Post #280935 by Block 16 Lounge on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 11:52 AM

You're right, brokeassbuilder, about sticking to a theme and not getting carried away. I absolutely do not want my basement to be cheesy or kitschy. There's a fine line between being campy and classy - and I'm opting for class (especially because of the whole Vegas theme).

It will be difficult, though, because I've been collecting vintage Vegas stuff for almost 10 years now. Everything from postcards and menus to limited-edition liquor bottles and, of course, chips. And the're almost entirely from the original hotels and casinos (most of which have been imploded), so it's hard to fight the temptation to put EVERYTHING out.

As for the ceiling. My wife put a stop to my plan to tear down the drop ceiling. It would've been a lot of work, anyway, and I can't take on any more right now. So I've used amber/brown gels that they use in photography, and I've attached those to the acrylic light panels to cut down on the amount of light as well as the harshness from the flourescents. Then I painted some moulding a dark brown (to fit in with the tiki theme) and finished off the lights with that. It's a nice contrast to the white ceiling, but it's not too much to draw unnecessary attention to it.

This weekend I'll begin building the bar. Never done it before. No experience. I don't even think I've got help. So we'll see what happens. Anyway, I've taken photos of the basement in its current state. I'll post those soon, and I plan to upload new ones every time I make some progress.

Does anyone else want to add anything about their own home tiki bars?