Post #810774 by Prikli Pear on Mon, Sep 18, 2023 7:07 PM

You know, ECTiki, ever since I started doing the YouTube show lots of folks ask me questions about home bar builds. The one thing I stress more than anything else is "Let the space dictate what the room becomes." That is, don't try to force your tiki room into being just like the Rincon Room or Desert Oasis Room or Forbidden Idol or whatever. Home tiki bars are organic things that should be a reflection of their owners rather than a slavish copy of something someone else has already done (although by all means, take inspiration from those!). Vitu Waitui is a case in point: The ceiling, the lone remaining window, that great tongue-and-groove paneling (that would be a showpiece on its own were it not for the tiki thing) and OH MY SWEET BABY JESUS THAT DECK! The limitations of the interior led directly to the creation of that deck, and if your home wasn't situated perfectly to accommodate that extension it would not have happened. Ergo, it was meant to be. Your home wanted the tiki to extend outdoors into the starry night. All those crazy ideas you're complaining about upstream? They're not really yours--they're your home subtly guiding you. So the next time you start something and your wife raises a questioning eyebrow, you just say, "Sorry, it's not me. This is just what our tiki space wants me to do!"