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The Best Built-In Wine Storage Is Round

An ace in the hole, quite literally

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By Lindsey Mather | May 13, 2019 | Trends

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Can you spot our favorite detail in this Moscow home by architect Boris Denisyuk of Buro5? We'll give you a hint: It's right above that delightful orange fridge. That's right, we're talking about the row of four circular holes. They're not just a quirky visual element, they're built-in storage—for wine.

Up until now, the idea of built-in wine storage has always made us think of those old-school wood racks that capped off many a kitchen cabinet or island in the '90s. Burro5's dead-simple round cavities, with edges painted a vivid tangerine, bring the concept solidly into 2019. "Orange was the main idea for our interior, so we tried to use it in the details," explains Boris. "We saw a new collection of multi-coloured Liebherr refrigerators, which ideally matched the orange we were using. But this was a freestanding fridge, and it needed ventilation. We already had a niche for it in the kitchen, so there was a need to make a hole in the niche above the fridge. We decided that it would be great to use it somehow and made holes for the shapes of bottles. It turned out that these holes have a dual purpose—it's very cool."

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A post shared by buro5 (@burofive) on Apr 23, 2019 at 4:17am PDT

It's official: Whether you fancy yourself a wine connoisseur or just throw a lot of dinner parties, you're going to want to make room for this design detail when it comes time to renovate your kitchen. São Paolo architect Felipe Hess was way ahead of us on this front. He actually tried out the idea back in 2012, carving circular wine storage into the counter of a client's kitchen. It's the perfect geometric complement to the rectangular open shelving to the left.

We also spotted round built-in wine storage in Nicole Betancourt and Bray Poor's Harlem home, featured in The New York Times. Like the cavities in the kitchen by Buro5, these holes proudly stand out thanks to a splash of colour, in this case a bright blue. Cheers to that.

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A post shared by buro5 (@burofive) on Apr 23, 2019 at 4:15am PDT