Post #694273 by Aloha Daddy on Sun, Sep 22, 2013 11:33 AM

I started to work on the shelves along the back wall of the bar next. I wanted lighted glass shelves to place the bottles of booze on so I routed out the edges of the top piece of wood and inserted a glass shelf in the cutout on both sides. I have an old stainless steel aquarium, a 20 gallon tall, that I wanted to incorporate into the back wall. When building the shelves on the back, I built a center section that accomodated the height of the tank with enough clearance for me to open the top and access the tank, then dropped down for the bottle sections.

So in designing the back, I placed the aquarium in the center and the bottle shelves on either side. I then installed florescent light fixtures under the bottle shelves so that the light shone up through the glass shelves as well as shine down on the as yet to be built shelf below.

I then built a whole series of shelves that extend all the way up the wall stopping about 18" short of the ceiling. I stained them all with the dark stain and really liked the results. The woven lauhala matting makes a nice background for the shelving. Next I installed the mirrors for the background of the bottle areas. I used the mirror squares from Lowe's as they are easy to install and economical. Again, I don't have a very big budget for this project so I am constantly looking for economical ways to build this but still keeping a nice look to it.

One thing that really was bothering me though was the look of the light bamboo that I had attached to the front of the bar. I preferred the look of the new dark stain I had used on the bar top and the shelves so I decided to experiment and try to use the stain on the bamboo and I was very excited to see the results, so I decided to stain all the bamboo on the front. I also installed clear rope lights under the bar top to shine down on the bamboo, not as bright as I would like but I like thee results.

So I started to get really excited as I placed my tiki mug collection on the shelves and my hanging tiki on the wall. I bought a lava lamp on ebay,I had always wanted one but never had one. I placed all my liquor bottles and arranged my tiki lights and other torpical collections on the shelves.

My objective for this bar was to go retro 50's-60's with a bit of Tiki Room nostalgia thrown in. I grew up in Orange going to Disneyland every chance I got so I have a great affection for all things that remind me of that time. Adventureland was always one of my favorite lands. My photography leaves a lot to be desired, I promise to take some better photos soon but here you can see what it looks like so far.