Tiny Tiki

So when I first moved into my new home, it came with this wet bar in the worst spot ever. Between the kitchen and hallway. This house is too small for a wet bar but it was built in a time when those were trendy I guess. I almost smashed it out for a place to hang coats, but when I got back from Hawaii, my original Disney inspired Tiki Bar joke became reality and in the end, probably saved me a lot of plumbing and structure work.
(the drink at La Mariana's that gave me the Tiki fever)

The bar area is so tiny and I'd like a 20,000 Leagues name for it, but while its being built, it'll be known as the Tiny Tiki.

I had to take this shot from in the office across the hall just to get the photo lol

Looking in from the kitchen (yikes)

It's not the size that counts?

[ Edited by: VanIsleVibes 2016-02-17 23:50 ]

This was a really pale new batch of pine, which I distressed with worm holes and dents to look like ship wood. Then I burned and stained it. I'll be using this for the bar top.

[ Edited by: VanIsleVibes 2016-02-17 23:44 ]

Actually, that space is kind of adorable! It would make a very nice little Tiki nook :)

I've been toying around with Jules Verne-related names/themes myself, for some hypothetical home bar down the road. The most obscure one I've come up with "The Maria Theresa Reef", which is a phantom reef mentioned in The Mysterious Island and In Search of the Castaways (which was itself made into a Disney movie). "The Mysterious Island" would be another obvious choice, or "The Lincoln Island Lounge" though there's not much of a lounge in that nook :) If you wanted to hew closer to 20,000 Leagues, you could always name it after a part of the ship, or a character. "Esmeralda's" or "Nemo's Cabin" or something :wink: Decor probably depends on whether you wanted to make it look LIKE the Nautilus, or wanted simply to display a collection of mugs and paraphernalia.

I'm overthinking it for you though. As it is, Tiny Tiki is pretty cute!

My dog is already named Captain Nemo, and my small boat is named the Nautilus, so those are out haha! It's to look like a ship that was hit by the Nautilus and wrecked on an island / turned into a tiki bar. So maybe I'll look for some ship names sunk in the film. Right now I'm trying to figure out where to buy thatch in Canada at a good cost before building the walls. Hasnt been easy :/ Boooo Canada.

Hey VanIsleVibes, its real small but I think its got real potential to be a cool spot.
I also like it because its original.
To solve your seagrass problem, and other supplies, you want to check out Coolite Bamboo on east Hastings in Vancouver. They will have everything you need. Great store and good people to deal with. They might ship to you or you'll just have to get in a boat and get off the Island and go check them out. They have a website too.
Go see Elsie and say Dan from Taboo Tiki sent yah!
Mahalo, TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2016-02-20 09:50 ]

Oh perfect! Thanks so much! They seem to be at least 20-30% cheaper and I could probably pick them up. Know of any good places in Canada to pick up cheap tiki decor like masks, mugs, bar items and things?

On 2016-02-20 15:33, VanIsleVibes wrote:
Oh perfect! Thanks so much! They seem to be at least 20-30% cheaper and I could probably pick them up. Know of any good places in Canada to pick up cheap tiki decor like masks, mugs, bar items and things?

Unfortunately, with Tiki stuff, cheap is cheap.

I think it's fair to say that good number of people who are new to it are willing to buy cheap to start with, and as they learn more their standards improve and their interests refine. I was inaugurated by Disney, and afterwards started picking up some the cheapo, readily available mugs by companies like Accouterments. There is also a Chinese company named Dynasty Wholesale that inherited the Tiki mug designs of an older company called Orchids of Hawaii. I've noticed that Dynasty is sort of looked down on, but I do genuinely like the designs of their mugs that I've bought. A nice website to order those (and a few other mug designs) off of is The Crafty Bartender. They're a Canadian company, so the shipping and handling isn't totally outrageous, and they have fantastic customer service.

Since I'm at that stage of refining my own collection, I might even be into selling you my "Tiki starter set" for a reasonable price, if you're interested.

On 2016-02-20 20:33, EnchantedTikiGoth wrote:

Unfortunately, with Tiki stuff, cheap is cheap.

Since I'm at that stage of refining my own collection, I might even be into selling you my "Tiki starter set" for a reasonable price, if you're interested.

Oh yeah, I know. haha! I should have clarified by asking for places less expensive than others?? Haha! Ill check out that place too. Thanks!
If you're selling this starter kit, PM me and let me know what you have. I might be interested. As you can tell I dont have room for much except rum and tiki mugs and I do already have one row of some cheapies but, Im not so much interested in their cost as I am their designs and how they theme with my bar. Let me know :)

Just starting out the carving on my wall panels. They're also pine, but a softer pine than the bar top. Once they're done I'll need to sand and smooth some of these out and then stain.
Should take me until my kids are in university before I'm done these. :P

Nice touch!

Built some shelving below the bar top.

Shelving next to the sink for mugs etc. Installed some lighting as well.

Adding some details.
(not sure why its sideways. Shouldnt be)
Most of the wood boards have been put up. Just need the thatch wave for the wall and a ceiling. I have NO idea what to do for the ceiling. Its such a small space and I thought about stars but that would white out the colours.
Might just stick with the ship theme and make them dark wood planks.

[ Edited by: VanIsleVibes 2016-04-18 17:32 ]

Temporary lighting installed and some foliage.

It's coming along nicely.

You did a great job with the lighting, especially the underlit mug shelf.

Cozy and dark, nice job.

Just some name suggestions.

Deep Fathom Bar
Pier 34 (choose your favorite number) Lounge
The Decompression Club
Up Periscope

Have fun with your tiny bar.

I was just at the Shameful Tiki and they had little TVs on the shelves next to their mugs and things. It was actually pretty cool. They did seem a little out of place when you could see the full iPad or whatever it was but I think I might build a TV case to match the tiki look and just play Blue Hawaii type films on it for background (no sound). :)

My apartment tiki bar is called the Li'i Lounge which means 'little' in Hawaiian. What started as a corner of my 1 bedroom apartment now encompasses everything except the bathroom.

Ok so it's like 85% complete. All the wiring needs to be done. The bar area below needs to be painted and stained. The roof as well but Im unsure what to do there. I'd like to make it a ceiling of twinkling stars (if anybody knows of a small optic fibre kit let me know).
A few things need to be hung up as well but not sure what. Some small things under the painting, maybe some on the other wall as well.... not sure what.

And with the lights on -

(Id like to get some sort of one button push that activates lights and sound when somebody orders a drink, type of thing)

Looking great!

Oh and this is the side view. Still trying to figure out how to hide the wires...

What an incredible space. Love the lighting :)

Hey - cool space you've built out, and thanks for visiting my place in Vancouver, The Shameful Tiki Room. I noticed earlier in your thread you'd asked about mugs and bar tools. I have another business in Vancouver called The Modern Bartender. We sell tiki mugs, all manner of tools, books like the new smugglers cove and needed ingredients like Falernum, Orgeat etc. Store number is 604-684-1747 if you want more info, we ship!
Thanks - Rod

Great idea overlapping the distressed wood over the matting....nice work.

Almost done with this thing! Just installed some Phillips Hue Lighting which was IMO designed just for tiki bars lol Its perfect. I also made and installed a TV for Elvis movies!

[ Edited by: VanIsleVibes 2018-02-12 11:18 ]

I also made my lamp appear to be coming from out of broken planks like a ship. I originally wanted a Disney type squid arm coming out and make the light dome an eye peering through.

And we put some barnacles on the walls and shelves to look like a sunken ship

Thanks for the updates! That nook is looking fantastic! The TV is a great idea and the barnacles are super cute... Can barnacles be cute?

So how does someone who is going to the island this summer mooch an invite? :wink:

Wow, what an amazing tiki bar! You can definitely do this professionally. Where did you find all the beautiful artwork? I've been looking for similar type art and haven't found anything.

Looks great!

Can you elaborate on the Phillips Hue lighting you used? The lighting is spot on and I'm wondering what components you purchased. Thanks!

On 2018-02-28 17:56, LoriLovesTiki wrote:
Looks great!

Can you elaborate on the Phillips Hue lighting you used? The lighting is spot on and I'm wondering what components you purchased. Thanks!

The Philips lighting is incredible. I started with a couple bulbs that can make any colour you want and can be dimmed. They can also be animated and timed etc. Then I bought their light strip which is like an LED strip light and I ran that under the bar and can be used in the same way. I will be using the strip light as well on my shelves but that will be harder with creating spacers for each shelf if I plan to use one strip. Right now its just the ikea LED bars which can change colour but manually so its kind of annoying.
Hue runs off wifi from a base to your mobile device.

Heres an example of some of the combinations you can do.

On 2018-02-25 18:25, MauiJo wrote:
Wow, what an amazing tiki bar! You can definitely do this professionally. Where did you find all the beautiful artwork? I've been looking for similar type art and haven't found anything.

The framed art? That's actually from Hawaii! This is the artist: https://www.mvandornartist.com

Thanks! I guess there's only two and an album cover,lol Is the hula girl a painting or photograph?

Superb! Our home came with a very similar little bar off the family room that I am working on presently. You knocked it out of the park here, especially with the lighting. I think there are more than a few of us here who would love to see a few more pics of your unique ceiling light.

Maybe when I get a chance Ill post a video of it all :)