The James Bond-style must-have for every kitchen

Would you like your martini shaken or stirred? Or perhaps you’re more inclined to sample a new gin, preferably from a local distillery because you like to shop local.

Whatever your chosen drop, chances are you’re enjoying it in the comfort of your own home, drinking from your favourite glass, without the hassle – or the cost – of going to a bar. What started as a COVID compromise, mixing drinks and playing bartender for family and a small circle of friends in the privacy of your own kitchen has transformed into a design evolution.

Mid-century meets 21st-century design in this kitchen with an integrated bar by Greg Natale.Credit: Anson Smart

No longer banished to the corner of the dining room or, shudder, the man cave, bars are increasingly being installed in home kitchens.

Director of Studio Minosa Darren Genner specialises in creating beautiful kitchens, bathrooms and walk-in robes for well-heeled clients. He says he can barely recall a kitchen in recent times where a bar was not part of the design.

“It started during COVID,” he says. “People were thinking about that ‘gin cupboard’ becoming part of the kitchen.”

Homeowners are creating drinking ‘stations’, including wine racks. A bright pop of colour in this space designed by Studio Minosa makes it sing.

While it extends beyond gin to include whisky, vodka and all manner of alcoholic beverages, he sees it as a natural progression from the drinks cabinet. Once a fixture in dining rooms in mid-century design, the cabinet has migrated to the kitchen where design has shifted to full integration from fridges and dishwashers to appliance cupboards and pantries.

“Kitchens are becoming so integrated now in terms of what we can do with doors and pocket doors,” Genner says. “It makes it easier to access.”

Access is key to the rise of bar spaces in the kitchen, says project director at Studio Johnston Stefania Reynolds including access to the host.

“You can do everything in the same place. If you want pre-dinner drinks, you can have pre-dinner drinks,” she says. “The kitchen is now such a social space, you tend to have a person sitting at the island bench while you’re preparing dinner. It becomes this social hub, and you have everything you could possibly need.”

Reflective surfaces and pocket doors create a little mystery and increase serviceability in this bar by Studio Johnston.

Some home owners are also keen wine connoisseurs who maintain a cellar on their premises. Reynolds says it’s not unusual for them to have a small wine fridge included in the bar space to keep their favourite drop at optimum temperature for when their guests arrive.

Whether it’s a reflection of the smaller homes we occupy, it’s also about extending the use of the kitchen throughout the day and right through the night, Reynolds says.

“You can leave the bar open and enjoy the light and then enjoy your favourite drink after dinner. In the morning, you shut the doors. It’s really nice when you are entertaining – it’s a talking point for guests.”

Creating a sense of ceremony is also part of the design ethos. Where appliance cupboards serve to hide toasters and kettles when they are not in use, kitchen bars provide a sense of occasion, transitioning the space from work station to a sophisticated after-hours environment. Materials are often reflective and rich.

Think mirrored and metallic surfaces and stone benchtops. For maximum serviceability, pocket doors, which disappear into the recesses of the cupboard, are also popular.

Reynolds says this can add substantially to the overall cost of the kitchen.

“Pocket doors are three times the price of standard doors, and then you add some lighting and extend the stone,” she says. “You could be adding $15,000 to your project.”

If you want to take it a step further, you can include pop-up features, where the bar appears from the island benchtop at the touch of a button. Genner says it’s the perfect James Bond-style wow factor some home owners love.

“You can integrate with Bluetooth so you can say to Alexa ‘I’m thirsty’ and it will pop up,” he says. “It’s becoming very integrated.”

And where once the focus was on having a separate bar area where the host – usually a man – would serve drinks like an in-house bartender, Reynolds says now it’s about creating an atmosphere where everyone is welcome.

“That masculine area would not have had beautiful materials in it and ambient lighting,” she says. “This is more feminine with soft lighting, stylish design elements and something you can personalise to your taste. It tends to be more about what the woman is interested in.”

Ultimately, it’s about creating a home that brings you joy.

“It’s a nice little surprise for guests, it’s a fun little quirk. When you have the opportunity to do a little bar area, it’s a really nice thing.”

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