The Moai Lounge (home bar)...As Seen on TV!

Ok, so I know that everybody's already said it, but I just have to.....HOLY CRAP!!!!! The bridge is way cool!!!!

Inspirational! Yet it raises the bar so high, it may cross over into bittersweet!
How can anyone possibly make a better home bar than that?!?!?!
Thank you for sharing it with us.

Granite: I've been lurking and planning and copping ideas for 8 months or so...then I spent 4 1/2 months of weekends & free time with my wife in my basement, in addition to buying more stuff online than a manic housewife with a gold card & DSL.
I owe many of the special elements of the Moai Lounge to fellow TCers that have been so (unwittingly) inspirational themselves...this site is absolutely overflowing with ideas, knowledge, inspiring photos & stories, and most of all, encouragement.
I was a bit too bashful to post progress pics along the way, like so many others have helpfully & shamelessly done (and I mean that in a good way), but now that my own dreams have been realized, I am ecstatic at the opportunity to use this forum to help others do the same.
And admittedly, my wife & I both have good jobs, no kids, and no fear when it comes to credit card debt.
Thanks for the love, but in all honesty, any home tiki bar that makes its owner/creator/guest happy, proud, mellow, peaceful or satisfied is the best tiki bar in the world!

Mahalo from my own little slice of paradise,
Scottiki

On 2005-08-16 21:30, Scottiki wrote:
Thanks for the love, but in all honesty, any home tiki bar that makes its owner/creator/guest happy, proud, mellow, peaceful or satisfied is the best tiki bar in the world!

Well, I dont have one. So for now, I will pretend I am in yours... :)

Hewey, if you make it to the DC area from down-under...you've got VIP pass, & I promise to mix you the best mai tai I can possibly muster up!
peace,
Scottiki

WOW...great job.

Really great to see the finished product Scott. Quit your day job and go into home bar design! You've got real talent brother!!

For those of you who haven't made a Seamus tiki a part of your tiki bar...do it! Seamus' moai are absolutely stunning, very reasonably priced, and my Moai Lounge wouldn't be complete without 'em!
Thanks, bro!

peace,
Scottiki

Scottiki, your bar just blows me away! California may be the tiki capitol, but this slab-on-grade construction out here really sucks. I'd love to have a basement like yours to convert to a tiki bar. The median home price in CA is over 600k right now and no one has extra space. Maybe I can set one up in the back yard one day. Anyway, thanks for all the excellent photos and inspiration!

A-A

Thanks for the kind words, Aaron.

Having a finished basement as a blank canvas was awesome...I didn't have to frame/drywall/etc., and I also have total control over the lighting in the space (major perk to a subterranean tiki bar!).

Growing up in San Diego, and living in the San Gabriel valley 7 years ago, I had no idea how lucky I was.

Tiki everywhere!

Drinks at Bahooka? Sure.

Lunch at Bali Hai? Why not?

Go a couple rounds at Tiki Ti? Bring it on.

Now y'all got Lucky Tiki? Damn.

Jealousy's a bitter pill to swallow.

See, for whatever reason (lack of hipness most likely), the DC area has NO TIKI! Trader Vic's bailed quite a few years ago...Politiki is pretty much a sports/Capitol Hill crowd bar, and Honolulu (the final keeper of the tiki flame...one I tragically never had the chance to visit) closed last year. So I (and other DC/MD/VA tikiphiles) have no choice but to build our own tiki havens...something I couldn't have done without the help of Tiki Central.

But for now, the Tiki Torch burns brightly in my basement (a figurative blaze...still too flammable for now :wink:, and in the living rooms, rec rooms and decks of others in the greater DC area...perhaps one day soon the investment will be made once more, and a proper, commercial and public Tiki Temple will rise again in our Nation's Capitol...until then, at least we've got the Moai Lounge, the Lounge of the Seven Pleasures, the Pi-Yi Grotto, and other home tiki bars!

Keep on tiki'n,
Scottiki

[ Edited by: Scottiki 2005-08-19 23:06 ]

What a great job, Moai are the greatest unsolved mystery and your bar is a great tribute!

Thanks, mo.

To think that I've never been south of the equator, let alone to Easter Island, and I'm captivated by the Moai, I can't imagine what it'll be like once I make the trek & see them in person.

For now, I've just gotta imagine, and enjoy sippin' a mai tai in my own little tribute to those mysterious & delightfully enigmatic sculptures.

peace,
Scottiki

I know you are probably sick of hearing this, but that is one awesome bar/lounge area! :wink:

Here is a photo from the Museum of Natural History in LA, from a trip my wife and I were on last week to the San Diego and LA areas:

Bali Hai, Tiki Ti, and moai all in one trip! SoCal is definitely a cool place.

Mad props again on the home bar, truly awesome!

What can be said that hasn't already been posted but....WOW!!! The entrance, the room, the bar, the lighting....the details are amazing!! Well done, you must be very proud of your new oasis!
(your friends are very lucky too!!!) :drink: :drink: :drink:

Scott congrats on the HGTV episode coming up about the "Moai Lounge". I sent you an e-mail about not being able to open the attachment you sent me for the release form on my tiki you have on your signature wall. I hope you are able to use it for the shoot. Please let me know if I need to send anything to you that will work.

Cool man. Looking good!

G.

Scott any word on this yet? Keep me informed.

G.

Holy fcking sht! How did I miss this? You win! I humbly bow in humility..You have officially trumped every other home bar I have ever seen, including my own from long ago: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=5084&forum=1&hilite=Kon%20Tiki%20Paradise%20Room I am a religious man despite the drinking, cursing, lusting, fornication, and drinking. I must ask forgiveness for coveting here. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's private island. :) Fantastic job!

bk it's not only the beautiful space, but the host and hostess are unsurpassed.

BK...thank you for the love. During my months of lurking and planning, the pics The Kon Tiki Paradise Room became my benchmark of home tiki bar greatness. The intimacy, the incredible carvings, and the dense, immersive look of your bar completely blew me away. I love my Moai Lounge, but those pics still fill me with envy...you've got some mad skilz, bro, and reading your kind words make me prouder than I was just a couple hours ago, watching a high-school buddy's jaw drop as he crossed the bamboo bridge into the lounge! The Moai Lounge was 4 1/2 months of wondering what in the hell we were doing, pissing-off the UPS guy with many, heavy packages, and starting something that'll never really be finished but has become a truly special place. Anytime you're within a conch shell's roar of the DC area, the red carpet will be unfurled! It'd be an honor to mix you a mai tai (or pull a pint o' belgian brew)!
Johnny$, it was a pleasure to have you, the missus, and most of the MD/DC/VA ohana in the lounge last week...it made it truly feel like home. We're planning a larger gathering sometime in June, that will probably be announced on the TC Events forum.
Tiki G...last we heard from the HGTV peeps, they're still planning on shooting the lounge for a new show called "Look What I Did!" about creative, do-it-yourselfers, but the shoot, initially scheduled for mid-November '05, has been pushed back to sometime between Feb. & May of this year. Rest assured when/if it finally happens, the puff of white smoke will rise from the chimney, the macaws will be released, and plenty o' emails will be sent!
And yes, since the original pics were posted, we've made some additions, and at some point I'll get around to posting updated pics...but I'm holding off until we get the river of lava under the bamboo bridge in place. Hopefully that'll be soon.
peace,
Scottiki

[ Edited by: Scottiki 2006-01-29 20:49 ]

On 2006-01-29 20:41, Scottiki wrote:
BK...thank you for the love. During my months of lurking and planning, the pics The Kon Tiki Paradise Room became my benchmark of home tiki bar greatness. The intimacy, the incredible carvings, and the dense, immersive look of your bar completely blew me away. I love my Moai Lounge, but those pics still fill me with envy...you've got some mad skilz, bro, and reading your kind words make me prouder than I was just a couple hours ago, watching a high-school buddy's jaw drop as he crossed the bamboo bridge into the lounge! The Moai Lounge was 4 1/2 months of wondering what in the hell we were doing, pissing-off the UPS guy with many, heavy packages, and starting something that'll never really be finished but has become a truly special place. Anytime you're within a conch shell's roar of the DC area, the red carpet will be unfurled! It'd be an honor to mix you a mai tai (or pull a pint o' belgian brew)!
Scottiki

[ Edited by: Scottiki 2006-01-29 20:49 ]

I'm in! The honor's all mine. Hearing that somebody was influenced by the KTPR makes my night! But your place is so well crafted and laid out...it's just great.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna 2006-01-29 21:41 ]

P.S. The ceiling is so important...just makes the tiki bar!

On 2006-01-29 21:44, Basement Kahuna wrote:
P.S. The ceiling is so important...just makes the tiki bar!

Tru Dat!
I once covered my dorm room ceiling with silver mylar...it made all the differerence!
The ceiling in the Moai Lounge was without question our biggest challenge. Initially, given the pre-existing drop ceiling, I figured it'd be easy...I couldn't have been wronger.
After abandoning the fiber-optic star ceilinge, due to cost & hassle, I found what I thought would be an easy, relatively inexpensive celing cover: bamboo blinds at Cost Plus/World Market.
First I tried hanging the blinds with floral wire: they drooped, it was a pain in the ass, and looked like crap.
Staples wouldn't stick to the acoustical ceiling tiles.
Neither would contact cement.
Liquid nails took too long to dry.
Then I remembered my "mirrored" ceiling in college...double-sided foam tape! My savior! For 3 weeks!
Ultimately, the foam tape helped hold the blinds in place while I used a contractor's hot glue gun to (finally) stick the blinds to the ceiling. Hot glue also holds up the bamboo trim/seagrass rope knots. We've also started sticking retro-looking postcards up there, just to add to the completely overwhelming experience!
Someday I look forward to adding a BK original to the lounge...as well as a Benzart...and hell, why not a Leroy?!?
peace,
Scottiki

All you have to do is let me know and I'll heat up the chisels!

Awesome basement, that is a paradise!

You'd think all those years spent in my parents basement I would have done something as beautiful as this! Oh no. I just had to discipline the monkey instead of being a creative cat like this.

I wanna be yer best friend. I promise I wont be clingy....but I really love you...honest. Uh. whats yer name?

I just wanna echo everybody else's comments. I think 'Holy Crap' covers it. I was look at fiberglass waterfalls online. Just wondering how you made yours. Can you post some more pics of it? thanks for posting!

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2006-02-01 03:24 ]

Bete...thanks for the kind words!
Dale...if you come a bit eastward, and closer to sea level, you're welcome anytime!
Pappy...wish I could take credit for building the waterfall, but after thinking about it, reading about it (Artificial Rock Waterfalls & Fountains), and tirelessly surfing the web, I found this one, and knew it was just right!

Believe it or not, it's one of those rare internet creatures that looks better in-person than online. I'll post some more pics though, real soon. I also added lights & a 5-disk fogger from Fountains & Slate for an even tiki-er effect.
Peace,
Scottiki

Scottiki and his Wahine hosted a night out back in January for the DC/MD/VA Tikiphiles group... It was a fantastic time indeed and I've got photos to prove it:
http://tinyurl.com/a2ko7

Cheers,
Rupe

The Moai Lounge really is tough to beat. The nicest folks and the absolute best host and hostess. Veritable heaven for a tikiphile.

Wow, I am very jealous. That is one of the best bars I have ever seen! And to have so many tikiphiles living near you, and you are not in California!

Scott & Jen, congratulations on having creating such an oasis in an area that is a desert for tiki. :tiki:
Your creativity and effort is beyond mere praise from us mortals.:D

Wow, can't believe I missed this thread for so long. To completely understate the collective amazement and joy, the two of you did great. Dominique will be thrilled to see the pics. Where did you put the timor stool, btw?

Scott you did a great job breaking down the explanation of the light projection. You made out like a bandit for a custom steel template. As an aside, they call 'em "gobos" over in the theater world. The cookie name is rather funny. Nice choice of lighting fixtures. Double kudos. Ever thought of doing a party gel, where you cut up 3 colors and tape them together into one gel cut? No hurry. I like the projection in white. Very bold at the bottom of the stairs.

Rock on! I so look forward to paying both of you a visit someday. Folks, not only are they killer decorators, but they are yet another fine example of the fab ohana that is TC. :drink:

Thanks for sharing the pics, Rupe!
We'll be having another big bash sometime in June...probably the 24th...so mark your calendars with something non-permanent.
Foamy is an incredibly talented artist, and we're lucky to have him in this tiki-desert!
I.D. of Tiki...thanks again for your hospitality last November! The Mai Kai & Oceania were phenomenal by themselves, but having you as a tour guide made 'em truly unforgettable experiences. After a ton of lugging it around the house, the East Timor stool ended up in our family room...we decided that it would be lost in the lounge, so now it's the sole tiki element in our cozy den!
Personally, I like the term Gobo, 'cuz she was a Fraggle, but in TV we usually call 'em cookies, short for cucoloris (a very basic light break-up pattern...the name was at some point bastardized & is now used to refer to any pattern).
Thanks again for the comps...it's still a work in progress, and one that we love to share with the extended ohana!
peace,
Scottiki

For your amusement, here's the latest addition to our basement escape!

The stairwell to the Moai Lounge featured these lame-o square poles:

So we knocked 'em out, and replaced 'em with decorative ship's rigging:

Ah, much better.

Still don't have the river of lava under the bamboo bridge, but in the meantime, I think I'm gonna play with the stairwell walls...maybe something along the lines of faux black lava rock.

peace,
Scottiki

The coolest home bar gets even cooler! I love the signature wall - I hadnt noticed that before, its a nice touch.

On 2006-03-02 22:07, hewey wrote:
The coolest home bar gets even cooler!

Indeed, Ah Much Better! Terrific!

Super work.

Real nice touch folks. A great way to tiki-fy the railing. Where'd ya come up with the blocks?

very cool scott ~

not to be a killjoy, but (since i deal with these issues all the time) by code you're supposed to not have a more than 4" gap at your stair rails - not that a building inspector is gonna infiltrate your house in a ninja suit :). but ye might consider... dunno... maybe another rope in between the rigging top gaps to reduce it a bit. feel free to ignore this free advice :D

When you get that lava flow thing all worked out, I want full specs and step by steps. Sounds VERY cool. Nice change to the stairs by the way!

On 2006-03-03 11:34, GatorRob wrote:
When you get that lava flow thing all worked out, I want full specs and step by steps.

Yeah, me too! Please?

I'll definitely post a step-by-step whenever I figure out what I'm doin'...I know what I want, it's just the age-old issue of transforming imagination into reality. Or something like that.
J$: BUZZKILL!!!
Actually, thanks for mentioning the code stuff...it brings up an interesting question: should I be concerned whether my home bar is up to code? Seriously...if for some godforsaken reason we ever sell the house, naturally I'd make sure everything's up to snuff, but while it's just the 2 of us (and the dogs), it seems like a moot point whether an inspector gives my place a seal of approval or not.
Thoughts?
But as long as it's illegal, I'll happily call the Moai Lounge a speakeasy!
peace,
Scottiki

On 2006-03-03 20:44, Scottiki wrote:
should I be concerned whether my home bar is up to code?

Your homeowners insurance may not cover you if the place burns down and they can prove that it was because of the Lounge. I aint no lawyer and I aint no insurance agent, however. Hey I'm twitchin and jerkin for next weekend.

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-03-03 21:18 ]

Excellent tiki bar ScotTiki. I Love the sign light and the stair ships rigging. I wouldn't worry about code too much, unless you smell smoke when using the blender. Then have an electrician friend check it and ask him about the code req's.
Have fun, Don't worry. Looks like t=you know how to throw a super party.

Waaaaaaaaaay Cooooooooool! And it's just up the road!

Thanks! You know.

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-03-12 00:25 ]

That is one amazing space! I have to say that has to be one of the top home bars I have ever seen. Amazing and wonderful work!

I missed this one too. I love to see peoples home spaces. You guys did a great job and all your hard work has paid off. The Moai Lounge appears to set a proper mood as seen by your happy guests.

CHEESE & CRACKERS!!!!!
I Love...all of it! It's all absolutely fabulous! Swanky!
That does it! I'm gonna go whole hog and do the rest of the house!!
Did you make the lil bridge? I'm hoping you got it from Benson's or somethin, cuz I want one too!!
Can the light signature go bigger? I wanted something like that to project onto the outside wall of the house above the pool bar. So like, real big. I got the thingy from Ikea for Christmas that projects snowflakes or random shapes through the cookie, but it gets fuzzy when I try to get it big. (wall is @ 2 stories high and 10 feet across).
I can't find my specs...is the lounge a Haywood Wakefield? Love it...so whereja get it?
Again...Just LOVE it ALL!!! Ever come to Cali, I'm at your service! Join us for some rum!