Post #589666 by audiotikiman on Wed, May 18, 2011 12:19 AM

Aloha from Pasadena, Ca. I'm Jim with my wife, Larisa, and we would like to say how excited we are to see this great forum and everyone's great projects. We would like to share our little Mauka Lounge with you (Mauka - meaning towards the mountains or inland as Pasadena is in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.)

We bought our Townhouse in 2008. New Construction. And we paid a premium to have the added balcony/veranda/porch.
Little did I know that I would soon be thinking of having a Tiki Lounge.

So this is what we are striving for:

To have an outdoor Tiki themed/Tropical garden lounge for BBQ's and Parties. But, with that, we must dodge the HOA (Home Owners' Association) rules that apply to outside structures. (People get pretty testy when it comes to things hanging on balconies and such.)

So... we can't really go too Tiki(although we'd like to)

And, One of Larisa's rules is that it must remain functional while we're transforming it. So we keep adding on little by little as you will see.

Here is what we started with.

The first thing I had to change was the lighting. So I tapped into one of the exisiting lights and put flood lights around the top beam, and installed a dimmer.

Also note the height of the roof. From 9ft. up to 16ft.

And, it lacked electricity. (The builders I guess didn't think it was necessary) So I tapped into one of the inside outlets.

Punched a hole through the wall into the outside and ran ran power around the base.





Larisa finished up with some matching brown paint

We had originally put up a Bamboo shade only on one side. But, we wanted a shade on both sides. And we chose to have a split shade on one side.

The long shade switched to the other side.


Split Shade

The BBQ didn't really fit anywhere the way it was...

so I modified it...

...so it would tuck neatly in the corner.

It doesn't look like it, but it is a safe distance away from things that are flammable.
Also, as you can tell, Larisa has started to put out plants.

Then, we started to hang our ornaments. The first of what will be many Tiki Masks. Signs. Bamboo wind chimes. And I've added a couple of torches.

And this is where we are now, with our outdoor furniture in place and with these projects planned for the future. (Not necessarily in this order)

1. An outdoor bamboo ceiling fan.

2. Bamboo molding around all beams and railings.

3. Planters hanging off the railings for Flowers and such.

4. Small individual spot lights for the Tiki masks.

5. Replace the stock light fixtures on the house wall.

6. A small bar in one corner.

7. A small waterfall in another corner.

8. Bamboo fencing fit into the railings

I'll stop here with some night photos. And a photo of us having dinner with friends.

Thanks! And of course any suggestions are more than welcome.

[ Edited by: audiotikiman 2011-05-18 00:24 ]

[ Edited by: audiotikiman 2011-05-18 09:44 ]

[ Edited by: audiotikiman 2011-05-18 12:21 ]