evanston, notes that the elevation of the window and the angle at which it will be viewed affects how colors appear.

For instance, in selecting colors for stained glass windows in a church, he says, "We use more vibrant and deeper colors for the south and west sides because otherwise the color will get washed out. On a north elevation, we don't go too deep."

The Botti Studio dates back to 1684, when it started out as an ecclesiastical studio in Agropli, Italy. Today there are Botti Studios in Evanston, San Diego and Sarasota, Fla. Chris Botti, fifth-generation-grandson of the founding Botti, says the most popular colors this year are cool tones, blues and greens. Glass can be ordered in any color though, since "the purest color in nature is color coming through glass."

From high school chemistry, you may remember that glass is made of silica sand, minerals and oxides. It's the combinations of those and temperature that gives the glass color. "You get variances depending on the company and how they process the glass. Some companies mouth-blow or hand-roll the glass. The more consistent colors come in machine-manufactured or machine-rolled glass," Botti says.

The most expensive colors are reds and "flash" glass, multiple layers of glass where the top layer is blasted away in a pattern. Stained glass that looks painted is actually glazed; the glaze is heated and melted in a kiln just like pottery, so it bonds like fine chinaware.

Botti says materials for most windows average $50 to 70 per square foot. The cost of creating the window depends entirely on the complexity of the design. A simple window with lead panes starts at around $50 per square foot. It takes about six to eight weeks for the studio to do a residential job.

Edbrooke learned how to cut glass on his own and had done art shows with friends, making small windows and terrariums. His interest firmly hooked, he joined Botti Studio as an apprentice at age 23.

The apprenticeship took about five years, "but you never stop learning," Edbrooke says. Today he works about half the time on new work, the other half on conservation and restoration.

Transforming glass into a work of art

Stained glass windows are made up of cut pieces of glass, metal cames that hold the glass in place, putty or glazier's compound that fills the gaps in the came, and in some windows, support or saddle bars that span the window to brace large panels.

The term, stained glass, is really a misnomer because in most cases the glass pieces are not stained but colored. The term stained glass applies to a technique for painting on the surface of the glass with enamels. The glass and the enamel coating are heated to fuse the paint into the glass.

Windows that most people call stained glass are actually made up of pieces of colored glass. Various metallic oxides--iron, cobalt, copper or magnesium--are added to the glass while it is molten. The color is more than a surface treatment; it actually becomes part of the molecular structure of the glass.

The individual pieces of glass are cut and pieced together to form a design. They are held together in grooved lead or zinc strips called cames. Windows made with this technique are properly called leaded-glass windows, whether or not they have colored, stained or clear glass in them.

The cames and glass in large or very elaborate windows can be very heavy, and the entire window would sag without additional support. This is provided with braces in the form of 1 1/4-inch-wide steel bars that span the window and fit in notches cut into the sides of the sash. The cames are wired to the bars at strategic intervals so the weight is transferred to the bars and sashes.

Best Cellars For Wine

By Jodie Jacobs
Copyright© Chicago Tribune, Special to the Tribune

What type of storage you choose is a matter of taste and space

Wait a second before you place that wine rack you just bought above the fridge. It may meet your decorating aesthetics, but wine experts say the heat up there can be a wine killer. That countertop space near the window? Forget it. Ultraviolet light and bright lights are no-no's. So what is a person who likes to serve wine, drink wine, entertain with wine, maybe even start a wine collection, supposed to do?

Answers vary according to objective, budget and space, say wine consultants, storage designers and home builders.

First, no matter what the budget or space, you are not alone in wanting to show off or collect wine, say those in the know.

"Interest in wine storage has grown by a quantum leap," says nationally known wine consultant Johnson Ho, whose Knightsbridge Wine Shoppe & Epicurean Centre Ltd. in Northbrook was named "best wine shop" by Chicago Magazine in 1999. "What satisfied people 10 years ago would now be considered entry level. It's much more sophisticated--the design and the technical aspects such as cooling and lighting."

The increase in interest pops up in housing resales, remodeling projects and new construction.

"Building a cellar pays off like having a great kitchen pays off," Ho says. "It has great resale value. It has been known to be the tipping factor to selling a home, quickly. I knew of a high-level executive whose home sold immediately because the husband fell in love with the wine cellar. The wife liked the rest of the house, but the wine cellar clinched the deal."

Upscale home builders at such custom construction companies as Bannockburn-based Orren Pickell Builders, known for its award-winning North Shore themed (Organization House, Empty-Nester House) homes and Wheaton-based Cesario Builders, a Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago Excellence in Housing Design 2000 Gold Key winner, say that requests for wine storage space have increased dramatically. And the requests often go beyond small wine cooler appliances.

Tony Perry, OrrenPickell vice president, estimates that the company is now putting in wine cellars in about 15 percent of its homes and is putting wine coolers either under a kitchen counter or as part of a family room, entertainment room wet-bar set up in most other projects.

"Whether it's new construction or remodeling, people come to the design process with a wish list. And with increasing frequency, that list includes some wine storage," Perry says.

The increase has been more like 70 percent for Cesario president Anthony Cesario.

"We weren't putting them in. Now, of the last 10 homes we built, seven wanted wine cellars," he says. "We go the full range: a simple closet with door and shelves that is basically utilitarian to fancy rooms with dumb waiters, dining area and rustic, old-style atmosphere."

Defining goals

Before builders and consultants can come up with suggestions, however, they want to know something about the client's goals. And those, they say, can range from just wanting to properly store wine or have space for a collection to incorporating the storage into an entertainment or personal lifestyle.

To Riverwoods electrical contractor Eric Nixon, it was all of the above. Motivated to learn more about wine so he could knowledgeably entertain clients at restaurants, Nixon would stop after work at Ho's Knightsbridge shop. The education changed his life.

"I used to put the bottles in the kitchen racks and leave them there. As I learned about wine, I learned about the storage issue," says Nixon, who evolved from a casual wine buyer to wine collector and member of wine and food appreciation groups. He records his wine buys, tastings and usage in a computer program. Nixon's collection and space needs grew over time.

In contrast, a Lake Forest couple started from scratch after moving into a custom-designed home.

"It had always been my husband's dream to have a wine cellar. But we procrastinated. Now it was the right time," says the wife, pointing out that their son was finishing college and they had the space.

The catalyst was a dinner party at a friend's posh early 1900's Lake Forest estate. The party included going downstairs to choose a wine for dinner from an impressively appointed cellar and anteroom.

"We said, `we want one,'" the wife says.

They turned to Ho when they heard he had advised their party host about wine purchases and cellar design. They opted for simple but elegant with a customized redwood storage system that can hold 2,600 single and crated bottles.

Racks wrap around the cellar and also cascade from the back wall down to a center island workspace. Cases are stored on roll-out shelves on the entrance wall.

"Now, drinking wine has become a wonderful ritual. My husband comes home after a long day at work and once he finds out what we're having for dinner, he comes down to the cellar, picks out a wine--he may consult a book first. Then, we enjoy our wine at dinner," she says.

The Lake Forest couple divided a furnace and storage area, added insulation, wall boards and Italian floor tiles to finish a basement space about 15 by 14 feet for their wine cellar. They tucked a wine anteroom with recessed shelves and seating alcove under their stairs.

Nixon, who used a vented 1,200-bottle capacity credenza in his first Riverwoods house, a basement-less ranch, changed to a 5-by-6-foot, closet-size, 1,500-capacity wine cellar when he built an addition with a basement. Insulated and below grade, the basement cellar temperature typically stayed in the 50-degree range but would rise to about 62 degrees in August.

Space for 2,100 bottles

The warmer-month temperature was in the safe storage range but not at the optimal 55 degrees that some experts prefer for the long-term storage of exceptional wines. The wine cellar in his new house has space for 2,100 bottles (individual and cases) and has a cooling and humidity unit.

"As I collected, I had to look at how I could best fulfill my need in the space I had," Nixon says. "One of the nice things about building this house is that I was able to have my optimal wine cellar. Now I do have the space so if I see something out there I want, I'm not worried about purchasing it and not having a temperature-controlled environment."

In some instances, wine aficionados have asked builders to dig out space underground space for a cellar.

Discussions with Jay Fritz, owner of J. Fritz Wineries in Sonoma County, Calif., convinced Wheaton lawyer Doug MacPhail that a hole in the ground was the way to go.

"I heard from my friend in California that all that people in Italy do is dig a hole in the ground and they have a wine cellar," MacPhail says.

When he and wife, Gert, had Cesario Builders construct a home in the town's recently developed Muirfield Park in 1994, they asked that an approximately 8-by-9 foot section adjacent to the basement under a proposed mud room and porch be excavated for a wine cellar. MacPhail furnished it with modular racks from William Sonoma that hold about 288 bottles but can be expanded. The below grade's steady 61 degrees without a cooling system meets his criteria.

"I was buying more wine to serve with dinner, but I did not have a wine cellar, so it was hard to keep it. All I had was a rack upstairs. But because the temperature would vary I couldn't buy more than a moderate amount," he says. "I wanted a natural temperature."

Digging a wine cellar under an outdoor structure also worked for a Lake Forest couple. While building their home, a French Normandy-style chateaux about three years ago, they extended a tower's circular design below ground.

"My husband always loved wine and wanted a cellar but never had the proper space until we built this. In our previous house what we had was more of a wine closet. This is a true cellar," the wife says.

About 12 feet in diameter, the cellar is lined with a redwood storage system designed by Ho to hold about 1,200 bottles individually and in cases. The floor is cement with a pea gravel pit center that is watered by a tube from the cellar's cooling system to add humidity. The cellar is maintained between 50 and 55 degrees. Humidity is between 60 and 65 percent.

Because below-grade temperatures mean that cooling systems don't have to work as hard or may even not be needed, builders say they are doing more wine rooms in basements than above grade. But they are occasionally asked to work with spaces in or next to kitchens or family rooms, particularly where there is no basement. Pickell's clients tend to want wine storage next to an appropriate entertaining area, according to Perry.

"They might have a billiard room next to a wet bar and have a wine cellar right off that and sometimes an anteroom where they can do tastings and have an exhaust fan so they can have a cigar with a glass of port," he says.

Wine storage in some form has become an integral part of many remodeling projects, according to Kitchen Distributors of America cabinetry designer Rachel Jurs-Lauderdale, who works out of KDA's main Chicago-area branch in Itasca.

"People are definitely talking more about wine storage. It's usually the first thing people want to incorporate, given the opportunity to change something about their kitchen--even if it's on a small scale. If the space is small they will choose that rather than a cabinet dedicated to a waste basket or compactor," Lauderdale says.

Creating a budget

Along with the space-location question, designers suggest that people consider how much money they are willing to spend on wine storage.

"Think about what you want the space to look like," Lauderdale suggests, pointing out that size and design affect costs.

Going too small, however, could cost more in the long run, according to Ho. "People underestimate how much storage they will need. It is more expensive to add space later," he says.

He and Lauderdale recommend investing in a cooling system to obtain optimal temperature and humidity control.

Cool idea

Estimating that a cooler system would cost about $1,000 for a small closet space, $2,000 for a medium-size closet and about $4,000 for a larger room, Ho says, "You can do it fairly cheap if you don't care if it is noisy. Quiet is more expensive--$4,000 or $5,000 and up."

Bottle coolers can range from about $600 to $5,600, according to Lauderdale. "It depends on how fancy or plain people are willing to go. Clear glass is cheaper than smoked. A plain finish is cheaper than elegant casing or cabinetry," she says.

Wine storage systems also vary in price from a few hundred dollars to several thousand depending on closet or room size, type of wood used (pine at the low end, redwood in the middle, mahogany at the high end), style (shelves or racks), arches, curves, soffits, counters and other accoutrements.

"Customized wine racks range from $1,000 for small and basic, $1,000 to $2,000 for medium size and $3,000 to $10,000 for large systems. But that is basic. The cost is double that if showy, all heart [even-colored core] redwood, with decorative finishing trim," Ho says. "There are trade-offs. There's quiet and gorgeous with all the bells and whistles, such as a waterfall (cascade of single bottle racks), curves and arches, which is a lot more money than efficient and noisy, which may not have the best look but is a solid effort."

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