Ninth Island

After moving into a new house with an unfinished basement, we decided to begin construction on our home tiki bar, which my wife and I have dubbed "Ninth Island". We've been attracted to the classic Las Vegas tiki lounge -- hence the name. There's just something about the juxtaposition between tiki and Vegas excess, where the denizens of the dark lounge are the unrepentant sinners, and the eyes of the surrounding angry tiki statues and moai silently bear witness... Well - maybe that is a bit dramatic, but if you've ever been to Frankie's, you'll get the mood we're going for!

I plan to "borrow" liberally from the ideas posted here -- this forum has truly been a wealth of great ideas, to which I am already indebted. I've included a few contraction in progress photos.

The space - about 17' by 12'. Will be completely closed off (by double doors) from the rest of the basement.

Our carved sign:

Our bar countertop. I'm particularly pleased with this. It is dark stained bamboo flooring, with photocopies (8x8) of exotica albums, all under several clear layers of epoxy.

And one of the tiki statues:

More to come!

AK

It looks like you have a nice space to work with. The sign is a great start, very well made. I'm looking forward to what's to come.

Looking good so far! I like the album covers under the epoxy, I used the same technique only used different pieces of tiki themed art. Can't wait to see more as you go through construction. Keep us updated! Aloha!

Welcome to the home Tiki bar fray. I agree, looks like you have a wonderful space and your sign is awesome. Keep up the great work.

Can't wait to see how your space progresses! Like everyone else, LOVE the sign. Who made it?

That's a great idea with the album covers.

Have fun and enjoy
More pics please
:)

Thanks for the comments! I will post more as we move along.

The sign was made by Scott at Lazy River Studios. He is truly an outstanding artist, and if anybody has a similar job, I'd highly recommend contacting him.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LazyRiverStudio

AK

Here is an update on our project.

The space has been constructed. As I said previously, we'll plan on enclosing the bar in its own room with a (locking!) double door.

Here's an early sketch I did, envisioning the inside of the double door. It has, by necessity, changed a little, but I think the overall design elements will remain. (Multiple sketches of each of the 4 walls ware made)

A couple views of the bar and back bar area:

Here are a couple tiki statues (the one on the left is about 5 ft). They will be perched on the back bar, on either side of a mirror.

I was inspired by the exquisite routing / trim work done by Scaramouch on the Bula Bula bar, got a trim router and some select pine boards, and started... well... imitating / copying / plagiarizing! If you haven't seen that post, you must! http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=49315&forum=20&25

Nowhere near the level of sophistication of Bula Bula with staining. I simply torched the wood, power-sanded, and applied a heavy coat of deep red mahogany stain. I envision these pieces (1 x 4) as framing the double doors. The process of designing, routing, and staining was laborious, and made more so by the 100 degree, high-humiditiy Missouri swamp-weather!

Last item I will post for now: Tapa, with which I would like to "panel" the walls (interspersed with lauhala / other bamboo matting), has been a bit of an issue for us. I didn't think it would be a good idea to use real tapa. There really is not a whole lot of facsimile tapa out there to be had either. So, we embarked on making our own. We bought a few rolls of "woven" polynesian wall paper, then stained it with brown / sienna water colors. Sterotypical tapa patterns (i.e., google images) were painted on. I think the results are favorable. We will rough up the paper a bit (fold / crease, etc.), and then paste to the walls. Guess we will see how that works!

That is it for now. I expect a lot of progress in the next month. Thatch overhangs, banquette, wall trim, all to come. Thanks again for the comments!

AK

Looks like it's coming along great.

A few more progress pics...

The bar with mahogany stain. Needs some bamboo finishing trim yet, but we're close! And the floor is in!

The entrance. Not a great shot -- difficult to light right now. The white double door will eventually be painted and trimmed with lauhala and bamboo.

A close up of the trim above the door.

AK

Sweet
MaKin me thirsty
:)

It is coming right along. Your routing and the dark stain will look great.

A couple updates.

The (fake) tapa is on the wall!

A shot of the evolving bar, with two types of matting on the wall. Still a way to go.

And I decided not to retire my trim router quite yet. I am going to try to construct two cocktail tables to be placed near the banquette. I bought several pine rounds from Depot (on sale for $4.80 each! A bargain!) and a glass round from Pier 1. Still have to stain and poly the table top, but here is what it looks like so far:

Thanks for the comments!

AK

AK

Nice design on the round table looking forward to seeing the end product.

A few more progress pics:

Back bar with mirror in place. Eventually, the mirror will be bounded by two tiki statues.

Here's a view of the bar! Ninth Island sign to hang on the center of this wall.

Plan on placing my 6'6" tiki statue in this corner.

AK

Making some progress. Have the other half of the bar (not yet shown in any pics) to start work on next. Also, have about 5 more lights to hang.

AK

Very nice! You have put in a lot of thought into your build. I like the look and the attention to detail.

Wow...looking very professional. GREAT JOB!!!

Thank you for all the great compliments!

Thought I would post another update as we make some progress. Our goal is to have the place fully functional by the time of our inaugural Halloween party.

We splurged and bought a custom banquette for the corner opposite the bar.

Some work on the interior door. I know it's not Hawaiian, but I thought it'd be appropriate to have the phrase "Le Sacre" and "Du Sauvage" grace the top of our entry way. The doors are covered in Bacbac matting, and still need several bamboo trim pieces before they are complete.

We are adding a thatch overhang above the banquette area. Construction still underway. Cheating a bit and using modern 1x construction lumber (instead of bamboo poles and rope, which I've seen used extensively and proficiently throughout other builds!), but will plan to face it with bamboo.

An update on the table tops. They are stained and waiting to be attached to their pedestals. We plan on having two "cocktail level" tables to be placed around the banquette.

Just a couple detail shots:

And the "library section" of the bar! A few books I couldn't see going without!

AK

Love everything you are doing.

Those round tables are the bomb!

Looking all professional and everything!!! GREAT JOB

Love the banquette seating!

The tables too, are to die for.

So, rad! Nice work!

Thank you for all the compliments. They are really very much appreciated. I do feel pangs of guilt from selfishly taking the best ideas from all of the other bars I've seen here, but there's so much to be inspired by on this board!

Here is an update on our progress. We have continued to work on the bar - looks like we will be done just in time for our inaugural Halloween party next Saturday! Since I last posted, lights have gone up, thatched roof has gone up, and pictures and frames have gone up.

Here are some views of the space from the inside:

Some pictures of the prints we have displayed. Went with Doug Horne, Big Toe, Jimenez, Vince Ray. Made some of the frames out of bamboo halves -- like the Dracula / Bloody Mary print:

... which we've framed to conceal an access panel.

The way I've concealed screws... Attached a piece of rope around the back of the screw / bamboo pole, drive the screw into the wall, and then slip the rope back over the screw. Time consuming, but I'd rather not have Phillips heads shining in the red light.

... And then assembled some crude frames from select 1x2 / 1x3 lumber, routed and stained... like the frame around this Doug Horne Vincent Price print.

With the pictures, we really wanted to avoid glass frames, to avoid glare.

Just a couple more pics...

Really getting close to the end of this one. I have the tables to assemble yet -- will post some pics when done. Some LED rope lights to place. And I have a few more prints coming.

Thanks again for all the kind words!

AK

Dang, that place is Smoken' Hot!

Great job! Awesome work with the bar top and routing!

Awesome
It looks outstanding
All the hard work paid off

Cheers

So where are the pictures of the party? :wink: