Trader Bobs 'Beachbum Burts Tiki Lounge'

Just thought I would post some pics of my Bar and Lounge Im building.
Im fairly new to the Tiki scene and this web site has helped me a great deal. I have been a fan of Kustom Kulture and Hot Rods and Old School bikes for decades I just love post war history and culture.
I have limited time so its a slow process for me, and Living in Australia getting my hands on stuff is a bit difficult.
I made everything myself And I have to thank Bamboo Ben, Mr Pu Pu Pants, Howland, Kon-Hemsby and Smugglers Cove for inspiration and ideas I love their style, in fact I love every ones style on here. I got my puffer lamp from Thailand, the Tikis, and velvet painting I got from trash and treasure markets. I made the Beachbum sign out of a couple of bits of scrap I had lying around. (what would we do without routers) The fish diarama light my daughter bought me for Xmas, It had that awful mirror frame, a couple bits of pine routered and stained and hey presto tiki frame!
I want my lounge to have a slight nautical theme to it, sorta like Smugglers Cove, I love that place, I hope I can make it there one day I'm naming my bar/lounge "Beachbum Burts" my family call me Burt.

Trader Bob

[ Edited by: Trader Bob 2010-01-18 15:50 ]

[ Edited by: Trader Bob 2010-01-18 16:26 ]

[ Edited by: Trader Bob 2010-01-19 00:35 ]

I know it all looks a bit light. I have a window I have to make some lauhala shutters for, I just have blinds over them at the moment. I want some sea grass matting for the floor, and I am going to use tea tree fencing and false beams for the roof. I have used a lot of wood trim in the room, thats cause it is hard to get my hands on Bamboo. I have some I got from a paddock, but its not the straightest poles, I will use what I can. Also Lauhala is non existant here and freight charges from OS stockists are a killer. I just scrounge what I can and will update along the way as materials come along.
Trader Bob

That's looking good TB. I know what it's like when it's hard to get materials. without Cheeky Tiki we'd be stuck in the UK. There's some nice stuff in there already, and it's bound to evolve and get more 'cuttered' as you go along. Personally I stained the Lauhala matting once it was on the walls and it gave it a darker more aged look, although that might just be personal taste. Keep up the good work and keep posting those photos.

Looks like a very nice start mate. I know what you mean about it being hard to get tiki stuffs in Australia too! Some of the Bali import places have some cool tropical wares though.

Hi Hewey
Yeah I got the bamboo board for the walls at a Bali place, there is only three places in Oz that have it.
E bay is the only other place to get stuff. How many other Aussie's are members on the forum?
Trader Bob

Hey Burt that look great! I really like the carved wood boarder around the wall, only problem I see is that those two KC Ku mugs are empty.. :wink:
nice job though.. I wish I had a room to dedicate to tiki like that.. someday..

Aloha

You can also search ebay for this cocktail glass for that personal touch.

Yeah Naugatiki
I bought one of those glasses at an antique store here in coolangatta that's who I named my bar after. I got the glass home as pleased as anything and broke it while I was cleaning the dust from the store of it. I'm still crying over that.
Trader Bob

Hi
Have not had much time to do much on the room lately. Work has been full on so it's been a little slow on the progress. I have finished the roof section over the bar itself, and made some shelves at the back, put a sink in (have to plumb water to and add a tap) I will post some more pictures tomorrow.
Trader Bob

I want to do a feature wall in this area. Where the black section is with the blue rope light I will paste a sea floor poster and then I am going to board it up like the inside of a hull of a ship with a section cut out so it looks like where the rocks have gone through the hull, and you are looking through it into the sea! the rope light will give it a nice blue glow.

I Love seeing this plan take shape. It is fun watching the ideas come along and the changes happen. It looks like you are really thinking this through and the results so far look Great and like I'd be happy with it in my home,, wanna trade??

Liking the ideas, they're coming thick n fast. Keep posting updates as you go.

Hey Trader Bob, (Who's name is Burt?)Define for us what a "Trash and Treasure" is, I can assume but I'd like your definition. Your place is coming along great!

Cool idea with the busted hull with visibe seafloor. Great work on the ceiling too. That bamboo doesn't look bad at all. It's actually got a cool look to it with the curvature. Were those the choice pieces in your bunch?

Cuss, fuss, and boogie all night long!

[ Edited by: kahalakruzer 2010-03-10 18:58 ]

Yeah the bamboo I got out of a friendly farmers paddock! You can't get bamboo poles here for love or money you have to use what you can get your hands on. That's the problem here in Australia, getting building materials for Tiki bars is very difficult. You have to make it or be prepared to scour garage sales and flea markets for months or years to find stuff. Oceanic Arts would be most welcome to open a warehouse down here, it would save me a lot of heartache. We can get Tapa on Ebay but its around $200-350 for an 8x4 sheet, OA I think has a similar size maybe a little smaller for $45 US. Ill get there eventually Its just going to take a little longer, but I'm having fun and loving every minute of it.
Hey Bananabob
Trash and Treasure markets are markets we have here in local parks on weekends run by community groups You take your junk, stuff you don't want any more, set up a stall and sell it. you know we/you may consider it trash, but to someone who may be looking for a specific item, that trash is treasure to him. So we call em Trash and treasure markets. Hope that explains it.
Now my name. Most of my extended family call me Burt, I like it and its a family thing. My friends and workmates call me Bob, I like Trader Vic, and the whole trader thing, so I called myself Trader Bob. After finding out about Burt Hixson and his 'Beachbum Burts' bar and his later Bar 'The Warehouse' I thought he is quite a character, and I liked his style. so I thought I should name my bar after him.
Trader Bob...

[ Edited by: Trader Bob 2010-03-10 23:05 ]

I like it, nice layout and clean set up. Are you going to leave it like this or will there be upgrades?

Hi Wayfarer
About a quarter of the way there. still loads of stuff to do. Have to do something about the white tiles on the floor! I want to put down some sea grass matting to cover it. I also have to cover the lounge area ceiling, still a bit unsure what Im going to do there, and have to trim around the top of the walls with carved timber and bamboo section off the walls with bamboo and masks. I have some small pieces of Tapa to make a couple of lamps, I have to make covers for the windows, It goes on and on. So I still have a lot of progress pictures to post in the future yet!
trader Bob

Finally got some shelves done. Put up a bit more reed paneling got the sink in (still have to plumb it though) Put up some Tapa fabric (wish it was the real thing) Scored another nice Sepic mask. And just bought a nice big piece of real Samoan Tapa of Ebay. Oh and I took Kon Hemsbeys advice and shellaced the bamboo panels on the walls to give it a nice old time patina. Its slow going but im getting there.
trader Bob

Wow that's coming on in leaps and bounds. Looking better every post you make.

Love it Trader Bob! Looking great!

All you fine folks with home bars/huts/rooms/hideaways have really made me want to get off my bum and get working.

Hi Bob, your place is looking terrific. Just beautiful.
It looks really well planned out and I'm looking forward to cheering you on as you go. :)
All the best,
John

[ Edited by: mr. pupu pants 2010-04-07 19:13 ]

Thanks
That really means a lot coming from you guys, Kon and Pupu both your bars are places I got inspiration from. If I can finish this bar and it has the same style and atmosphere as your places Ill be a happy Tikiphile! I wish I didn't live so far away, be nice to meet up and talk to you guys. I'm getting so much enjoyment out of this project, I'm so glad I found Tiki Central and decided to do it. We don't have Trader Vics or Don the beachcomber type establishments here so if you want the Tiki Bar experience you have to build your own. I love it when I invite friends over and they get a real kick out of seeing it and having a cocktail!
Hopefully Tiki culture will take off here and we can get a Trader Vics or Smugglers Cove of our own.
Trader Bob....

Looking good! And I know what you mean about getting materials in Australia. Everything is so homogeneous. All places carry the exact same and overpriced stuff that's just never really what you're looking for. Argh. As an American by birth, I get frustrated sometimes by the lack of choice :)

[ Edited by: tikisafari 2010-04-18 04:32 ]

Wow...for all the challenges you have getting materials, your place is looking great. Wonderful layout and the lighting is really adding atmosphere. Look forward to your continued progress.

Coming along great, nice use of lighting :D

nice work Bob/Burt
Love the bar centrepiece!! great red lighting
cheers
harro

Hi
Done a couple more things not much but still getting there. Bought an IKEA ball lamp and scored a string bag from the OP shop worked out great, have to get some glass stain so I can get some color into it! found a little wooden light with some crap paper material in it, ripped that out and glued some Tapa in and a nice little Tiki lamp is born cost $3.00 all up! Got the new shelf up, and started putting stuff on the walls. made a war club out of some scrap wood and managed a Kon Tiki face out of the same piece of wood. Scored some more Sepik masks and a couple of tribal necklaces, post some pictures of these tomorrow.
Trader Bob....

Making good progress. Like the use of the Ikea light and the tapa lamp. War club is looking good, as is the Lauhala matting on the walls. Very creative Kon Tiki mask. Good stuff!