Finding storage space in your house can be tricky.

For those of us who love wine, storing our treasure can be particularly tricky. You can’t use any old space because you have to keep track of the light, heat, and humidity – and you have to store bottles on their sides.

But one man Bendigo, Australia man found an excellent solution to the issue thanks to the extra time he had on his hands while quarantined during the coronavirus outbreak – and expertise in construction.

Murray Berrill is the creator of the oenophiles’ dream project now going viral.

His sister and her husband had a wine collection and were running out of storage space. But the master builder had an idea.

What about all the wasted space under the staircase?

Normally when we think about the space under the stairs, we picture a Harry Potter-esque closet. But Berrill had an even better use in mind.

By creating drawers that would pull out under each step, he could create a beautiful way to store roughly 28 bottles of wine!

Even if you don’t have a large house, you’ve actually got a lot of good storage if you have indoor stairs.

When all was said and done, the staircase leading up to the second floor of the house can now fit over 150 bottles of wine!

Berrill thinks the viral interest in his project probably has a lot to do with not only the amount of drinking going on during coronavirus isolation but the sheer boredom people are feeling while they’re home and the accompanying desire to do work around the house.

Of course, this is no one-day amateur project, and Berrill has encouraged people to get in touch with local tradesmen to start planning their own projects instead of trying to carve up the stairs themselves (seriously, you could damage their structural integrity!)

While at the moment it’s risky to let anyone in your home, making plans and getting estimates are always the first step towards any successful project. And taking your time allows you to get multiple quotes so you can control costs.

Berrill’s creativity is stoking the imaginations of people around the world but, alas, the plans are not something you can purchase from him. It’s a custom job that’s all in his head. You’ll have to find your own experienced professional to pull off a similar feat.

You will, however, have to spend a couple of thousand dollars too, depending on how many stairs you have. And humidity and temperature will still be an issue, though Berrill was skilled enough to retrofit the staircase with insulation and a temperature-tracking thermometer.

All in all, it took less than 2 weeks for him to complete.

Of course, this might not the place to store an aging Bordeaux – one needs to be concerned about the vibration from the foot traffic. But Berrill thought of that too when he made sure the staircase could support the extra weight.

“…There is a stud wall from the concrete slab to underneath each tread that runs down the middle of the stairs. An elephant could walk on it.
That is also the fixing point for all the draw slides so that the draws are anchored to the slab to minimize vibrations.”

The bottles are also sitting on rubber to absorb some of the vibrations.

In other words, you can’t simply build drawers under the stairs – you really need to know what you’re doing!

So while this might not be a simple DIY project for your average hobbyist, the idea of repurposing space in this way has invigorated us all!

Berrill says the project cost around $3,700USD – cheaper than installing a wine cellar for the most part!

The stairs cost roughly more than half of that and the runners and other components a few hundred dollars more. The rest of the cost is labor. Of course, you have to find someone willing and able to undertake such a feat as well.

There’s been so much interest in Berrill’s project that he now thinks retirement is far away – he’ll be building these stairways to Heaven for years!

Be sure to scroll down to see an interview with the builder about his unique project.

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Source: Bored Panda, Facebook/Murray Berrill Builders, Facebook/WIN News Bendigo