Skunk Eye Spar

Our outdoor tiki bar steers away from many of the standard features normally found (i.e., an overabundance of bamboo, thatch, etc.) in home bars that seek to emulate professional, high-end commercial restaurants. This was partly conscious, and partly guided by space limitations and lifestyle considerations: we don't entertain often, and spend most of our off-work time relaxing rather than socializing. We didn't want to paint all (or even any) of our ceilings black, we didn't want to devote an entire indoor room to a bar, and we have lots of other decor that doesn't intuitively blend with the tiki theme. The challenge was how to make it all work together: how would our collections of Chinoiserie, robots, art nouveau, progressive rock album art, comic & movie poster art, Adirondack, Northwest Coast Native American and 19th century British colonialist stuff fit in with polynesian pop inside our cottage-style home? So far, it seems to be working for us...

The front entrance. The bar is situated in an otherwise-unused space between one side of the house and a free-standing metal carport. The raised wooden floor was made from disassembled & reassembled pallets.



The bar top is an unused closet door infilled with about fifty thousand layers of epoxy. Aside from the poles, roofing and furniture, the largest expense was the wiring, done by a professional electrician (all other work done by meself). All the lights are on one switch, while the fan is on a second.

The bar sign was constructed with hobby store letters applied to a plank of cedar; the bar cabinet is a dart board chest with jungle mask affixed.


To one corner of the bar/carport is a large wooden moai expertly rendered by Dave "Basement Kahuna" Wolfe. (The obvious insect dilemma has been addressed.)

Female Abelam carving to left of Ku is by Dave "Lake Tiki" Hansen.


A full view of the rose arbor and the back porch entrance, which itself sports a cigar store indian statue.



On a terrace overlooking the moai and bar is our just-completed renovated vintage camper (make unknown...that's how renovated it is). Although movable, our intent is to facilitate backyard camp-outs, cookouts, sleepovers & event hosting.

Behind the camper and well-removed from the street is the hammock shed.

Snazzy canopy courtesy of Vintage Trailer Supply.

Curved deck entrance echoes vintage curves of camper.

The camper's interior was done by my wife, Tiger Lily, and features faux-retro forest pinup girls and old trailer camp postcards. I left the metal wheel wells exposed to serve as side tables, finished with aluminum paint.



A mix of vintage and reproduction trailer camp postcards grace the table.







The kitchen is a mix of vintage decor & contemporary (i.e., functioning) appliances.

The master bedroom boasts the tiki classic books & a Witch Doctor lamp.




A case of curiosities.

The master bath holds more muggage & a Sailor Jerry shower curtain.



In the guest bathroom, Tiger Lily's vintage Floridiana collection begins...





Tiger Lily decorated the guest bedroom with her unique combo of Florida tourism souvenirs, Chinoiserie, and Billikens.

















Sophisticated Savage kitty Duncan welcomes arriving guests to her domicile.

Our tikified domicile deliberately defies many established conventions, and rather than adhering slavishly to more predictable, ubiquitous design limitations, seeks to expand the possibilities for coexistence with counterintuitive influences. Exotic, but eclectic in execution. We're situated near Athens, Georgia, which is only fifty miles or so from Trader Vic's Atlanta, and we invite our TC friends to stop by whenever you're in the area.

!uSathane omhlophe umthondo omkhulu!

[ Edited by: White Devil 2013-09-20 09:29 ]

GROG like.

I dig it !!! I wanna come over. I love how you are mixing it up. I bet you find a lot of inspiration with your music up in them thar hills. Right On

Really gorgeous! I love the eclectic style you guys have got going on! You can see you have a great eye. While you might not have stuck rigidly to the more defined Tiki conventions i think this is a lovely and very interesting interpretation. Design elements such as your modernist items, chinoiserie and the nod to beachcomber style really enhance all the Tiki!

I also enjoyed your descriptive commentary!

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys: I thought this would be a great way to share our home with folks who can't just pop over.

Great collection...I love that china cabinet!!!

On 2011-10-05 13:08, VampiressRN wrote:
Great collection...I love that china cabinet!!!

Yeah, and believe it or not, it sat in our favorite Atlanta antique shop for about three years until I finally sold enough cds to snag it. The photos don't do it justice, either.

A veritable riot of styles and influences...love it.

[ Edited by: komohana 2011-12-23 19:07 ]

That was a great tour! Very well written... :)

Thanks for sharing your home and the tremendous collection with everyone. I am inspired!

On 2011-10-06 07:26, Q-tiki wrote:
That was a great tour! Very well written... :)

Thanks for sharing your home and the tremendous collection with everyone. I am inspired!

We're happy to inspire, Q-ti. Now if I can just inspire Holden to produce one of my tiki mug designs! ;}

Great pad! I like your findings from the Seven Seas/Round The World collection. Also dig the china hutch and would like to see a closer look at the carving detail. Thanks for the pix.

New photos added of camper completion, and requested detail of china cabinet.

Beautiful, from the south pacific military hooch bar, to the tiki barn, to the eclectic tiki lounge of a basement/library. If only I could convince the girlfriend to go this far....

On 2011-12-14 12:08, capheind wrote:
Beautiful, from the south pacific military hooch bar, to the tiki barn, to the eclectic tiki lounge of a basement/library. If only I could convince the girlfriend to go this far....

Hint: It took me 40+ years to find the right woman who enjoys and/or tolerates this stuff! Of course, not everyone wants to live 24/7 in a tiki bar (that would include us), but there are alternatives that are just as interesting without being over-the-top: that was the whole idea behind what we did with our house. A comfortable, moderate golden mean that's not claustrophobic but aims at the Exotic Ideal nonetheless.

Wow
Awesome
But u need your own forum
Not Home Tiki Bars

Tiki house
:)

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2011-12-16 08:31 ]

I love the scope and sheer volume of your collections. Hopefully I'll amass that much Far Eastern, Tiki and vintage stuff some day.

As is more often than not the case, compromises in gender aesthetics are no longer an issue where the man-cave is concerned. As my man-cave consists of a garage recording studio outside the home itself, a proper tikification seemed in order. As documented elsewhere...

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=19427&forum=18&hilite=splitting%20bamboo

...some expense was saved on ordering pre-cut bamboo by purchasing six-foot lengths locally and splitting them myself. As the garage also functions as household storage, the tiki mug overflow and bar supplies greet you upon entering.

A small painting by Ricardo B. Enriquez enhances the sound booth.

The door is clad with roofing metal on the outside, and was a challenge to maneuver & install alone. Porthole windows are augmented by a ship's wheel on the inside. To the left of the door is a vintage souvenir Vegas tray.

Alien spacecraft & zeppelin models mingle with the tikiana: emblematic of my sprawling musical influences.

Room to add more guitars & gongs.

An added divider wall provided display space for tiki prints & signed music posters that the house can't accommodate.

Though functional, the studio is by no means finished. The current lighting is inexpensive aluminum fixtures from Lowe's, and is one of the things I plan to replace with proper tiki fixtures. There's also room for a tiki pole at the end of the sound booth enclosure.

Simple corrugated roofing provides a reflective backdrop for the guitars.

The cozy hideaway is an inspirational place to create. It occurs to me that now would be a great time to give proper credit to my electrician who expanded the building's power supply capability: without him, this wouldn't be possible.

For the curious, my music is available for preview here...

http://musaphonic.bandcamp.com/

[ Edited by: White Devil 2013-09-15 07:09 ]

Awesome!

We've emptied out our hall closet in order to allow for our shrine to Jumbeaux (as in Mumbeaux), acquired on this year's tiki expedition to Tennessee (see http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=46251&forum=16&vpost=695940&hilite=george%20walls ). Jumbeaux made his first appearance in Tiki Magazine's feature on carver George Walls.

Hey W D.
That is a masterful blend you put together. Lottsa vintage items, non “traditional" wall treatments, etc.
Yet there is still a strong “tiki” presence. Well done!
Thanx for the inspiration
P S, Don’t know how I missed your initial post.
Any chance that you could post a pic of that lamp in your last post that will highlight the detail in the lamp itself?
Mahalo

[ Edited by: nui 'umi 'umi 2013-12-22 09:37 ]

WD I've always enjoyed reading your posts here on TC but for some reason I never saw this original thread. Your house is amazing. I really enjoyed perusing over the photos. Thanks for posting.

Wow...love the musical area and all the other things you did. Very Old World Char...FABULOUS!!!

Awesome Tikiness. Looks like a great place to hang out and relax. Love all of it

Any chance that you could post a pic of that lamp in your last post that will highlight the detail in the lamp itself?

Thanks for the thumbs-up, nui: here ya go...

Upon closer inspection, it becomes obvious that the lampshade is simply an ornamental birdcage trimmed with scraps of tapa cloth and burlap, and fitted with a stained glass lightbulb: total cost of less than $35.

SoCal Savage,
VampiressRN,
Lucky Star Tiki Bar,...

Thanks to each of you for the appreciation: having a great home hangout adds one more item to our list of reasons for not wanting to go to work, but then we have to allow for financing future additions!

In looking back over the photos, I realized there've been a few additions & alterations, and since it's the holiday season, I snapped a few more this a.m.

Mahalo, cheers and thanks for looking.

Nice place Mr White Devil - the kind of place as a guest you can sit for a few hours & keep spotting new things :)

I have a question: what more can you tell me about the print in the left of this photo?

I've seen to before & I like it but I don't know where it's from / who it's by!

I have a question: what more can you tell me about the print in the left of this photo?

That's the most common print by August Holland: a search on TC should reveal the title (I forget). He did three other tiki-related prints, but in extremely small runs to the extent that they're quite scarce. The one we have is usually available on eBay & Etsy, and I see it in antique stores here pretty regularly.

On 2013-12-23 15:21, White Devil wrote:

I have a question: what more can you tell me about the print in the left of this photo?

That's the most common print by August Holland.

"The Pearl of Wisdom" is the name.

White Devil:
August Holland: The one we have is usually available on eBay & Etsy, and I see it in antique stores here pretty regularly.

Loki-Tiki:
"The Pearl of Wisdom" is the name.

Ask & you will receive! Thanks guys :)

double post!

[ Edited by: AdOrAdam 2013-12-24 04:31 ]