Post #554684 by Polopeka pau hana on Sat, Sep 18, 2010 10:53 PM

Hi gang, I've lurked on and off for years and have finally managed to pull together enough pics in one place to actually make a post. Got a lot of ideas from all of the talented folks posting here, as well as inspiration from frequent visits to La Mariana, and a boatload of stuff in one fell swoop at a serendipitous moving sale. Anyway, it's a small lanai, but the combination of the palms, mango tree, babbling koi ponds, and ocean/mountain views made it an ideal spot to turn into a tiki bar...

Initially, we just threw in a table and started adding orchids. Perfect for grilling, but not really tiki...

So, we started laying out the bar and adding crucial pieces...

Got the rattan fishtank stand for $25 off a lead on Craigslist. A little water damage, but nothing that couldn't be fixed up for displaying stuff. The real fish tank is inside the house. Maybe I'll post those shots later...

We knew that we wanted the bar to have an overall 'L' shape to connect to the side wall window pass-through to the kitchen, and we wanted the corner to be round because there isn't a ton of space, but weren't sure what to do with the bar top that wouldn't be too hard to finish--after all, I do have a full time job and I'm not a particularly skilled wood crafter. Got a great conceptual suggestion from our chief tiki consultant and supplier, Mo-eye, and ran with it...

The random cuts of different sizes of mahogany boards, "aged" with wire brush, blow torch, & stain, then Varithane'd, surrounded by the palm & mango treetops give it a pretty cool nautical kind of tree house feel, I think.

I really like the look of the mixed thickness of bamboo that some folks have used on their bars, so I went with that for the front & side of the bar.

and used bamboo shades to keep things tidy behind the bar & hide the mini fridge and rum collection...

Some of my favorite lights are the the simple bamboo ones at La Mariana, so I made some of those to hang above the bar and complement the plastic globe in fishnet lights.

...and that was effectively all the heavy lifting, so to speak. I'll post some more shots detailing more of the art and decorating in a bit...