The “home bar” has often been associated with a wheeled trolley sitting in the corner of the living room, a cluttered shelf in the sideboard or perhaps a small drinks cabinet tucked discreetly out of sight. The message has always been the same: that alcohol lived away from the kitchen, brought out when needed, and quietly returned to its hiding place afterwards.
Fast forward to 2026, and the picture looks quite different for home bars. UK research shows that “kitchen bars” have risen by 167% this year alone, and the appetite in the premium kitchen market is climbing faster still. Here at Planet Furniture, hardly a week passes without a client asking whether we can design a proper, considered drinks moment into their new bespoke kitchen. Some love a discreet cabinet with a bi-fold door, and others want an entire wall dedicated to entertaining. And others want something in between: a beautifully made piece of joinery that turns entertaining and the ritual of a proper drink at home into something worth designing around.
In other words, the kitchen bar has been reimagined, and our guide explains how a really good one comes together in 2026.
Why the Kitchen Bar Has Become a Centrepiece
Entertaining has now become part of the home, and it has changed in recent years. Formal dinner parties in a separate dining room have given way to relaxed gatherings that unfold across the kitchen and living space, where the host is part of the conversation rather than hidden behind a closed door. Because of this, drinks need to be exactly where people are, so a well-placed kitchen bar has become one of the most useful design decisions a modern home can make.
Alongside that, the drinks themselves have grown more sophisticated, with home cocktails, natural wines, small-batch spirits, alcohol-free options and craft mixers all now having their own following. These serious drink collections deserve to be shown off, rather than kept in the dark. Organise them beautifully and serve them properly at a home bar.
Finally, the aesthetic of the modern kitchen has shifted too, and the quiet luxury movement has moved away from purely utilitarian kitchens and towards spaces with real character, warmth and personality. A bespoke bar from Planet Furniture adds all three in a single, beautifully composed piece of joinery.
The Entertainer’s Dream Drinks Cabinet
What a Modern Kitchen Bar Really Is
At its heart, a kitchen bar is a purpose-built zone within the kitchen (or between the kitchen and the wider living space) where everything related to drinks lives in one considered, beautifully made place. Spirits, wine, mixers, cut crystal, decanters and stemware: ice, tools, garnishes and glass-polishing cloths. Even, in some of our designs, a small fridge or wine cabinet is built into the joinery so bottles are served at exactly the right temperature.
In a bespoke handmade kitchen, the drinks bar doesn’t need to look like the corner of a hotel lobby either. It can be beautifully tucked behind a set of pocket doors that close it away when it isn’t in use. It can still sit as a dedicated drinks dresser just in a quieter part of the room. It can also extend into a full wall of open shelving and cabinetry that becomes a genuine design centrepiece in the open-plan space. The principle remains the same: entertaining gets its own dedicated home, designed around exactly how you like to host.
Confidently Chic Drinks Cabinet Bar
What a Really Good Kitchen Bar Includes
Once you’ve got your design planned out, the next question is what actually goes into it. In our experience, the best bespoke kitchen bars share a similar anatomy.
What leads the design? Storage for the bottles, such as racks, dividers, drawers or shelves, is the foundation of the design and built to the size and shape of the bottles you actually own. Above or alongside them, bespoke joinery holds cut crystal, decanters and stemware exactly where they belong, in dividers that keep everything protected and beautifully displayed.
Below, an integrated wine cabinet can add to the design, and some clients even specify twin temperature-controlled wine zones, allowing reds and whites to be stored at exactly the right temperature. Others prefer a simple ice drawer, a tap for chilled or sparkling water and a small dedicated section for mixers and garnishes.
The finishing touches, however, are where a kitchen bar really becomes a centrepiece. A polished stone or mirrored back wall throws light around, doubling the visual richness of the bottles and glassware in front of it. Integrated LED strip lighting turns even a modest run of shelves into a warm, inviting glow after dark. Bespoke hardware in aged brass, satin nickel or brushed bronze punctuates the joinery like small pieces of jewellery. And, throughout, the same materials and finishes as the rest of the kitchen ensure the bar reads as a considered part of the home rather than a separate feature.
We design the whole zone to feel like a room within a room. Warm, inviting, and unmistakeably yours.
Sophisticated Entertaining Annex Bar
Where to Put the Kitchen Bar
Positioning matters, because a bar only works if it belongs where the entertaining actually happens. Drink moments often sit at the boundary between the kitchen and the wider living space. This is where the family gathers, where guests naturally drift, and where a beautifully designed drinks dresser or bar wall can quietly become the focal point of the whole home. When positioned like this, the bar doubles as a piece of visual anchoring for the open-plan room, drawing the eye and pulling the design together.
Alternatively, the bar can sit within a dedicated pantry or drinks room, closed off from the main kitchen but accessible through a single beautifully finished door. This works particularly in larger homes, where entertaining becomes more formal, and the drinks are a small ceremony in themselves.
Wherever it lives, the goal is the same. Entertaining should feel effortless, and the ritual of a proper drink at home should have room to breathe.
How Planet Furniture Approaches the Kitchen Bar
At Planet Furniture, every kitchen bar we design starts with a conversation about how you actually entertain. It is crucial to know this part so we can design the perfect one for you. Are you a wine collector, a cocktail enthusiast, a champagne household, or all three? Do you host large parties regularly, or intimate dinners for close friends? Are you looking to make the bar sit as a discreet cabinet, or take pride of place as a full wall of joinery? Would you like to add mirrored backs, glazed doors, open shelving, or a combination?
From those answers, we design the entire piece around your real life. The bottle storage, the glassware dividers, the fridge and wine zones, the lighting, the hardware and the finishes are all bespoke. Every shelf is scaled to what it will hold. Every detail is tailored to the way you host. The cabinetry, timber, finishes and hardware match the rest of the kitchen exactly, so the bar reads as a considered part of the room rather than just an addition. Everything is handmade in our British workshop; the piece is built to earn its place for decades to come.
Additionally, our close relationships with reputable appliance and hardware brands mean every element is chosen with the same care as the joinery around it.
Beautifully Bespoke Drinks Dresser
Related blogs:
The Beauty Behind the Modern Hidden Drinks Cabinet
Creating an Entertainer’s Wall With a Bespoke Media Unit & Drinks Cabinet
Add a Bespoke Drinks Dresser/Cocktail Cabinet to your Home
The Psychology of a Well-Designed Kitchen to Come Home to
Luxury Appliances – The Many Drawers of Sub-Zero & Wolf
The kitchen bar has become more than a place to store bottles. It is instead where a family gathers before dinner and at the end of the evening. Where the ritual of pouring, mixing, chilling and serving turns a Friday night at home into something genuinely worth looking forward to, bringing character to the home, and personality to the people who live there.
That is why the drinks moment has, quite deservedly, been reimagined. Not tucked away in the corner, instead, brought out into the heart of the room, celebrated, and made beautiful in a way only a bespoke handmade kitchen can really deliver.
If you would like to design a bespoke kitchen bar or drinks dresser into your next kitchen, we’d love to help. At Planet Furniture, every bespoke kitchen we build starts with a single conversation about how you really live and entertain. It then turns into a beautifully considered detail for the home.
