Post #391891 by TikiTres on Sat, Jul 5, 2008 11:02 PM

On 2008-07-05 18:46, VampiressRN wrote:
This is the light over the card table in my Tiki lounge. I like the amount of light it provides for playing cards, but need to Tiki it up a bit. I was thinking about some type of bamboo shades for the bottom, maybe gluing some Tiki Heads (I like the one I have from GoTiki) on the centerpost. What can be done about the chain...although I see chains on puffer fish, I am not fond of them and wonder about threading raffia or something through it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

That style is decidedly un-tiki, but you can spruce it up a bit to make it fit in better. I would start by disassembling it and spray-painting it in a darker tone with some drybrushed lighter shades to give it a weathered look. See if you can find some wicker baskets to use as shades, I saw some at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago that would be perfect for that and were on clearance for a couple of bucks each. Burn the baskets a little if you have a torch to give them some character and then paint amber varnish on them. If you don't like the swag chain you can remove it and install a drop rod instead. The tiki masks on the center support sound like a great idea, it would also be nice if you can find something tiki-ish that would cover those curly-Q's over each shade (although I can't think of anything off the top of my head). Good luck and post pics if you convert it!