FRIENDS GASPED AS THE LIGHTS CHANGED COLOUR

PauLa Gibson, 52, and her husband, Gary, 53, both work in aviation. they have two grown-up daughters, Laura, 30 and aimee, 28, and live in Hampshire.

When my daughters gave me a book about cocktail-making for Christmas a couple of years ago, they had no idea what they had started. That new Year’s eve we all made colourful cocktails and sipped our way through the evening.

We have lived in our house for 11 years, and were lucky enough to have an indoor swimming pool, but recently we realised it was looking a bit tired around the edges. We’ve always entertained a lot and love having the girls and their husbands over, so earlier this year we thought: ‘Why not get rid of the pool and turn it into a party space, including a shiny new cocktail bar?’

Because the room is so large, we divided it into three sections: the bar, with built-in karaoke and a space for dancing, a cinema with cosy sofas for us to watch films as a family, and a man-cave corner with a big screen and special chairs with steering wheels for playing F1 racing video games. But the bar is the focal point.

We kept it all a secret until it was finished, then invited friends around for drinks in June. As they entered, there were gasps of surprise and admiration. They loved the lights, which we can change the colour of according to our mood or the season — at halloween we lit the bar up orange.

One guest turned to me and said: ‘I know that this is a very stupid question, but does the floor slide open to reveal the pool?’ I met my husband’s eye. What a good idea for the future!

Our sleek bar is made from a hard-wearing laminate and medium-density fibreboard. It has glasses of all shapes and sizes and, of course, a fridge full of mixers and wine. It is our pride and joy, and although it was a bespoke design, it only cost about £1,000.

I have to admit, I still prefer wine and champagne to cocktails, but we have shelves of spirits and Aimee and Laura are amazing at creating them. Gary is pretty proficient, too. he can be a bartending Tom Cruise (from the film Cocktail) if I ask him nicely.