The Lagoon Lounge (9 photos)

Well, I figured I should post these before visiting the Mai Kai tonight. I may be ashamed tomorrow.

This is a work still in progress, there have been a few more plants added to the walkway. The goal was to block off all view of anything but greenery as you approach the screened door into the Lagoon.

This is a Florida Palm Tiki we rescued from underneath a buddy's house. He's happy here. We've got a low voltage spot highlighting him.

To your right as you walk in is the set up for tonight's rum tasting. Cruzan Single Barrel won this one. Everyone drinks from the same wooden cup.

The bar is 4 cypress slabs screwed and glued to a piece of 3/4" pt plywood with jigsawed edges that match the slabs' meandering sides.
We then fastened the entire piece to the 4x4 post foundation. Very sturdy. We are going to cover the 4x4s with large diameter bamboo similar to the foot-rails at Traderpup's Spectacular East Indies Room. Unless one of you has a better idea of how to cover the 4x4s. We'll take any ideas for improving the scene here.

The liquor cabinet fit into a bathroom window fitting. Backlighting...oooooh.
Cheesy until it's filled with stuff. Which it now is.

The only way to deal with the heat and stay outside. It stays cool all year round from the trees and screen.

another view...

From behind the bar looking up towards "High Tiki" (The Amber Love Goddess's domain to decorate elegantly in French Polynesian - and nearly complete as well)
The mask on the left is from Bali.

The Point: Pretend like you're somewhere else and the cares of day wash away with the Hawai'ian music playing softly in the background. Good conversation - lot's of laughs - terrific drinks with fresh juices and top shelf liquors, usually made from the recipes in 50 year old drink manuals. Now if I can just get the squirrels to stop munching my ginger shoots and hibiscus leaves.

[ Edited by: pablus on 2003-10-02 09:55 ]

No covering please, It's witco-look time!

Great job!
A little native binding/lashing rope wound around the top and bottoms of the 4x4s (about 5 inches wide each) would really help them out. And maybe some thatching hanging down from the top? Once again, a really great pad.

You could create some stencils and paint a tapa cloth pattern on it.

[ Edited by: susane on 2004-01-20 06:43 ]

Your bar is looking good. I like the cypress bar top and it's always a nice touch to have a swimming pool in your tiki room.
How was the Mai-Kai?
KG

Wonderful bar pablus! I'm envious :)

When I get started on ours, after the wedding and basement suite has been built...
we're building an addition to house the tiki room and bar(not yet named). It will essentially be a greenhouse, with a hot tub. I see the key to a building with see-through walls is lots of lush foliage!

Poured the foundation for it in July, so things are progressing!

Thank you everyone for the great inspiration!

Very cool! I really like the cedar slabs for the table surface. It reminds me of the large (and irreplaceable) koa slabs used for the dining tables at Islands Restaurant at the Hanalei hotel in San Diego.

You could just use the binding suggestion to fix up your 4x4 table legs, I did that in the Spectacular East Indies Room with rope and braided binding. The 4" bamboo I used for foot rails is pretty substantial stuff, and could easily be used instead of the 4x4s, but fastening gets a little more tricky.

Looking good! Keep it up!

On 2003-10-02 09:14, pablus wrote:

The Point: Pretend like you're somewhere else and the cares of day wash away with the Hawai'ian music playing softly in the background. Good conversation - lot's of laughs - terrific drinks with fresh juices and top shelf liquors, usually made from the recipes in 50 year old drink manuals.

Well said, that's what it's all about! :)

The Surfites

[ Edited by: Klas on 2003-10-02 19:01 ]

Nice pad....Love the layout of your space. Now...the Mai Kai will destroy you. A wealthy man may die from sheer excess if he lived too close. It is absolutely a masterpiece.

C'est magnifique! Une plus belle bar!

That first pic had me drooling!

Thanks everyone.
I'm unsure of the witco look.
Could you point me to a site that explains it?

The bindings are a great idea and I'm going to incorporate that and the stencil design idea onto the upright posts.

I'm thinking about covering the horizontal 4x4s with de-noded and long-cut bamboo halves screwed into place and then foam added inside to keep it steady, thus sturdy. Let me put it this way. I'm a massive mountain of a man and I have buddies named Big Dave and Big Mark. So support is a must. This thing will take a bomb hit as it is.

After the Mai Kai - I have more resolve than ever to press on with more decorations and some other lighting ideas. Plus I'm supposed to take a trip to the Philippines and Tahiti sometime after the first of the year which will supply a lot of legit stuff.

The lahala matting is another thing I want to treat the open beamed ceilings with.

Also - across the top - I've started putting reed fencing (ala Trader Vics, Chicago) with dark bamboo trim.

I have a source for 60 year old palm trunks for very cheap and we're working on a couple of new tikis as well.
When I say "we" I mean: I mix the drinks and the other guys carve.

pablus, first I love your bar top!! nice finish on the wood!! next, I love the many many plants! I like tropical plants in a tiki bar!! I personally think you should at least one tropical plant in your bar!! I love the big green leaf plants!

beautiful yard!