Post #389309 by KreepyTiki on Tue, Jun 24, 2008 8:45 PM

First of all, the room looks larger in the "After" photo because of the lens my wife used when she took the photo, plus the pic was taken from further away. Also, once the transformation was complete, the relatively mysterious feeling of the darker space and all the mood lighting further accentuates the feeling of size, I think.

Secondly, thanks for the kind words! And, as for the rest of my pad, the living room is done in an Asian theme (complete with more fountains and lots of paper lanterns), in keeping with the venerable Chinese-Restaurant-With-A-Tiki-Bar-In-The-Back tradition which was/is so prevalent in certain parts of the country -- in particular, the Midwest. (Think Kowloon.) The kitchen has an Art Noveau theme, and the bathroom has a New England fishing-village motif.

And now here are some more pics of 'Paradise Cove'...

First, the three different fountains:

The hanging "King Kamehameha Fountain" with misting element added...

A miniature landscape fountain I call "Tiki Lagoon"...

And the largest of the three -- the "Big Kahuna Fountain" (and fairly noisy until I added some shells to catch the water!)...

That one's a heavily augmented bamboo-style ceramic three-level (outdoor-but-I'm-using-it-indoors) fountain which has a smaller fountain added to it (bottom right, with glowing eyes, which they used to sell at Big Lots).

And here's a few more detail-shots -- one of the top section of the King Kamehameha Fountain (featuring the titular figurine)...

And a couple close-ups of the Big Kahuna Fountain...

On the left is a crocodile-wood tiki imported from Hawaii (courtesy of TikiMaster.com).

And now a few pics of the OTHER half of the room.

First, the North-East corner where I have my desk and computer...

Notice the lovely effect created by the "Laser Stars" projectio system? I nabbed it at a Spencer's Gifts in San Diego, and, though it set me back 100 buckeroos, it was worth every single penny!

That's one of those moving-waterfall pictures glowing above my PC monitor's aquarium screensaver, with a tapa/palm-leaf ceiling installation forming a hut-like canopy overhead which can also be lit separately, as in these two photos. (I just use a string of white party-lights, all curled up, lying along the center portion of the canopy.)

And now for the South-East corner...

This area doesn't actually look as bright as this, but I wanted to show all the detail of what's there. Normally it's more atmospheric. And that's one of those flickering "candle-flame" bulbs behind the primitive metallic wall-mask which gives it a nice wavering glow.

THIS is what it looks like in the room's actual lighting...

...with the majority of illumination only provided by the hanging swag lamp, the blue Caliente Tropics night-light, the red light inside the big, black Moai head, the large green float-light, and a small click-light for added illumination on one of the tikis.

See what a difference lighting makes to the mood? But, with mood, you have to give up more detail in the photos.

And now to where I do most of the LOUNGING in my lounge!...

The bed & surrounding area also looks a lot better in person -- i.e. without a flash -- but then it's just too dark to photograph clearly, so I had to compromise or you wouldn't really see what's there. Like the Tiki Lagoon fountain on the bedside table...

Which looks much better under blue light -- AND with the addition of a much more appropriate bedside lamp!

And here's a few close-ups of my two home-made basket-lights with dimmers added...

And here's my Disneyland Enchanted Tiki Room Big Fig with custom lighting and landscaping added...

And, speaking of the Tiki Room, here's an ACTUAL PIECE of the real deal given to me by a dear friend whose Dad was the Vice President of Marketing for Disney...

(Now that's what I call a "Birthday Present"!)

Here's my tribute to the most well-known cover of Tiki News...

And a few more details from various spots in the room...

(Ignore the wall & ceiling behind the planter -- that was the "Before" look!)

And, lastly, more 'Laser Stars' "sky" shots, which turns the whole ceiling into one big projection screen & truly gives Paradise Cove the feeling of being on a tropical island at night!...

So just add your favorite Exotica, shake well, and... CHEERS!

And now me and my canine pal, Luau Lil, wish you a big "Aloha" and hope you enjoyed your virtual visit to my home-made slice of Paradise!

Feel free to drop by and talk story any time ya like!

Bottoms Up! :drink:

Castaway Clemens (aka KreepyTiki)

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-06-25 18:23 ]

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-06-27 21:44 ]

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2008-07-13 01:20 ]