Whiskey Cabinet BS

So.. awhile ago I got an industrial/office type book shelf and turned it into a whiskey cabinet.

It's probably time for some doors on this thing and while I have some ideas.. I need help with your ideas and suggestions.



This is what it looks like empty. It used to be that horrible office tan color... So I painted it black and cut a piece of 16 gauge brushed stainless steel to line the back wall. A friend of mine made the vinyl logo.

I have more stainless steel that I could make doors out of... Or wood.. or something unique and awesome?
It's 34.5 inches wide and 46 inches tall.

Throw out your ideas please!

 

Add LED lighting in back or around the perimeter to make the whiskey bottles ‘glow’, and then to stay with the industrial look, maybe add some wire fence or cage-type of caged doors? Might add a little ‘prohibition’ look, as well as allowing you to see the bottles when all lit up.

Thinking here to SHOW them, not hide them! Best I can do, else old wood ...

“If you lead a good life & say your prayers & drink Jack Daniels. When you die, you’ll go to Lynchburg, TN, population 361”

... said off the top of my head, as memorized from my college fraternity (Pi Kappa Alpha) days ... 40-years ago, LOL!

 

Like that quote!!

There is a lip on all the face edges perfect for LEDs... Definitely a great idea.

It does show great without the doors.. my thoughts were these two.. keeping the sunlight off the full bottles and it's a PITA to keep the dust off of the bottles.

 

@Bigdaddy4760 @Misplaced Nebraskan @Kanyon71 @wilcam47 @bvbull200

At anyone else who has great ideas! Haha

 

I'm with you on the closed doors. I ended up getting a TV entertainment center for my cabinet and specifically wanted closed doors mainly, as you said, to keep the light off of the bottles. When I entertain and want to display it, I just open the doors. Otherwise it is out of sight, out of mind.

I like the idea of putting lights in there. Maybe attach them to a door switch so that they turn on when the doors are open? Warm, dim lighting looks good with whiskey bottles - don't do anything bright.

Consider that if your bottles are going to be put up 2 or 3 deep on a shelf that you'll want the rear of the shelf elevated.

As for doors, just something that matches fairly well. Stainless doors with a black frame on them, maybe? Consider little magnets to hold the doors shut. Unless you have to lock it, you don't want to fuss with latches all of the time. Some of the clasp mechanisms take a pretty good tug to open and will get old as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

 

Great input!!
I
have added a step to the second shelf already.

I did consider the magnet closures but I'll have to be creative if I use the stainless steel that I have since it's not magnetic.

The LED strips I was looking at the other day are RGB so the colors are endless for the lighting. I'll have to do some testing since the back wall is brushed stainless and it's pretty reflective.

 

Bought one of those LED strip kits ... It's not gonna work exactly how I wanted to so I'm going to have to come up with other ideas.

Did some more research on doors todaya I think I have a design I want to try just going to have to work out the details.

Below are some photos of the different LED colors and the "step" I added on this shelf. Not really happy with any of the colors.

 

I would think a low-level yellow or gold should ‘illuminate’ the whiskeys nicely. Don’t ‘light’ them as in your 1st photo. Or, try the same light strip at the bottom of the cabinet.

What would be cool, me thinks ... would be a groove or slot where the bottles sit (on shelf & raised shelf) that illuminates them from the bottom, getting those oh so wonderful & magical elixirs to glow!

 

The shelves themselves are metal.. but the step is wood and a groove would be easy enough to put in there to lay the strip in.. the order of the colors is yellow (Top)
Then light yellow, orange, rose and last is red per the chart included in the kit.

The metal shelves have a lip on them that goes under the shelf that's the perfect width for the LEDs.. which is why I tried that first

 

Well a trip down the router table to make a groove for the light strip resulted in this effect...

 

https://youtu.be/chsPMoSKU1s

Again.. none of the colors do any justice in this configuration. Back to the drawing board.

 

So.. next I took the shelf out and flipped it upside down and attempted to light it from the front down low ...

 

And because the option was right there.. I put the strip behind the bottles for the worst results yet...

 

Maybe some inspiration from a newly finished speakeasy... Looks like a soft white works.

 

This one looks the best... Maybe whiter light though, looks blue.

 

Thank you for sharing the pictures!

 

that's too damn bright. Need a softer light

 

Yes.. working on that. Need the right light at the right angle

 

Amber or gold light? I've 'painted' clear LEDs w/ Sharpie markers ...

 

Haha.. I don't think I'm to that point just yet... I'll keep looking for options but thanks for the suggestion!