Part of the ritual of opening a bottle of wine is discovering the artistic image or message imprinted on the cork. Those priceless enclosures can be tucked away in a drawer, jar or cork cage. Over time, as the containers fill up they can be used to create one-of-a-kind cork art, such as trivets, ornaments, wreaths and photo frames.
Tasting Room Magazine readers Alison and Jim Cook of Redmond, Wash., found an innovative solution for all the corks they had been collecting.
“About a year ago, water damage in our downstairs powder room required us to replace some drywall and then repaint,” says Alison. “We’d wanted to remodel that original 80’s builder’s bathroom for years.” After she and her husband Jim looked online for ideas, they found a picture of a wine barrel vanity with a copper sink. Inspired, they found a local company that makes barrel furniture who was up for the challenge of converting a wine barrel into a sink vanity.
This was the impetus that would also solve the Cook’s mounting cork collection. “We thought, why not line the main wall in the powder room with corks?” says Alison.
After measuring the wall space and cutting plywood to fit the area, they dumped out all their corks, sorting them in alphabetical order and keeping two from each winery.
“My handy husband made a contraption to save my fingers while cutting each cork in half and it worked beautifully,” she says.
Before gluing the corks on the plywood, some disassembled wooden wine boxes were added to make the wall more interesting.
Alison points out, “Not all corks are created equal. Shorter, taller, rounder, flatter, we never noticed that before but it made for an even more interesting look.”
An estimated 600-plus corks were used in the wine themed powder room remodel.
Summing up the project, Alison concludes, “We are very happy with the outcome of our remodel. If you are saving corks, think outside the bottle. After all, you can’t just throw them away!”