Tiki Nui

My brother, David told me about this awesome site in March of 2009 and immediately became a member. I have been a lurker taking in as many topics that I could. I started collecting tiki mugs when he showed some of his mugs and talked me into going to Sam's for a Tiki event. I immediately got hooked and after going to Bamboo Ben's event one night and buying some items for $1.00 each, I decided to remodel my Sports room (converted detached garage) into a Tiki Lounge.

I didn't have a plan and did one wall at a time and I did the ceiling last. As you veterans know, the bar will never be done. I will start off with pictures of the room when it was a Sports Memorabilia Game room, white walls and white ceiling and all.

Front door to room,(wall#1).

Oak bar in front of wall#1.

Curtains covering wall #1.

Wall #2,

Side door on wall #2 and partial view of wall #3.

Wall#3, my entire collection at the beginning of my remodel. I fully understand why Rev Bamboo Ben dislikes white walls and ceilings.

wall#3, boxes of goodies I started to collect for the room on top of my pool table.

wall#3, shelves that use to hold bubble heads with mugs I found at Goodwill.

Wall #4, another neon light that I had throughout the game room. Wall 4 was all white with the exception of the pool cue rack hanging on it.

I started my remodel with wall #2. Please forgive the clutter as the room is under construction at this point.

I wish I would have taken pictures as I completed each wall but I was so into the room, I often forgot to.

How did you get that bamboo to stay up on the ceiling? Is that the Japanese garden fence style bamboo that you can get at Home Depot? I've worked with it a lot in my backyard and it can be unruly.

Looks great! Nice work.

Isn't it amazing how covering up bright white walls makes such a difference? Great start. Have fun with it.

On 2010-03-15 06:38, The Granite Tiki wrote:
How did you get that bamboo to stay up on the ceiling? Is that the Japanese garden fence style bamboo that you can get at Home Depot? I've worked with it a lot in my backyard and it can be unruly.

Looks great! Nice work.

Yes, that is bamboo fencing from Home Depot. The ceiling was the most challenging part of the room and you certainly know how unruly it is.

The room is approximately 20'X20' and is divided by a large wooden beam across the ceiling. I cut 3 and a half sections of 10'X6'. With my wife supporting the fencing up against the ceiling with my swimming pool pole and long brush, I used my pneumatic staple gun at the wire connections on the bamboo. I did two sections in about half a day. What a pain in the back, literally. I took a week off before I came up with an idea to screw in long strips of thin wood into the ceiling. I put a strip of wood about 3' apart (2 in each section) across the 6' sections. What a brainstorm that turned out to be. It took me less than one hour for each section. I know there are plenty of experience craftsmen that could have done it much quicker but after my first experience dealing with bamboo fencing, I was happy with the time.

I also learned my lesson and only did two sections a day and saved the backaches. Thank you for your kind words and I will be posting updated pictures of the ceiling.

Great work. I also did my ceilings in my tiki room with the Home depot bamboo fencing. Very challenging. What did you use for the walls? I have not done that and I am looking into finding material like the one you used. Any suggestions? Thanks

Wall #1 was my next step. Again, please excuse the clutter as it is a work in progress.

I replaced those ugly white verticals with these bamboo curtains I found in craigslist. I bought an old bar at a garage sale and made my first Tiki bar.

I painted the white shelves ( have I mentioned I hate white?) and added more Tikes to my collection.

More pictures to follow of wall#3 and four.

On 2010-03-15 09:26, tikilands wrote:
Great work. I also did my ceilings in my tiki room with the Home depot bamboo fencing. Very challenging. What did you use for the walls? I have not done that and I am looking into finding material like the one you used. Any suggestions? Thanks

Thank you. For wall # 2 For the bottom section, I used matting I purchased for reasonably at Oceanic Arts. I used different kinds of Bamboo for the trim also purchased from O A. They are only ten minutes from my home. I don't know it that's a good thing. The staff there are awesome.

For the top section I used burlap that I bought online. Just google burlap and you will find it Cheap. On walls 1, (hidden below the bamboo curtain), walls 3 and 4 I also used seagrass wall paper. I found three new rolls at a garage sale while visiting my brother in Reno. I love garage sales and I go to them in each ever City I am traveling to. I used wallpaper glue for the seagrass, used glue (light coat) and staples for the burlap and staples for the matting.

Thanks for the info!

Wall#3

The Pool table is going but the Jukebox is here to stay. I have had it for twenty years and it plays CD's. The parrot, pictures and chairs I picked up at a yard sales. You can see part of the ceiling that I did a little differently that the other side. The glass float that I picked up out of Craigslist will go up somewhere in the room.

I made the Tiki Fountain from a concrete Tiki that I purchased on Craigslist. I drilled a hole down the middle and added a water pump from a water fountain I bought at a yard sale. The coco joe's style tikis I purchased from the Bali Hai gift store going out of business sale. The Lamp I got from Bamboo Ben.

I got the hanging lamp from a garage sale. I put in a green light bulb, wrapped some fish netting shortened the chains and hung it. You can partially see a bamboo cabinet I purchased at King Richards across from Oceanic Arts in Whittier. I offered half of the asking price and they accepted. All the masks you see in the room I got dirt cheap at a yard sale in Sunset Beach.

This is a full view of the cabinet housing some of my favorite Mugs from Tiki bars I have visited including: Drift in Scottsdale, Trader Vic's, Scottsdale,Oakland, Los Angeles, Forbidden Island, The Bali Hai, La Mariana, Tiki Bar and Grill and Tahiti Nui all in Hawaii.

You can see Doug Horn's carving to the right and below it is another Bar I made. On the bar is another lamp I purchased from Bamboo Ben.

Some shots of the ceiling:

I have done some finishing touches on some of my shelves and have done the exterior to the "White" refrigerator. I will post those pictures later. I am open to any/all suggestions you may have for my room.

Mahalo

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2010-03-15 12:22 ]

Not bad! Further evidence that ANY room can be Tikified with proper attention to detail.

Looks great, I used that Home Depot stuff for my walls.
Wish I would have thought of using burlap to cover the ceiling before putting up the fishnet...

Almost done. I have some finishing touches but that will continue til I'm in Tiki Heaven. Here's my latest pictures.

I refinished a couple of my exterior Tikis and put them inside the Tiki Nui. I don't know where I will house them but I think I want to put a light on them. Any suggestions?

I have earthquake proof most of my shelves but have a few more to finish.

My refrigerator is not white any more. I hate the color white now.

Close up of my Tiki Fountain.

My table has replaced the pool table. I still plan on putting in two pub tables.

My bottle opener and more Tikis.

I found these at a garage sale this past weekend. They are going to replace my white ceiling fans. Did I mention I hate white in the Tiki Nui? Didn't know what Bamboo Ben was talking about until I saw it in my room.

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2010-03-15 14:57 ]

I found a Bamboo Sofa for the Tiki Nui Lounge. I was looking through Craiglist yesterday and located a three band Bamboo pretzel sofa. I had been looking for a five but the price was right even though I had to go to San Diego (From Los Angeles) to pick it up. My wife went with me to make sure I didn't buy anything else from the thrift store.

As I loaded the sofa, my wife found a dated 1982 Kalp-son Rattan dinning table, four matching chairs and two leafs to expand the table. It will fit right into the Tiki Nui. I will show pictures of it when it goes in.

Here's the Sofa:



Top Picture: Condition of sofa at Thrift Store. Second picture,Bamboo is severely sun bleached. Last picture: Comparison of beached bamboo with bamboo I conditioned with Howard's beeswax/orange Food and Wax.

Picture showing damage to material covering springs.

Picture with burlap spring cover I installed.

Pictures of Sofa with Howard's treatment.

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2010-03-18 12:58 ]

TikiVato! I love your nickname! Soooooo cool! :)

awesome room! great progression and love the table with all the cards.

See what happens? You hang a Big Toe and the entire place transforms :) I'm jealous, sweet pad, you gotta open it to the public.

Congrats TikiVato! You've a fine collection!

Nice job...love what you did to the fridge...may give that a swirl in my lounge one day. Great transformation!!!

Now that's a transformation! Sports bar to tiki hideaway - great job so far! That couch is going to look killer in your lounge.

Thanks for the tip on the rattan refinishing - it really brought it back to life!

Wow! Great to see the transformation and all the work you've done.

Any shots with mood lighting?

Great work! Love the fridge!

I am working on the lighting but not sure what direction to go. Open to any suggestions. I've been looking for some pub tables but all were out of my price range for now. Yesterday I was in the back yard when I heard a voice whisper, "PSSS I can save you money" I turned and saw this guy pictured below.

I went to the thrift store that day and picked up this table which had a 30" diameter. Perfect size for what I wanted. I cut the legs and refurnished the top this morning.

I put my pal on the table and gave him a little make over.

I am still looking for some old tables to use on the bottom for more stability.

I put a Bamboo strip around the bottom of the table and this is one of my new pub tables. I still have to give it a few coats of polyurethane before it enters the Tiki Nui. I have his twin brother in my back yard begging to be sacrificed for the sake of the Tiki Nui. I picked these rascals up at a garage sale in Sunset beach last year. I actually picked up ten Tiki poles at the same sale.

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2010-03-26 18:01 ]

I put my first pub table in the Tiki Nui. It's not done but I had to see what it would look like. His twin brother will be in next week, hopefully. I am a rookie Tikiphile (two years) but I am motivated by all the kind words of encouragement from all you veteranos out there.

I found some lights at the thrift store today that I could use as highlights. The problem was they were white so I went to Oceanic Arts to find something I could use to cover them. I was thinking Bamboo.

I couldn't find Bamboo with the right size diameter so I walked around the shop. I found this tapa design material and took it home and tried it on the lights.

I put the first one on my Doug Horne tiki. Not sure where the others will go yet. I know, I know the white ceiling fan is going out.

Since I was in the mood, I decided to hang one of my industrial lights that I got at a yard sale last month. One WHITE ceiling fan out, one to go.

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2010-04-23 20:17 ]

Wow! Love what you did with those white lights and the tapa material! Simple and ingenious! Great idea for the table too!

Did you find a place for the Stockton Islander bamboo yet?

On 2010-04-23 22:18, tobunga wrote:
Wow! Love what you did with those white lights and the tapa material! Simple and ingenious! Great idea for the table too!

Did you find a place for the Stockton Islander bamboo yet?

Thanks for the kind words Eric. Means a lot coming from an artist such as yourself. I think I'm going to redo one of the panels to highlight that precious piece of bamboo you sent my way. I will post a pic when I do.

What time tomorrow is your drawing? I have a special place reserved in my room for it.

Last night I had a tiki vision while sleeping. To recess one panel and put my Doug Horne Tiki in it. First thing this morning, I moved the shelf to the panel next to it. Then I removed the paneling and drywall.



I found this wooden frame at the thrift and took the wire brush to it then lightly stained it.

I found the material at the Thrift store and used it for the background. I went to Oceanic Arts and bought some Tonga matting to replace the burlap on this panel. My wife and I got a special treat when we saw Leroy. He treated us to a few of his stories of yesteryear. We never get tired of hearing new stories from him.

Love the transformation.

For mood lighting, you can purchase small LED spotlights that work great for highlighting things and are easily hidden. They are commonly used in halloween decorations and are low wattage and voltage. Just a thought.

On 2010-05-01 07:03, littlegiles wrote:
Love the transformation.

For mood lighting, you can purchase small LED spotlights that work great for highlighting things and are easily hidden. They are commonly used in halloween decorations and are low wattage and voltage. Just a thought.

Thanks, I was trying to find something as you descried. I will look for them and post a picture when I light em up. Thanks for the help.

You really scored with that sofa. Love the print on the cushions. What is your favorite "song" on your jukebox that is sooooo RAD!

On 2010-05-01 09:08, RedPatti wrote:
You really scored with that sofa. Love the print on the cushions. What is your favorite "song" on your jukebox that is sooooo RAD!

Thank you Red. Favorite song: Over the rainbow by the late IZ.

Great room! Nice meeting you at Frankies. ZAZZ!

TikiVato,
I found some very cool LED lighting kits at Ikea, I mounted a set on one of my mug shelves
to provide mood lighting, I was really happy with how they came out, the lights are programmable
and shift color, they pretty much can be used for anything, just an idea?

On 2010-05-20 01:19, mrsmiley wrote:
Great room! Nice meeting you at Frankies. ZAZZ!

The pleasure was mine. Wish our group had more time to mingle with your nice group. That was our third consecutive night there and we were leaving first think the next morning.

On 2010-05-20 02:46, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
TikiVato,
I found some very cool LED lighting kits at Ikea, I mounted a set on one of my mug shelves
to provide mood lighting, I was really happy with how they came out, the lights are programmable
and shift color, they pretty much can be used for anything, just an idea?

I will check them out. I like what you did to your shelves. Nice collection. Mahalo for sharing.

I've wanted a rounded front bar since I started building my home bar. The vintage ones were out of my price range so I finally decided to build my own. I found a rounded front bar in Craigslist. It was perfect for what I wanted to do.

I cut the Tapa and draped it over the bar then applied two coats of varnish. (Two days to allow for drying time.

Today I cut black bamboo and hung the centerpiece which I purchased from Oceanic Arts. I added the lights under the bar counter top. Tomorrow I will move the bar into the Tiki Nui. I am going to redo the counter top as soon as I decide which direction to go with that.

The bar really turned out nicely. Great work.

The bar turned out sweet!

I bought this Ethan Allen hutch from a thrift store the same day I bought the new bar.

I added a few touches to it to make it match the bar.

Bar and Hutch in the Tiki Nui.

Tiki Vato,

Really nice work on the recycled bar and hutch. What did you do with the top of the bar?

DC

I found this old cabinet at a local vintage shop. It was in rough shape.

I used some sea grass, bamboo, bamboo handles and home depot lights to spruce it up. I needed the cabinet to display some mugs I got at Tiki Oasis. Last week I traded with Fez Monkey for that Tiki Bob. I ended up moving things around on that wall.

Hiltiki,
Here's a picture of the lighting you asked about. I hope this helps.

:)

Last month my wife asked me to expand my Tiki Nui Lounge into "HER" Patio. I jumped at the opportunity before she changed her mind. Here are some before pictures:

First on the agenda was to paint the trim, cover up the White ceiling, the skylight and do something with the lights.

I also wanted to tear down the white picket fence and replace it with a long tiled bar. I will replace all the planted fence covering with bamboo and built a little tiki shack to protect the bartenders when crafting cocktails outdoors.

I tore down the fence, painted the trim on the patio and started to add to the ceiling from materials I bought at Oceanic Arts. I love the crew that works there. Always willing to offer advice when asked.

I finished the ceiling for now then framed the long bar.

Later I will add the pictures of the tiled bar, the bamboo fencing and the shack.

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2011-07-21 20:24 ]

I completed the tiled bar, put up the reed fencing, added a lighted ceiling fan to the ceiling.

In less than a days work, my wife and I put the shack together from materials I purchased from Oceanic Arts.

My wife still needs to decorate the wall but the tiki shack is structurally completed.

Isn't it great to have your own Tiki place to hang after a hard days work.
Nice TikiVato, keep up the great work.

You are a master of re-purposing furniture - I'm in awe.

I just discovered your bar today. What an awesome transformation! Love your curved bar. Did you make the tapa for it? It's perfect.