BESTA wine rack hack!

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We wanted some wine storage under our kitchen island and discovered the BESTÅ units are the perfect depth — but don’t offer a good bottle storage solution. There are a couple great wine rack hacks here, but none had a look that I liked. Instead, I took some OBSERVATÖR bottle racks (for use with the GORM series), cut them to size, and used some oak trim as brackets to hold them in place in my BESTÅ!

Supplies:
BESTÅ white shelf unit (401.340.50)
– 2 (extra) INREDA shelves (701.371.13)
– 8 OBSERVATÖR bottle racks (001.981.00)
– wood trim to make 16 brackets about 13-3/4 in. long
– wood stain (optional)
– rotary tool
– drill
– safety glasses

1) Select and cut your brackets! I used oak stop molding (3/8 in. x 1-1/4 in.), cut to about 13-3/4 in. long. They were longer than necessary so the bottom ones would cover the front fastening screws of the BESTÅ, for a more finished look. I stained each to match the kitchen cabinet color.

2) Cut your OBSERVATÖR bottle racks to size! On either end, cut the middle cross-wires flush with the struts, and leave the front and back cross-wires about 1/2 in. longer. The total length should be about 22 in. (interior BESTÅ width is 22-3/16 in.). I used a rotary tool with a cut-off wheel for the cuts, then a grinding bit to smooth the cut edges.

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3) Drill the receiving holes in your brackets! I used a 9/64 in. bit because I wanted a tight fit. I made an extra bracket and positioned the holes in it so the racks would be as far back in the cabinet as possible, with the cross-wires resting on the shelf for support. I used this bracket as a template for proper hole positioning on all the rest.

4) Insert your cut bottle racks into the brackets! Use some spit because it’ll be tight.

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5) Put your bracketed rack in the BESTÅ! Because your holes are tight, you can use friction to hold each bracketed racks in place. The racks may bow up a bit, but once the bottles are on, they’ll be fine.

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6) Repeat with a bracketed rack for each shelf! I spaced the shelves with three “holes” visible between each. This is enough for all but the widest wine bottles (and some champagne bottles).

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End result: storage for 48 bottles, plus some additional space. We use the super short top shelf to hold placemats, and positioned the wine cabinet next to a BESTÅ drawer unit, both on chrome BESTÅ underframes.

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