Suggestions for our tiki bar top?

Numatiki has an old bar that he bought when he was about 18 years old. It has gotten a little banged up over the years and didn't seem stylistically appropriate in his home bar, so he asked me to tiki-fy it.

Before:

After:

We refaced the front and sides of the bar with various materials including some carvings by the mid-west's own, Lake Tiki!

Now, we're trying to decide what to do with the bar top and edge. The plan is to remove the existing red tile and make the top a solid rectangular shape (eliminate the recessed area). We may refurbish the padded arm rest or eliminate it altogether. I'm leaning toward the idea of making a glass mosaic top with classic tiki images on it, but we'd love to hear any suggestions you creative folks might have or please post photos of what you have done with your own bar tops.

Existing top:

Suggestions, please?

WOW!! I love what you did to it. What a work of art. Seriously. Nice.

Great rework of that bar! I personally enjoy padded bar tops (you don;t see them anymore), and I think the red tiles would fit in any decor. I say it's done as is.

I'd agree with TikiMango, Leave the tile top, Easy clean-up and has nice vintage look.

Looks great! Totally agree with the tile, leave as is. We have a tile top on our bar here at BambooLodge and love it. Easy clean up, and easy to maintain.
Great Job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is awsome, Im very Jealous... :o I too would leave the top as it is, you dont want to spoil the padding aroud the edge...:drink:

Yep...and the tiles have a nice exotic, tapa-like look to them.

..i suggest you invite us all over for a drink and we can stand around the bar discussing what to do about the top of it. :).....it's easier to come up with solutions when the problem is right in front of us.....rum helps too!!

Thanks for all of your kind replies. The general consensus seems to be "leave the tile top as is" and we probably will, at least for now.

Tipsy, come on over to Numatiki's bar. He lives in the 'burbs so it's a bit of a trek but he'll set you up with some mai tais and you can help us brainstorm.

Is that bamboo or PVC made to look like bamboo? We just put a bamboo footrest in our bar...

that bar rules, wow, nice work!

Swanky,

The footrest is real guadua bamboo which is very strong. I wanted to use the black bamboo that was used on the rest of the bar, but it just isn't strong enough to support any weight.

Hi Albino, you could torch the footrest to darken it. I did that with the tall vertical poles on this wall and it worked pretty well.

You could test it out on a scrap piece to see if you like it.

Thanks, Mr. Pupu, that's a good idea! I've been watching your progress on Hula Sue's and your work is very inspirational!

Beautiful work and craftsmanship!

Thanks so much for letting me be a part of it!

I now remember the patterns you brought with you last Spring when you were picking out pieces.

Very cool to see it all together!

See you at the Chef New Year party!