Advice for a home bar?

Aloha!

I just signed up and am excited to be a member of the Tiki Central community.

If all goes well, by early spring, a longtime dream will finally come true: For six years I have entertained visions of a home tiki bar with a Las Vegas theme. Now, after two marriages, a couple houses and several jobs, I'm ready to create the Block 16 Lounge (which will be a full-fledged tiki bar with nothing but old-school Vegas decor to complement all the bamboo and thatched grass, hence the name, which alludes to in the area of Las Vegas where the saloons, casinos and brothels were originally located in 1905).

I have spent months collecting hours and hours of exotica and lounge music and have been collecting vintage Vegas memorabilia for years. I've set up a poker table and craps table, and I'm polishing up on my bartending skills as well.

If any of you have been to Hala Kahiki in River Grove, Ill. (the best tiki bar out there), imagine Dean Martin sipping martinis in the lounge area and listening to everyone from Peggy Lee to Yma Sumac...except that it's my basement...and Dean's hitting 21 in the Big Casino...but nevermind all that.

I've got a full, partially finished basement and have begun the initial preparations (cleaning, installing the pipes for a wet bar, etc.), but I'm looking for advice on style, decor, proper home bar etiquette, whatever. I figured that if anyone can help, it's you guys and girls.

Mahalo!

Hi B 16 L!
Sounds like it will be a GREAT place - good luck!
Check out the Creating Tiki Forum; there are scads of examples of people's creativity, ideas, mistakes, etc.

You would have loved Ocean's Eleven in Austin, TX. The owner, Dino Lee (aka Mr. Fabulous) had a Vegas/Tiki thing too. Pure class....as we tiki folk define it.

Can't go wrong with the Hala Kahiki (except there are those here who claim that their Mai Tai's are inferior to Chef Shangri-La's :wink: ). But you can't top the decor or atmosphere.

Buena suerte!
F

Aloha!

Just two things! Velvet Elvis and popcorn ceiling. The ceiling HAS to sparkly!

You might be able get away with "era'd" walls. Frank and Elvis from the 50's on one wall, Frank & Elvis from the 70's on another. I am sure there was leopard print at some point in the Vegas tiki culture.

There happens to be a dinner table and chairs set made of wood that has a mix of red and purple and leopard print upholstered chairs here at the local Salvation Army. But, that is neither here nor there.

Hopefully you can find some Vegas or Nevada tiki mugs.

Signature? I ain't signin nothin!

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2007-01-10 14:18 ]

Home Tiki Bar Rightway/Wrongway

Well, first there is NONE. Its up to YOU to find your own Tiki bar style
just surfing the past posts here @ Tiki Central should provide some inspiration

BUT, imo if you plan to do a certain theme (Vegas Tiki) stick to that theme 100%.
Placing say three things in your bar area that FIT the theme is always better than

just stuffing in things to fill up the room. Good luck!

Thortiki

PS Just because something is Tiki doesn't mean it fits YOUR theme!!!

Puffer fish pendant lights over the bar. I can make you a deal. Click here

Booze and chicks and oh yea, Tiki mugs! Any questions? (Dean and Frank and Joey and Sammy would be proud)
Throw in a velvet Elvis or a velvet wahine and you're golden, ask Bamboo ben to contribute and you've gone pro!

Visit my Online Art Gallery at
[URL]http://www.jonmooers.com[/URL}
Just moved back to Amesbury, Ma

[ Edited by: jpmartdog 2007-01-10 19:31 ]

you are gonna need a 12 ft out rigger canoe.

Welcome to TC....I am pretty new myself and also in the process of creating my own lounge. Like everyone has said so far, check out the posts of other's home projects. You can use the search feature on this site and the key words and you will find lots of information and get some great ideas.

I am really liking the gold lame'. http://www.incrediblegifts.com/elpreslifsiz1.html?gclid=COeojLrF14kCFRznYAodPkqg0g

Elvis has left the tiki bar!!!

you can never go wrong adding a doug horne piece or two. http://www.swampfirelounge.com

sorry for the typo

[ Edited by: dibroc 2007-01-11 05:41 ]

Correct lighting is key to setting the proper mood in a home bar. Check out Humuhumu's definitive post on the topic.

We converted our garage into a bar. When the house was built, the garage had fully finished and insulated walls which is not that common in some tracts. For years it was a junk drawer. So two summers we took everything out, painted the walls and ceiling turquiose and the floor grey. The furniture is mostly period correct and purchased in pristine condition from thrift stores. We found two period correct (all late 50's early 60's feel) at overstock.com. We installed easy to assemble cabinets from Lowes down one side of the garage for storage. Lighting is a mixture of from the period lamps found at thrift stores and REWIRED (that's important and easy to do) and IKEA. The bar is a great piece of furniture we found at an antiquue store. We call it the Telstar Lounge. If anyone is interested in more about this, please send me a message.

You definitely need this:

Available here:

http://www.neonsign.com/dealers/signform.html?section=eng_neonsigns&sign=welcometovegas

All excellent ideas. Thanks!

For the walls I'm thinking Lauhala matting from floor to ceiling with exposed paneling in between, about every 4 feet or so.

For the lighting, it'll be trickier because I've only got five fixtures - all of which are wired for flourescent tubes (talk about anti-tiki), so I'm hoping for some specific advice on that. Can I swithc out tungsten tubes for the flourescents? Can I buy colored light covers? I also like the puffer fish light suggestion, but I may hang them along the bar.

As for the floors, I have no idea. I'm working with a tight budget, and wall-to-wall carpeting and even cork tiles are out of my range. Does anyone think that a couple throw rugs might work? Any other ideas?

The ceiling is simply a drop ceiling painted white. Don't know if I should mess with that or not.

I bought the house a few months back, and one of the best finds I dug up in a dusty corner of the basement was a nude oil painting on black velvet. So that's taken care of. If I could just figure out a name for her...

You might leave the flourescents (they are inset in the drop ceiling I assume.) and just cover the whole mess with burlap or some other cheap easy material. Then, at 3AM you can turn on the ugly lights and drive people out, or, just see well to clean. And then put in some regualr can lights around the perimeter, maybe planning to have things on the wall highlighted. Put them on a dimmer for sure. This will help. You want light aimed down, not up. It helps control it better.

Hit the thrift stores for baskets and other woven things like vegetable steamers, that you can use to make your own hanging lamps. With a bit of scrap tapa and burlap, etc, you can easily make these cheap materials into very authentic looking lighting. If you have bamboo around, you can also cut it into strips so that it is bendable and make things from that.

It's always about using cheap things creatively.

Pics. Please ... How long is the bar going to be... long bar more people more people better party !!!!!

This thread about home bars is gret. I need to get pictures of the Telstar Lounge in my garage on here. Did I mention I do a zine called Swizzle?

Block 16... check your Personal Messages...

Swanky,
Thanks for the input. I'm trying to find gels (like they use in photography and theaters) to cover the flourescents. Then I'll probably add some atmosphere with burlap or something like it. I definitely will add some more lights - I like the idea of hanging them near the ceiling and being directed toward the ground. I'm envisioning lots of greenery and tikis scattered along the perimeter of the room, which would be great with a variety of spotlights on them.

TikiLaLe,
The bar will be L-shaped: 8 feet long with a shorter 4-foot section that runs around a corner of the room. Once I begin taking some "before" photos, I'll add them. Let's hope the "after" photos will be in shortly after that ... I'm hoping by spring.

By the way, I think I've decided on shag carpeting for the flooring. Do I go deep black or fire red?

Can someone direct me to a wholesale provider of bamboo to be used as moulding/framing for a bar and for the walls and ceiling?

On 2007-01-23 11:03, Block 16 Lounge wrote:
Can someone direct me to a wholesale provider of bamboo to be used as moulding/framing for a bar and for the walls and ceiling?

Check these places out, Block 16 Lounge:

Oceanic Arts in Whittier is a real go-to place for this kind of stuff. They have a long history that includes projects for Disney - hopefully, they'll expand their website soon and include some of those stories. Fascinating stuff! It's at:

http://www.oceanicarts.net/

Bensons' Import in Huntington Beach may be a more affordable option. They've got tons of stuff, and a nice, functional website with plenty of examples of what they carry. Check it out at:

http://www.bensonsimport.com/index.html

Hope this helps!

did you say 'drop' cielings? i know a buddy of mine that had the same he took the whole thing out and added hanging pot lights! would you be able to do the same? it would give you a look of depth and make your scene look alot more open! with the collecting i found my self in the same rut my way out was this: take what you like express that through the whole room but be picky theres lots of tiki and theres lots of vegas i like to find the WOW items and showcase them throughouit the room ie; elvis bust sitting next to a fifties tulip lamp on top of a bamboo table put beside your retro lounge just for example. the next is the oddball tiki,or vegas items that dont go with the theme of your room find an era appropriate cabinet and build a still life collage like you see in those really really hard to do schmidt puzzles its like a mini museum, people think its really cool too ! well thats enough from me have fun and id like to see pics of your progress

You're right, brokeassbuilder, about sticking to a theme and not getting carried away. I absolutely do not want my basement to be cheesy or kitschy. There's a fine line between being campy and classy - and I'm opting for class (especially because of the whole Vegas theme).

It will be difficult, though, because I've been collecting vintage Vegas stuff for almost 10 years now. Everything from postcards and menus to limited-edition liquor bottles and, of course, chips. And the're almost entirely from the original hotels and casinos (most of which have been imploded), so it's hard to fight the temptation to put EVERYTHING out.

As for the ceiling. My wife put a stop to my plan to tear down the drop ceiling. It would've been a lot of work, anyway, and I can't take on any more right now. So I've used amber/brown gels that they use in photography, and I've attached those to the acrylic light panels to cut down on the amount of light as well as the harshness from the flourescents. Then I painted some moulding a dark brown (to fit in with the tiki theme) and finished off the lights with that. It's a nice contrast to the white ceiling, but it's not too much to draw unnecessary attention to it.

This weekend I'll begin building the bar. Never done it before. No experience. I don't even think I've got help. So we'll see what happens. Anyway, I've taken photos of the basement in its current state. I'll post those soon, and I plan to upload new ones every time I make some progress.

Does anyone else want to add anything about their own home tiki bars?

Well, there's certainly a lot you can do. A whole room is always fun to decorate. I'd second the comments of everyone that says just to do your own thing. Take your time with it, plan it out, and have fun. A good plan is very important. Plan out the type of stuff you want to display, and where you'll put it, that type of thing. That can go a long way to keep a place from feeling cluttered.

I try to keep my tiki lounge from feeling cluttered by using more of the wall space. I've been putting up the Ikea Molger bathroom shelves all over, putting them in between paintings, that type of stuff. It gets display cabinets off the ground so you have more space for chairs, or whatever.
I'm especially fond of these shelves because they're cheap ($5), look good (nice dark brown wood) and they're small enough that you can fit them on almost any wall.
Even one that's already got a bunch of stuff on it.

Sounds like you've got the lighting issues worked out pretty well. Using photo gels over the fluorescents is a great idea.
For other suggestions, definitely poke around the creating tiki thread. There's tons of good info in there. I actually got the idea for the Ikea shelves from someone on this board, and I just liked 'em so much I kept going with it. If you're interested in making a lot of your own stuff, chances are someone here has tried it before. It's a little intimidating at first because there's so much information, so I'd recommend using the search tool. It can narrow down all the stuff you have to look at and point you in the direction of threads on making puffer lamps, float lamps, whatever you're after.

Oceanic Arts is a must see at some point, no matter where you are in the States. When I walked in there for the first time, I thought I was hallucinating. :) It's a pretty amazing place.

Post some pictures soon!

Thanks, TikiJosh. Week #1 is complete. I've made some pretty good progress on the bar itself - with the help of my brother-in-law - and now I'll begin placing orders for the lauhala matting and bamboo.

I will post pictures of the project "Before" and "Week 1" later today. Anyone is invited to comment about the progress or design. After all, I'm gonna need some help as this project moves ahead.

hey guys.. some great tips in this thread.. if any of you are on myspace check out my home tiki bar at http://www.myspace.com/tikitrav
it was quite a feat to construct it all free-standing as we are renting and not allowed to attach anything to the walls etc.. It got it's first real test on new years eve and it totally rocked.. the bar itself and the bamboo (plenty of it) came from kings cross hotel in sydney which was being refurbed and is a pretty old item.. 70's?.. the big tikis on the fridges i made at work and are big digital prints on selfadhesive vinyl and the big palm photo i took in fiji and printed onto canvas.. anyways..
Cheers..

Good going MATE...

I don't suggest using the flourescent lights, just keep ing them and covering them up a bit. There is little way to make that kind of light work for the tiki bar, but it does come in handy to have some bright light to clean up by, etc. You can put burlap over them and hide them.

When you put lights in there, think about directional light. A table lamp sends light in every direction, and a lot up and down. Will it bounce off a white ceiling and make it even brighter? Likely, you have to put very low wattage in a table lamp to keep it "right." It's best to keep all light concentrated up and down and if you have light ceilings, then just down. Go for a cumulative effect of lots of dimmer lights.

A good tiki bar is pretty dark when you step in and your eyes will adjust a bit to let you see the mysteries within.

Hardware stores sell in line dimmers you can add to
Any 120 volt light.
easy to install.
I put these on my picture lights
as they are always too brite.

I use alot of amber bulbs as well.

I like the idea of low-wattage bulbs and directional light. I'm also thinking of placing some sort of low lights against the walls on the floor to highlight the tikis, plants, etc., that will be placed along the perimeter of the room. The only thing is that they will be angled upward, so maybe that won't be a good idea, wince it will also highlight the ceiling along the perimeter of the room as well.

As for dimmers, I love the idea, but - again - since I'm working with flourescents, I don't know how workable that is. Can I do it myself?

On 2007-01-31 15:15, Tiki Trav wrote:
hey guys.. some great tips in this thread.. if any of you are on myspace check out my home tiki bar at http://www.myspace.com/tikitrav
it was quite a feat to construct it all free-standing as we are renting and not allowed to attach anything to the walls etc.. It got it's first real test on new years eve and it totally rocked.. the bar itself and the bamboo (plenty of it) came from kings cross hotel in sydney which was being refurbed and is a pretty old item.. 70's?.. the big tikis on the fridges i made at work and are big digital prints on selfadhesive vinyl and the big palm photo i took in fiji and printed onto canvas.. anyways..
Cheers..

Your place looks great.

One question -- how did you get the bamboo paneling to stay up, if you can't attach it to the wall behind it? I'm planning out the tikification of my apartment's balcony at the moment. The walls of the building are bright yellow stucco, which is both ugly and near-impossible to get nails into, so I'm thinking of just covering it up with paneling. That would both cover up the ugliness and give me a surface for hanging things from. I'm not prohibited from nailing into the walls like you are, but again, stucco is a pain, and a freestanding panel would be easier to break down during the rainy season or if/when I move. Suggestions?

On 2007-02-02 10:09, DrMiguelito wrote:

On 2007-01-31 15:15, Tiki Trav wrote:
hey guys.. some great tips in this thread.. if any of you are on myspace check out my home tiki bar at http://www.myspace.com/tikitrav
it was quite a feat to construct it all free-standing as we are renting and not allowed to attach anything to the walls etc.. It got it's first real test on new years eve and it totally rocked.. the bar itself and the bamboo (plenty of it) came from kings cross hotel in sydney which was being refurbed and is a pretty old item.. 70's?.. the big tikis on the fridges i made at work and are big digital prints on selfadhesive vinyl and the big palm photo i took in fiji and printed onto canvas.. anyways..
Cheers..

Your place looks great.

One question -- how did you get the bamboo paneling to stay up, if you can't attach it to the wall behind it? I'm planning out the tikification of my apartment's balcony at the moment. The walls of the building are bright yellow stucco, which is both ugly and near-impossible to get nails into, so I'm thinking of just covering it up with paneling. That would both cover up the ugliness and give me a surface for hanging things from. I'm not prohibited from nailing into the walls like you are, but again, stucco is a pain, and a freestanding panel would be easier to break down during the rainy season or if/when I move. Suggestions?

basically we were lucky to have the brick columns, we simply cut some wood to fit between the columns but cut slightly over-size so we could force it in without need for fixings etc then just screwed the bamboo to that.. this probably won't help in your situation but maybe a similar method would work, like building a frame with the bamboo etc attached then screw it on with one screw in each corner..only 4 holes in your wall...

Clever. Very clever.

Aloha everyone.

I've been working diligently in my basement for two weeks now, and I figured I'd let you in on the progress of the bar. I've worked out the flourescent lighting issues, I've painted the support posts (around which I plan to wrap tropical leaves and flowers), and the bar is about 75% complete. Here it is:

Before...

Progress After Week 1:

is that treated wood? if it is ,why?(you only need it where the wood meets the concrete.) and are you useing galvanzed fasteners? if not they will fail.

The wood is in fact treated. I figured it couldn't hurt, and since it's in the basement, the quantity of moisture in the room will probably vary more than it would in the rest of the house. Since the wood will be around (and exposed to) water, spills, etc., I thought I'd take that extra step. I do plan to stain it and put a coat of polyurethane on it, but I wasn't sure if that would be enough. Are there any major reasons I shouldn't have used it?

As for the fasteners, I honesyly don't remember what they are, but I don't think they're galvanized. Why would they fail? Besides, I used them simply to keep the studs plumb. I've worked on the rest of the bar (attached the side panels and inside shelves), and the studs have been attached to all the panels using 1 5/8" drywall screws. So basically the studs are fastened not only with the L-brackets but also with two screws in the base, four screws on the side panels, and I'll use a couple when I attach the bar top.

I've used a stain/polyurethane combo on the side panels (untreated 3/4" plywood ... because I couldn't find 3/4" treated). But I plan to stain the studs (I know that with the green color the stain won't turn out exactly as it would on untreated wood). Then I'll cover the entire bar (both treated studs and untreated plywood side panels) with a coat of polyurethane.

Any advice before I proceed further?

treated is fine , but if it IS the NEW stuff it will 'EAT' the fasteners if they are not made for(coated or double galvanized) the NEW treated wood. before you go any farther talk to your lumber suplier.

The hideous basement that becomes an awesome tiki bar will be fun to watch. My hideous garage became a space age bar.

Tiki David is absolutely correct about the fasteners in pressure treated wood. If you used the wrong kind you need to take them out and redo them. Here's a tip I was given by a friend who is a buyer for a local industrial supply store. Where you have those angle brackets against the pressure treated wood - take an old plastic milk carton and cut a piece of plastic the size of the bracket and put the plastic between the bracket and the wood. The chemicals in the wood will eat the bracket if it's in direct contact. I've never seen those brackets made of a material that should be in contact with the pressure treated wood. Then make sure you're using the correct fastener (screw). Go to a reputable store and you'll get the right advice. It's an issue in the business because of the lawsuits. There have been people injured because of decks collapsing when the fasteners were eaten away.

Holy Cow...I never knew the materials in buidling were so important. Interesting about the brackets not being next to the pressure treated wood. Needless to say, all this advice is certainly going to help Block build a great space. Good to know all the ciritical little things before you get too far along in the project. Great thread!!!

On 2007-02-09 09:19, Block 16 Lounge wrote:
The wood is in fact treated. ... Are there any major reasons I shouldn't have used it?

Looking at the photos you do have the 'new' treated wood. It is a good idea to switch your fasteners to galvenized. Or add a few more fasteners that are galvanized so when the other ones eventually fail.... One of the many chemicals in the treated wood is Copper Sulfide. If you remember back to Chem101 in school, when two differing metals are in contact they react electrically and chemically causing corrosion. Tha means rust to you and me. End result, the wood 'eats' fasteners unless they are the correct type.

And then, the same chemicals that treat the wood are highly toxic to people. The good news is that unless you are going to eat the lumber directly and in large quantities you won't get enough exposure to kill you. However, it is a really good idea to make sure there is a pretty good bit of something un-treated between the wood and any part of the bar that will come in contact with food or drink. The chemicals will leach out of the wood over time and if you are using treated lumber as your cutting board you will eventually grow a third eye or twelveth toe. And, unless you are living at that bar 24/7 you probably wont grow that third eye until you are into your 90's. At that age, however, explaining to medi-care the new growth of anything is a real hassle.

And then....

Looks great! Can't wait to see more. Take lots and lots of pictures and share. Is that a drain port I see in the floor at the end of the bar? Are you going to plumb the bar for a sink?

Chem 101....gheeeez I had forgotten all of that. So it really does take intelligence to shop at Home Depot. I am going to use all of this info for whenever my back-bar gets built. I don't want it to fall on my drunken head. :D

Wow. I spend a few days away from the thread, and here's what I return to?!? Chemicals!? Worse: MY BAR'S FALLEN AND IT CAN'T GET UP!!!

Actually, I'm glad I asked the question. I don't want any problems in the future (with a rusted out bar OR a third eye), so I guess it makes sense to get galvanized fasteners. It's a good thing that I'm doing this now. Pretty soon the bar will be up and ready for food and drinks. The area where I will be using for a cutting board I do plan to cover it with something (again, any suggestions???). Also, all the plywood is untreated. I've used a stain/polyurethane on it. When the whole thing is finished, I plan to do one final, thorough coat of polyurethane on the entire bar - top to bottom - to give it a good, thick coat.

I've made some progress. I actually have installed a sink, and it's just a matter of time before I get a plumber in to hook it up. I've also made room for a mini-fridge and a whole bunch of cabinets.

Take a look...

Sorry. A few too many Zombies tonight...

Anyway, here's the progress from Week #2:

Looking VERY good. It is a lot like the frame work I did for mine, and I'm attaching the bamboo trim, or coping now. How do you plan to attach it on yours? Also, are you going to put any kind of thatched roof on it?

Thanks for the thread!
TampaTiki

This is too funny. I'm doing a tiki patio and literally cleaned Bakersfield out of its fish netting and still have half of the project to go. The neighbors are scratching their heads. This will be fun.

Check out the Big Lots! store near you (if you have one) they have major tiki decoration supplies (perhaps a bit on the kitch side) for dirt cheap!

As far as the trim, I'm thinking about hanging some sort of matting (probably abaca cloth from Oceanic Arts) on the outer two-thirds of the front of the bar. On the inner one-third I'll frame some sort of Polynesian print. The whole bar will be framed in bamboo moulding. I understand, though, that it splits easily, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to either 1) buy pre-split bamboo that can simply be installed without much cutting or 2) buy whole bamboo and try to cut it in half. Not sure yet.

Do plan a bar top with a good 10-12 inch over hang and a foot rest of some sort. It is just far more comfortable to sit at a bar when you can rest your arms on it and have a place for your dangling feet.