Starting!

After much effort, toil, angst, deliberation and frenetic Craigslist-surfing...I managed to get the very first component towards my (eventual) Tiki habitat. I managed to buy a bar and (I think) a pretty bloody nice one at that. It has only a couple of tiny dings and chips, but nothing that even someone as manually unskilled as I can't set right. Those teeny flaws aside, it's practically new.

Below is the "overall view" of the beast.

It weighs a TON...that slab o'granite top does not help and, even worse, makes it ridiculously top heavy when all you have are one and a half men (me & oldest son) to schlep it from the wifely minivan to the back room via the obstacle course of a hypercluttered garage, tall steps and rugged lawn terrain. Even worse when the growunup in the equation is supposedly down w. the flu. But I am nothing if not committed. Or, better yet, perhaps this is proof I should be.

I'm slightly embarrassed to state in public how little I paid for this thing. I spotted it on CL and it was being sold by a storefront church which seems to have been using it (probably donated, I'm guessing) as a hallway table. All of the other semi-acceptable bars I had seen on CL for the last year -- did I mention I was patient? -- were running in the $150-$300 range and this was not only FAR nicer, but also FAR cheaper. When I got there I was pleasantly surprised to see it more "tikiable" than I expected, with rattan-like panels and a workable color. I didn't get a chance to look for the manufacturer, but it has a Tommy Bahama-ish kinda feel to it. (See next)

Above is a closeup of the ornamental detail. (See what I mean about the Tommy Bahama thing?) So the question is this: How could I tikify those column-ish/rosette things (they look like they will pry off cleanly and relatively easily)? I was thinking of a shallow-ish set of wooden plaques with something (anything!) more tiki-ish, and possibly replacing those grooved columny details with something bamboo-y.

And, of course, placing a proper tiki dead center.

Any suggestions?

-J.

P.S. For those who are interested in following the progress of my eventual tiki habitat, be warned...this will go GLACIALLY slow, as I have very little in the way of time and even littler in the way of DIY skills and even littler than that in $$ my beloved wife will allow me to spend on such a project. Even if the projected space is the size of a medium phone booth.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-09-23 10:04 ]

Nice bar. Sounds like you've got good plans for it.

On 2010-09-23 10:22, GROG wrote:
Nice bar. Sounds like you've got good plans for it.

I've got SPECTACULAR plans for it. Just haven't figured out what those might be...

wow what a deal for that bar, its wonderful.

here are some ideas if I may -tiki masks on the rattan areas , and I would keep that lovely woodwork flower design and just add bamboo trim on either side, sort of framing the rattan areas.

Wow...great find, it is very classy looking...I love it...gorgeous top. I was in pain moving it in the house with you...LOL. It does sound like you have good ideas, so take your time (like some of us-eons) to make your dream come true. Most importantly...get some booze and glasses and ice and celebrate your accomplishment so far!!!

One thing I was looking for is "faux bamboo" wood appliques for this sort of thing, that'd I'd stain to match. (Have I mentioned that staining and nailing something idiot proof are the pinnacle of my DIY aptitude?)

I have a room earmarked for Tikification. Towards that goal I look at that room daily and sigh. That's step one, the next step is getting the bar. And YES it weighed! It took a jury-rigged system of a broken dolly, a couple of disposable ol' comforters, perspiration and grunted profanity to move it in place.

The insides need to be made FAR more functional. It has a wine rack that takes up a brutal amount of space in the least efficient manner possible, for example. And those upside-down wineglass holder rack things (like dust doesn't settle on things upside down...).

Things in the dim distance of my plans for that room/bar are bamboo flooring to replace the formerly beige and now deeply speckled -- and not on purpose! -- beige W2W carpet, matting on the walls, an integrated sound system, a "window waterfall" I saw in a Sharper Image catalog epochs ago, suitable shelvery for my glassware* and Tiki mugs and SOMETHING to hold all of the glorious masterpieces of the distiller's art.

And a smallish fridge.

Yep. Eons.

-J.

• I must be one of the few rare loons who collects Tiki glasses.

I'd be in the camp that says, "Just center a tiki face on the bar", and move on to other elements of your room. There's no need to make this bar look like a bamboo bar. And if you're doing this project slowly over time, there other critical elements to be addressed... rum for one! Yes, buy a good bottle of rum and bar supplies, and start looking for some bar stools. These could be where bamboo (or rattan) come into the picture. Then... how about another bottle of rum?

(These are just suggestions, your drinking habits may differ.)

On 2010-09-26 14:46, Bongo Bungalow wrote:
I'd be in the camp that says, "Just center a tiki face on the bar", and move on to other elements of your room. There's no need to make this bar look like a bamboo bar. And if you're doing this project slowly over time, there other critical elements to be addressed... rum for one! Yes, buy a good bottle of rum and bar supplies, and start looking for some bar stools. These could be where bamboo (or rattan) come into the picture. Then... how about another bottle of rum?

(These are just suggestions, your drinking habits may differ.)

Y'mean...like this?

:)

Mahalo, etc.,

THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!

I agree... looks like a good start :)

...and that's just the rum! (The one in the decanter is Flor de Caña 12, BTW.)

Wait until I get in to post a picture of the syrups...

Mahalo, etc.

Dear Tiki Central,

You may have thought I was on an extended jag of slackery and sloth. But no. I have not.

There are people here who, when the muse strikes them to transform a given area of their dwelling into a native habitat for Homo Tikiensis immediately set to it with implements of demolition, followed by power tools wielded with much artistry, and in three weekends you have a branch office of Paradise in the back room/basement/terrace/etc.

I, as will become abundantly clear in subsequent entries, possess almost entirely none of the skills required to bring such a project to gorgeous fruition. Between what I have in my mind's eye and and what I have NOW is a vast expanse mostly traversed via credit card, and then only when my beloved looks upon me with benevolence and pity.

So, necessarily, my approach must differ from that of my betters.

Instead of hurling myself headlong into a project and gracefully dispatching unexpected obstacles with a breezy smile, I must plan, plan, plan and then plan some more. Even this is less than ideal, because I can't draw. So I have to pursue matters in an even more primitive way. Planning with crayon, if you will.

What I do is simply to scour Craigslist, thrift shops and garage sales and see what I find. Whenever I am feeling expansive, I even rummage through eBay. The purpose is to gather the necessary chattels of tikification so that when the happy day for launching my Tiki habitat approaches all I'll really have to do is cover the walls with __________, cover the ceiling with ___________, install _________ lighting and I'm good to go.

I know some people like that clutter-shack look, some people like that nautical/shipwreck look. I'm happy to go with a theme I call All The Tiki Things I Got Really Cheap Look. Your mileage may vary.

So, just to show you that I am still feverishly working the whole Gather Mode Thing, here are the acquisitions as of today.

I have a couple of small bits o' tiki-ish hand luggage.

I have no idea what I'll use them for, but they were free and tiki enough for me. Next to them is a medium-ish bit o' tiki luggage that I also have no idea what to use it for. I'm thinking these may hold all the odds and ends one needs to have handy in one's tiki habitat, but which would either look weird and out of place in the open OR would be stashed somewhere inconvenient.

Feel free to suggest.

I also got that smallish cabinet ($8) under the drinks-globe where I am storing all the non-tiki glassware;

because, after all, you may get the odd guest who would rather have a Negroni than a Navy Grog. I'm thinking some refinishing and judicious appliqués would do wonders for it. Propped up against it is a brass & cherrywood shelf. Doesn't look particularly Tiki (but a case could be made that it looks nautical-ish) but it was only $5. Ignore the TV dinner tray tables.

And finally, atop the bar a plumed tiki

and the tiki glassware.

I had never seen a plumed tiki, but for $1.50 I was willing to take a chance.

Now.

Here I must make a confession that just might send me from the list of Orthodox Tikiphiles to Reformed (if not Heretical) Tikiphiles. I prefer tiki glassware to tiki mugs.

There.

I said it.

That's not to say I don't like mugs (in fact, there are several I have in my sights and you can see I have Trader Vic's coconut mugs and Mai Kai rum barrels) but that I prefer the glassware. Because I am also something of a Disneyphile, I like the glasses from WDW's Polynesian Resort.

From left to right we have 1- current WDW Polynesian Resort Tiki glass (short, clear), 2- Hukilau 2008 DOF, 3- vintage-ish Trader Vic coconut mug, 4- recent-ish Mai Kai rum barrel, 5- plumed tiki I got for practically nothing, 6- mid70's WDW Polynesian Resort Tiki highball, 7- Hukilau 2009 DOF, 8- mid70's WDW Polynesian Resort Hurricane glass, and 9- vintage-ish WDW Polynesian Resort Tiki glass (tall, frosted & logo'ed). Not pictured: vintage-ish WDW Polynesian Resort Tiki glass (short, frosted & logo'ed).

Next time, I'll post pix of the "target room" that the collected wisdom of TC may be brought to bear on suggestions for it.

Great start... I dont think you should apologize for not liking the mugs. You like what you like... I agree with the person above, just put a couple of masks on the front of your bar and she's set to go. You can get them fairly cheep on ebay and even in lots if you want to get them in one swoop. I too am just starting my room/bar area so its always cool to see someone else who is a lot like me. I have few DIY skills but I am looking forward to changing that. Good luck and keep the pix coming!

Aloha!

On 2010-11-10 15:15, Suicide Tiki wrote:
Great start... I dont think you should apologize for not liking the mugs.

It was more of a confession than an apology! :wink:

You have to do what feels good for you...it is OK to be out-of-the-box, and it looks like you have chosen some very classy looking decorations...plus you got the rum!!! I love those luggage pieces and that globe...beautiful. I have my mugs on display but my drink ware is all glass. I have a good variety of glasses (hurricane, mojito, martini, margarita, clear glass tiki, etc.)...I like them cause I can throw them in the dishwasher and not worry, plus the drinks look beautiful in glass. Keep up the great work!!!

1- I'd LOVE to get some suitably tiki "luggage stickers" for the baggage.

2- Given that my decor philosophy for the tiki habitat is "What things in nice shape can I get REALLY cheap?" and given what's out there in general, I think this will eventually skew more in the tiki-nautical direction. Bamboo, rattan, but also dark woods and brass. We'll see.

(I'd love to include a periscope, but I think the zoning guys may object strenuously.)

3- More than anything else -- and here I think I'm in the solid majority of TCers -- I want this habitat to be IMMERSIVE. You step in, plop down, and within 10 minutes have no idea if it's day or night, what day of the week it is, or even what year it is.

4- Speaking of mugs, etc. there are a few I'd dearly love to have. Miehana, Hukilau '10 and a suitable "fire" bowl (the one they showed in the Smuggler's Cove segment of Food[ography] is ideal, in case you feel a strange compulsion to shop for me now that Christmas/Chanukah are around the corner) would neatly round out my mug inventory.

5- The room in question -- a rather narrow-but-deep specimen -- has a decent sized window at the very back; where "behind the bar" would be. The view from said window is underwhelming. I'd LOVE to put something waterfall-ish there. Any suggestions?

Mahalo in advance,

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-11-12 12:47 ]

On 2010-11-12 06:00, jokeiii wrote:
1- I'd LOVE to get some suitably tiki "luggage stickers" for the baggage.

SMILEY SEZ-I don't know how good your computer graphic skills are (mine suck), You could create them, or search the web (like ebay) and copy images to glue on the your luggage. Search words like HAWAII TRAVEL DECAL or HAWAII LUGGAGE DECAL. Assuming you like older imagery you may have to add VINTAGE if your searches bring up too much modern junk. I just saw these a second ago on ebay;

2- Given that my decor philosophy for the tiki habitat is "What things in nice shape can I get REALLY cheap?" and given what's out there in general, I think this will eventually skew more in the tiki-nautical direction. Bamboo, rattan, but also dark woods and brass. We'll see.

SMILEY SEZ- You have Safari Thatch (and maybe other places) locally.
http://www.safarithatch.com/post/products.aspx . Safari is in Ft. Lauderdale.

4- Speaking of mugs, etc. there are a few I'd dearly love to have. Miehana, Hukilau '10 and a suitable "fire" bowl (the one they showed in the Smuggler's Cove segment of Food[ography] is ideal, in case you feel a strange compulsion to shop for me now that Christmas/Chanukah are around the corner) would neatly round out my mug inventory.

SMILEY SEZ- I don't have any of those, but I have some plastic cups (clear and not) for sale on ebay from Trader Vic's in Las Vegas- great if you have a pool or clumsy guests! (oof-that Mr Smiley-damn self-promoter!)

Mahalo in advance,

Hope my above comments were useful!! --smiley

I'm the most thirstiesterest of all!
TRADER VIC'S stuff for sale on EBAY 1957SPUTNIK
http://shop.ebay.com/1957sputnik/m.html
If you like it, it is ZAZZ! If you don't it is RAZZ!

[ Edited by: mrsmiley 2010-11-12 09:04 ]

Excellent suggestions!!! Fortunately for me, my graphics skills are pretty good. It's when I have to get all "This Old House" with the power tools that I'm in trouble.

Mahalo, etc.

On 2010-11-12 06:00, jokeiii wrote:
I want this habitat to be IMMERSIVE. You step in, plop down, and within 10 minutes have no idea if it's day or night, what day of the week it is, or even what year it is.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-11-12 12:47 ]

THAT, right there, is the ultimate goal, no matter how you put it together.

On 2010-11-12 06:00, jokeiii wrote:

The view from said window is underwhelming. I'd LOVE to put something waterfall-ish there. Any suggestions?

Yes, A WATERFALL!
Look at some pictures of waterfalls you like, guess how it may be constructed and try to make one.
I say a crap waterfall is better than no waterfall..

On 2010-11-12 18:50, Tiki Trav wrote:
Look at some pictures of waterfalls you like, guess how it may be constructed and try to make one.
I say a crap waterfall is better than no waterfall.

The only drawbacks with this plan are a) in my guessing how one may be constructed and b) in my trying to construct one. :wink:

My two cents is.....the bar is such a beautiful piece that to try and make it like every other tiki/bamboo bar out there would be a shame. I would leave it as is. You really scored on this one and looks like you have a very "continental" style room emerging with the beautiful luggage and world globe. Looks like you have found your own tiki "lane" to walk down. I like it. Look forward to following your progress.

A periscope would be awesome! Just tell the zoning dept. you're installing a chimney. (A fireplace in Miami?) Also, Safari Thatch is only a stone's throw from you and the Mai Kai. It's where I got a bunch of my supplies for my Tiki PatiOasis Lounge. The building is more than half the fun of enjoying your own tiki bar. Good luck!

Wake me up when the day is late, so I can watch the sunset and go back to bed.

[ Edited by: Mahalo Mark 2010-11-21 15:14 ]

Didn't I tell you progress would be slow?

Yes, but there HAS been progress. Again, patient Craigslistery has paid off (pics to follwo, hang tight) in that I have found an old "wine cabinet" with a ruined refrigeration unit for -- let's just round down -- essentially nothing. Took out all the rusted, useless guts and I am left with a lovely, near-mint solid oak cabinet. Rattanize (this is a stretch for me, so cross your fingers) the panels, stain to match the bar and I finally have a place to stash my hoard of ardent spirits, liqueurs, syrups, bitters and hyperabundance of glassware (both Tiki and civilian).

In measuring the Future Home of my Tiki Habitat ("This area is being refurbished for your future enjoyment," as Disney theme parks oft-remind visitors.) there is a structural soffit-ish segment that is ideal for stashing a projector.

Has anyone tried using a projector to project "background" imagery? (Beachscapes, sunsets, etc.)

Mahalo in advance,

-J.

P.S. I THINK I figured out the waterfall issue, if I can get away with a mish-mash of a false wall behind the back window of the Tiki Habitat.

Hi there Jokeiii (is that pronounced joke-eye-eye-eye?) :)
I've done lots of the rear projected background type of scenarios. In fact I have one for my Tiki bar but decided to have my fake windows do double duty (heh-heh, he said....duty). I'm also building a diorama (which also involves rear projection for integrating projected water into a scene from below)
You can see it here if you're interested:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28247&forum=20&start=315&324

Anyway, on a recent trip to Hawaii, I brought an HD camcorder and shot hours worth of locked down footage of our favorite beach on Kaua'i (Tunnels Beach on the North shore which doubled as Bali Hai in the movie South Pacific).
I got early morning, mid-day, sunset, and magic hour to darkness. I then edited all that into a shortened cycle going from morning to dark in about an hour.

Looks really nice when rear-projected if you have a good transluscent screen (or facsimile), a bright enough projector (2000 lumens +) and the overall room lighting is fairly low (which is a given in a Tiki bar anyway). It also helps to recess the screen just a bit to keep errant reflections to a minimum and give it an extra bit of simulated depth.
It's tricky, but you can sometimes get away with adding some foreground 'set dressing' like plants, etc -- but that really depends on how well you can get it to blend with the light levels and textures in your footage.

Definitely play around with it. It's really fun when you can recreate/bring home a place you love and recreate the vibe.
Good luck and have a great time with it.

Aha.

Fiendishly clever idea, that. I especially think it would be great to get HD footage of a "clipper" airplane, and down here in Miami there are excellent opportunities to get footage of gorgeously retro Grumman Goose (geese?) seaplanes, with a suitably tropical backdrop.

I best get sketching, yes?

Mahalo and a half,

-Joke III, son of Joke II, grandson of Joke I and dad to Joke IV :)

I love tiki glassware too! Let me know if you post closeup pics somewhere because my biggest challenge is recognizing old glassware vs. new.

Also, new old stock travel decals are available online in the $3-5 dollar range. Don't buy off ebay because specialty retailers are much cheaper. From experience, you need a few to get it right because folks didn't have it as easy back then and I screwed up about $15 dollars worth, damn. I learned about it from car guys who like to dress up old station wagons/woodies with the water decals. Sadly surf or tiki equals big bucks.

Thanks for sharing,
Gabbahey

Bump, just looked and it seems all the tropical ones are more expensive but if you think kansas and colorado are tiki then it is an option.

The plane in my diorama is actually a model of a Clipper with a 3 ft wingspan.
The Diorama is all related to the 'backstory' I created for my bar which is essentially that it is a WW2-ish era pilot's bar at one of those Pacific way-points (this one on Kaua'i) that the Clippers had to stop and refuel at along the way.

There is a door to the right of my bar that theoretically leads to that dock you see in the diorama where the Clipper is tied up.

I have quite a bit of WW2 and vintage aviation memoribilia in addition a wrecked plane seating area I built in the corner that helps tie everything together.

On 2011-03-11 16:29, jokeiii wrote:
Aha.

Fiendishly clever idea, that. I especially think it would be great to get HD footage of a "clipper" airplane, and down here in Miami there are excellent opportunities to get footage of gorgeously retro Grumman Goose (geese?) seaplanes, with a suitably tropical backdrop.

I best get sketching, yes?

Mahalo and a half,

-Joke III, son of Joke II, grandson of Joke I and dad to Joke IV :)

The effect I'm going for is akin to that of the old "If You Had Wings" from Disney World. (I'm thinking of how cool it'd be to have a HD video loop of Grumman Geese taking off or landing from certain Hawaii-ish looking spots here Miami or the FL Keys.)

Did you conceive the diorama and get footage to fit, or vice versa?

Mahalo and so forth,

OK. Here's the latest.

The former winecellar thing has been rigged up to be functional. Not IDEAL, mind you. But functional.

As you can see, it came with a upholstery-ish grapevine fabric panel lining thing that's more Napa Valley than Rapa Nui. So, regrettably, it's gotta go. (If, for some bizarre reason, while you are on a Tiki forum you're also in the market for some grapevine fabric panels...I will trade them for something cool. Then I'll be Trader Joke. All sales final, offer void where prohibited.)

I removed the X-shaped wine bottle storage shelving and installed (screwing in things more-or-less-level is pretty much the uppermost limit of my DIY skill set) a couple of glass shelves rescued from a Craigslist fridge, and a sliding shelf -- you can see it in the fully extended position above -- from a cannibalized computer desk and a (temporary) light. These shelves are framed with suitably sized wood frames, from a frame guy...who looked at me VERY weird when I made this request.

And, most elegantly, I tucked in my old dorm fridge which my wife had been begging me to jettison for epochs. (I covered up the space with some spare grape fabric. It's a complete jury rig, but looks fine from 3 ft or further, and besides this isn't permanent.)

The flooring on this beast is an unholy mess. Some ancient sort of parquet that probably began to dissolve its bonds sometime during the Ford Administration. That one's easy...bamboo flooring

This is the outside, in its current state. Remember that.

Besides rattanizing the front, which is likeliest the Tiki aesthetic path of least resistance, I have been toying with the idea of covering the outside with [I have no idea what, just go with me on this, will ya?] to make it look like a big steamer trunk of yore. Then I'd slap a lot of the same travel stickers as I threatened to do to those Tiki hand-luggage pieces from 2-3 posts ago.

I am not sure what I'll discover once I excise the grapey fabric. Assuming it's merely fabric and padding, I was thinking of replacing the fabric with something suitably Tiki. Maybe reconditioning some past-their-prime shirts, or some tapa cloth or...something.

Since I know you guys have all been on pins and needles as re. the back window of the proposed Tiki habitat, here's what I have struck upon. (Tell me where I am making a blunder, before I start taking out implements and making changes.)

The eventual window-behind-the-bar in question is +/- 5ft (call it 1.5m for those so inclined) by +/- 3ft (.9m) and immediately to the outside there is enough overhang that my projector could be placed -- I didn't say "installed" did you catch that? -- and it'd still be protected and sheltered. That projector would then (duh) project, all rear-projectionlike, assorted images suitable for an Immersive Tiki Habitat. The temptation to steal, without the slightest chemical trace of shame or compunction, the idea of a diorama is very great indeed, but this simply won't meet the spatial requirements and it'd look all squashy and flat. I MAY use an approach similar to Walt Disney's "multiplane camera" (Oh, just Google it.) but now this is starting to sound ominously like work.

There is also enough room under that overhang (6ft/1.8m) to plant suitable tropical foliage to add suitable depth. Unlike our cousins in chillier climes, all of the usual foliage will grow outside just fine.

Also!

I had been musing about a waterfall oustide that window. Which led me to...think of playing with the rain gutters so that, immediately behind this window, all the water from a given rainfall (it's been known to rain here in Miami...no, really, it does) can be channeled into a serious rainfall.

Anyway, this is the room that will eventually become the Immersive Tiki Habitat. You can see what I'm talking about.

Its current purpose is to serve as a homework station, which is why you will spy all sorts of shelfy, computery things. Incidentally, the desk on the right came THISCLOSE to being comandeered as a bar. It's from Broyhill's "Fontana" line. The size is right, and with some very minimal work (a couple of bamboo-ish wood appliqués, some matting and tah-dah) can be turned into a Tiki bar very happily. Those are going for $200 on CL, on average. Just saying.

Anyway, that's it for this report. Feel free to chime in with suggestions or impassioned cries of warning.

Mahalo in advance.

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2011-03-31 08:40 ]

Seems really heavy stuff.
The matting design looks great!

On 2011-04-12 23:17, Polly wrote:
Seems really heavy stuff.
The matting design looks great!

Stand by for updates w. photos.

You bastard, you've got a roll top desk. GROG always wanted a roll top desk.

On 2011-04-24 09:02, GROG wrote:
You bastard, you've got a roll top desk. GROG always wanted a roll top desk.

Draw one.

Over on HIS thread, the very estimable Mr. PupuPants posted something on the matter of lamps and using some vintage aquarium-ish kitsch to make them.

(http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28247&forum=20&start=330#586399)

That gave me an idea, to kinda sorta maybe go with my Tiki theme (that being "stuff I got for next-to-nothing") which is to dredge up old National Geographic maps and old nautical charts to make lampshades therefrom.

I'll experiment with these over the weekend, and if successful, post pix. (I think gluing paper to things is within my set of DIY skills).

Hang tight.

You people thought I was kidding when I said things would be going really slow.

HA! I guess I showed you!

Part of this slowitude is the fact that I have an æsthetic constraint, which we have discussed in great depth previously, which limits me to Only Tiki-ish Things I Can Get Free Or Cheaper. I am also hampered by the fact my DIY skills are somewhere between "nonexistent" and "abysmal."

And yet!

I put up that shelf.

And I put Tiki drinking vessels upon it. Oh, yes I did. A Fourtune Fire Bowl -- a great hit at parties as people love to drink things with a fire nearby -- and three unnamed Tiki mugs I grabbed at a garage sale for "stupid cheap" and a Miehana mug I found on eBay for (I'm embarrassed to say how little) when the seller (mis)spelled it "Mihana."

But is that all I have done?

NO!

Scouring as I do garage sales, I scored a midsized "coffer" with an Asian look to it (it has a shallow relief of a lotus blossom)

and this especially sweet bamboo shaped bottle and it will be converted into a light with the aid of one of those cork-and-wick things where you fill the bottle with, say, citronella and light the thing.

I followed this up with a snazzy bamboo serving tray, with cutouts to carry six stemmed glasses and a fairly useful load of, say, crab rangoon.

Then, feeling the giddy rush of acquring things at the dizzying rate of one ever 8 weeks, I went all out at a rummage sale where I scored not one, but two sets of prints. One of these assorted exotic (to someone who has never been anywhere near a zoo) animals and another of vintage nautical charts of the south Pacific.

Did I mention they were really cheap? $2 for the complete haul?

Because I was kind of enamored with the idea of cool, Tiki-ish prints, I found some SHAG examples from Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room's 40th anniversary.

Finally I managed to consolidate all my cocktail/wine/beer/spirits books into one spot.

For those of you who recall the "waterfall plan" I decided to arrange the rain gutters such that right behind the window in question there is a cutout which will allow our torrential rainstorms to drain in a waterfall-y way. A couple of cheap fountain pumps might be pressed into duty for a day sadly lacking in Noah-and-the-Ark-rain.

One thing I'm also thinking about is finding a vintage, bamboo-ish china cabinet (something Hollywood Regency, stripped and stained?) to use as a back bar and to showcase the assorted drinkware and bottles. But it's gotta be cheap.

Discuss.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2012-01-29 10:50 ]

Here is the current state of my TEMPORARY (because this will all get better as soon as I can, er, get to it) Tiki habitat.

I was going to get more work done on this, but I got some coupons for X% off on certain obscure rums at a liquor store clear across town and, well, that was that.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2012-03-26 09:48 ]

I may be glacially slow, but I'm still progressing. Pretty good haul of stuff from Hukilau 2012. (Vintage bamboo-designed silver champagne bucket stand!) Photos to follow.

Come on Man! get to it......it has been two years now.

...which reminds me.

Does anyone have a website/link to suitable CEILING lighting fixtures? (A ceiling fan will likely not work.) One thing I've done is installed a dimmer switch in the room that will eventually house my habitat. The dimmer switch will allow me to illuminate it properly for hosting people in an immersive environment AND for cleaning up afterwards.

Any suggestions?

Progress has been slow-but-steady.

But this post is more about a request for help than anything else. I want to use the following wallpaper as the main wall covering (with bamboo appliqués at evenly spaced intervals).

Question: Anyone have a link anywhere to this sort of wallpaper?

(I included the switch plate for scale.)

Mahalo in advance,

Is it wallpaper? Or cloth? You can get the actual cloth somewhat cheap from various online retailers, and I would vote for that myself.

It's neither, really. If I had to guess it's some sort of raffia weave thing. Wouldn't even know under what term to search although I DO have 2-3 hours to kill before my next teleconference.

It's on the other side of the country from you, but they have ALL the wallpaper you could possibly want. It does not look or feel like wall paper, but it goes up like wall paper.

http://www.franksupply.com/

Here's a direct link to their wall paper section:
http://www.franksupply.com/tropical/specialty-products.html#wallpaper

Look around their site, you may find quite a bit that you could use for wall coverings. Good luck!

Found these for you;

http://www.newcastlefabrics.com/wall_coverings.htm

http://www.nonwovenwallcoverings.com/grassclothwallpaper.html

http://www.designtex.com/woven_Product.aspx?f=37176

http://www.phillipjeffries.com/browse/types.html

http://www.bamboofencer.com/sanguran-grass-cloth

http://www.wallliner.com/burlap.html

http://www.nonwovenwallpapers.com/burlap.html

http://www.fschumacher.com/search/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=5006510

http://www.burlapsupply.com

Burlap can be a more inexpensive way to go as it can be had fairly cheap from certain sources in comparison to designer wallpaper, seems like as soon you add "wall covering" to describe something the cost starts to increase.

Happy hunting.

Mahalo, everyone!!!!

Thought I had forgotten? (Not sure why it's on SIDEWAYS...) Anyway. At long last I found the cabinet pieces I wanted at the price I wanted to pay and I pounced. This and its companion hutch still need to be stained to match the bar, but that's not a huge worry at the moment.

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2017-02-13 08:02 ]