Any ceiling suggestions for our tiki room?

Hi,
We are just starting to astheticate our tiki room and I wondered if anyone had a suggestion for the ceiling. There will be two areas that will have thatching, over the bar and a small cabana that will look into the room. The rest of the ceiling we would like to replace. I was trying to come up with something that would look like the night sky but would be open to any suggestions. The less flammable the better!!
Thank you in advance!
Gem

The night sky, you say? Many moons ago (no pun intended) I found a company that made giant stencils of the night sky so you could paint the constellations on your ceiling. The stencil came in rolls about a yard wide; unroll, stick to the ceiling with 'fun-tak', paint in all the holes with glow-in-the-dark paint and voila! After about 2 hours work, I had the entire visible night sky of the northern hemipshere above my head! Sounds kinda cheesy, but the effect was actually quite stunning. The paint is white and I painted mine on a stucco ceiling - it was completely unnoticeable during the day or with the lights on.

A quick Google search comes up with a lot of companies that still carry it (it's called simply The Night Sky Star Stencil), but they don't appear to have a website of their own. Here's one: http://www.ontimecolor.com/cgi-bin/ontimecolor/nightsky.html?TUumWBbw;;2

What an excellent idea! Thank you!

Sparklegem,
Sounds like your tikiroom is coming right along. You ought to think about getting in on the home bar tour of the up-coming Portland Crawl. It would be cool to feature your classic 1949 bar as part of the event and your location would tie in nicely. I think there is a NW happy hour due to happen soon. Perhaps we could discuss it over mai tais with the local tiki-heads.

Hi Mr. Tikibar,
Mai Tais sound fun but I do not know how much we will have done on our tiki room.
Please keep me in the loop.
All the Best,
Gem

I 2nd what Dr. Z is talking about. I've used that before, it's very user friendly and looks great once it's up. You could also paint a sky on your ceiling (with clouds and all) so during the day, you'd have a day sky and at night, the stars would glow.

Sounds pretty cool, actually...

I have been thinking about painting the ceiling black (and maybe with the glow in dark stars). Then it will hopefully disappear and give it a night feeling if we can figure out some indirect lighting.
Thank you for all suggestion! It is so fun to hear from everyone!

Sparklegem, black makes the ceiling feel lower than it is, try a darker blue (like a lapis) with stars painted on it. Here's some examples from an Egyptian temple:

http://domonique.simonweb.com/~btb/sabbatical01/Egypt/Luxor/tk-ceiling-stars1.jpg

&

http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/egypt/deirelbahri/pting2.jpg

My favorite Chinese restaurant in town "The Fan Tan Cafe"..named after the skinniest alley in the world in which it lies...

Has a really cool ceiling...it's made of those cheap drop panels but painted black...there are small holes of different sizes drilled in them and fluorescent lights up above that give a night sky effect in the middle of the day! Very cool.

Thank you!! Our ceiling tile has a pattern of little holes and I wondered if there was a way to make the hole go all the way through. Then we could put a light in the space above. My husband had vetoed the idea but maybe if I pass along your suggestion he will give it more thought. I think that it is a really good idea.

That's the exact same type of ceiling they have...I may be able to take pictures for you if you like...I work less than a block from the place and have a digital camera.

I would suggest keeping the ceiling, especially if the bar will be indoors.

Thank you, Tikiwahine, that would be wonderful! It would be great to see it before we actually try it. I am getting so excited to do all of this! I think we will be starting in a week.

I'll see if I can head over there tomorrow. It sounds like you're having so much fun with your room!

I poured the foundation for my Huki Lounge last summer, but it'll be at least a year before it's enclosed. Seeing what everyone else is doing/has done is a great way to get inspiration!

Thank you so much! It is so much fun!

Here is the ceiling. The angle is a little odd, I took it during lunch time with no flash, trying not to bother the patrons.
I hope this helps!

Great Minds Drink Alike

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine 2007-07-24 17:33 ]

Hi from Spain,
does anyone know where can I find big posters to put on a wall? I mean sunset ,tropical scenes,.....

A little off topic, but here's one:

You can find it at Urban Outfitters here:
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=3841&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=336&iSubCat=303&iProductID=3841
Unfortunately, they only seem to ship to Canada and the US.