TI-5335's Tiki Trooper Tavern

Hi everyone,

My obsession with tiki came from when I moved to Minneapolis from New Orleans, and discovered a little place down the street called Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge. I fell in love with the place, and when I moved back to New Orleans, I missed it dearly, even though I'm now a regular at Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29. The house I'm living in now was built in the 1950's by my grandparents, and I'm slowly working on updating the place and making it a bit more modern.

I was laid off from my job earlier this year, so in an effort to keep me occupied while I find a new job, I decided to tackle the back patio and turn it into a tiki bar. This covered patio off the back of my house has seen little use over the last few years, and has been filled with old patio furniture and other random objects. Once cleared out and screened in, I think it'll make a fine place for me to relax and mix drinks, instead of using the dining room as a makeshift bar. So, here's what I'm working with:

These shots were taken from opposite ends of the patio, after clearing it out and hosing off the floor. The random concrete slab in the corner in the second photo is where the original central A/C unit for the house was. It's also where I'll be putting the actual bar, after I build a small deck over it. The open wall was originally covered with screen, but it wasn't in great shape, so I ripped it down and will replace it with something a little more heavy duty. We're currently in the process of repainting the concrete floor, and the ceiling has already been repainted.

As for the name, I've decided to call it TI-5335's Tiki Trooper Tavern. There's some backstory here, so let me explain: I'm a huge Star Wars fan. I'm also a member of The 501st Legion, a worldwide Star Wars costuming and charity organization. Each member in the organization goes by an identification number. For example, I am TI-5335:

So, I'm going with a Star Wars/sci-fi themed tiki bar, with elements also inspired by Disney's Adventureland (I'm also a huge Disneyland/Disney World fan). A strange combination, yes, but, well, it's what I'm known for. It's going to be an interesting project, but I can't wait to have it finished so I can show it off to my friends. I'll be posting progress reports here along the way.

As a Star Wars fan as well as a Tiki fan, I'm really interested in seeing what you do with your space. Looking forward to regular updates!

Hell yeah... 501st!

There's actually am member on here called Surf Tiki and he or she is doing something similar as well. Not much on the updates though.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=47267&forum=20&hilite=star

On 2015-07-14 21:04, The Madman wrote:
There's actually am member on here called Surf Tiki and he or she is doing something similar as well. Not much on the updates though.

I'd actually come across that thread earlier when I started my planning. It's one of the few things that comes up when you Google "star wars tiki".

I came home from Tales of the Cocktail to find that the porch had been screened in while I was gone, and my wife had painted the floor for me. We're going to put down one more coat on the floor before we start moving things in.

Great start. Good luck

Wow...nice little cozy spot and kudos to the wife for jumping in and helping with the project. I look forward to your build. CHEERS

On 2015-07-22 22:34, VampiressRN wrote:
kudos to the wife for jumping in and helping with the project

Yeah, I think she wasn't too crazy about it when I first came up with the idea, but she's all in now. She's actually even been coming up with some good ideas for it. She's been a huge help.

i believe i just saw a new paining by doug horne with a stormtrooper drinking out of a darth vader mug at a tiki bar.
i'll hafta see if i can find it.

On 2015-07-27 15:37, muskrat wrote:
i believe i just saw a new paining by doug horne with a stormtrooper drinking out of a darth vader mug at a tiki bar.
i'll hafta see if i can find it.

That would be perfect! I'll have to see if I can find that!

Something Relevant

On 2015-07-28 14:21, W8N2Surf wrote:
Something Relevant

Thanks I'll have to see if I can use that somehow!

Got a couple of quotes on building the actual bar today. The wife doesn't trust me to keep all of my fingers, so I humored her and got quotes on building a very basic bar. Not really happy with either quote, so I'll have to think on them for a while.

Keep us posted!

if you look up "stormtrooper tiki" you'll find some good stuff.
still haven't found the one i was tellin ya bout though.

i found it on doug horne's facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154184743753975&set=a.10150498574548975.461597.550663974&type=1

Thank you! Now I just gotta see how I can get my hands on a copy...

What about Space Balls meets poly pop?

What about Space Balls meets poly pop?

Moved a few things in last night, some plants, a cooler, a rug, some furniture, and threw up some lights...it's getting there.

The wife and I got impatient and set up all the furniture last weekend...we've been enjoying the patio since then.

Just had a guy come out and take a look at the space to build the bar for us...With any luck, the bar will be completed next weekend, and I can finish decorating...then it'll be time for the grand opening. :)

It's looking great and glad you are enjoying the space...that is important. Looking forward to seeing the bar. CHEERS

Got the first renderings of the bar...construction should start this week. It's more crude than I'd like, but it's the best we can do with the limited space and budget.

Once the bar is in place I'll be able to really start decorating. Again, due to my budget I won't be able to go as crazy as I'd like, but hopefully I'll have gainful employment again soon, and will be able to go nuts with the decorations. I'm thankful to my family and friends who have been donating decorations, but for the most part, the donated items have been more African inspired than tiki. My wife, who will never buy anything if she thinks she can make it herself (and often can), has started painting some pieces to go above the bar.

Came home today to find the bar almost completed.

The bartop got installed today.

The bar is stained and sealed, and finally ready!

Bonus, one of our pineapple plants produced a small,ripe fruit!

I dig where this is going! Thanks for whomever mentioned me on this thread earlier. I wish I had more stuff to post but my room is pretty much just a man cave at this point with a bunch of Star Wars art and tiki stuff in it. If you want to grab some great photos to use I suggest visiting the Surfing Trooper blog (http://surfingtrooper.com/). I had him send me some high res files of a few of his photos that I had printed on canvas that looks like it's painted. I did it through Rite Aid, they have sale on printed canvases pretty frequently. I also have a bunch of the Star Wars vs WWII prints that I need to frame. I think I got 8 and won't use that many so if you're interested in getting one let me know.

[ Edited by: Surf tiki 2015-12-30 11:55 ]

On 2015-07-28 19:10, happy buddha wrote:

Love this!

You'll need a set of these then:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/irvt/?pfm=_2_irvt

This brought to light why tiki and Star wars don't mix.
It's so simple, tiki is based in natural stuff like plants, bamboo, rope, rattan, ect...
While Star wars is more of a No plants thing, is there any plants in the movies?
And as far as bamboo, rope, rattan, ect... Star wars is more of a metal, plastic, Formica, and stainless steel thing.

The music for tiki is Exotica, while Star wars is more of a Techno type music.

Tiki and Star wars are probably the most unlike 180 degrees apart from each other décor styles.

NOW that 's not to say you can't do it, heck it's your house, but the age old question could be answered by these points.

Plus it's a great way to sell just about anything.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2016-05-08 08:36 ]

On one hand I don't disagree with tikiskip... but I can't help being intrigued with the possibilities and would like to see you pull it off.

I found several star wars tiki sketches on tiki tony's instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/tikitony/

Also these are decals...but could easily be used for inspiration on a large wood carved panel:

[ Edited by: jimsflies 2016-05-08 08:04 ]

Love tiki tony's art and his tiki space is great.
But it is old skool tiki.

A Star wars tiki bar would be very costly with the materials you would need.
That's the great thing about tiki bars, the stuff needed to make one is low cost for the most part and easy to work with as well.

Steel is much harder to cut than bamboo.

Looks like most "Star wars tiki bars" are just tiki bars with some Star wars tiki
collectables in them.

A true Star wars tiki bar would be cool it you could pull it off I guess.
Just a whole different vibe.

This brought to light why tiki and Star wars don't mix.
It's so simple, tiki is based in natural stuff like plants, bamboo, rope, rattan, ect...
While Star wars is more of a No plants thing, is there any plants in the movies?
And as far as bamboo, rope, rattan, ect... Star wars is more of a metal, plastic, Formica, and stainless steel thing.

"That was my exact feeling on starting with a shipping container"

See but that would fit in with the world war 2 theme so that's a match.
Trader Vic's was all over that.

For what it is worth, I like the thread and it is awesome to see a family project. I think if we start passing judgement on what people like, then we are ruining the creative process. I have seen Tiki bars that are African inspired, pirate themed, and jungle/Jimmy Buffet inspired. They are all beautiful and I would love to be invited to come over and have a drink anytime.

If we are talking strictly South Pacific and mid-century Hawaiian, then I guess most Tiki bars would be on stilts and have random pigs and chickens running around or look like a tourist trap. Smelly.

I can't wait to see what a space/sci-fi finished bar will look like!

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/irvt/

Some Star Wars mugs available this summer.

I need these....for reasons.

[ Edited by: TU 2016-05-15 16:18 ]

This is a great subject and it is in my heart and mind because recently I had a similar challenge. My first grandson recently turned one year old and as a tradition in Hawai'i we threw a big luau for him. His name is Laniakea which one interpretation is immense space. Our galaxy cluster is named after this Hawaiian word. With that in mind his mother wanted to do a themed luau of Space and Hawai'i. Much like this tread that is a challenge and an identity quandary. With great thought and research I did come up with some good relationships between these two seeming very different themes. Now I can do over an hour lecture on this subject - haha.

First in a slide show I shown a chart of all the actual outer space bodies with official Polynesian names like Laniakea and coincidently very recently it was announced that the dwarf planet Makemake has a discovered moon and like the Polynesian named moons of the dwarf planet Haumea, this new moon will probably have a like name. As most of us know, the inhabitants of Oceania were astute students of astronomy and in turned used this knowledge to navigate vast distances with their larger canoes. Check out the Disney film Moana which will be released at the end of 2016 or read about the around the world journey of the Hawaiian canoe Hôkûle‘a, which is currently circumnavigating the globe by using only the stars above and other ancient methods. Here in Hawai‘i there are heiau (sacred structures) dedicated to the study of the stars and one can also find here some of the best telescopes in the world to continue this study.

In architecture, googie Space Age structures and Polynesian Pop are both mid-century styles and at times similar. See web article on this subject in ZuluMagoo’s blog http://tikiarchitecture.blogspot.com/2011/10/tropical-space-age-architecture-part-1.html (part 1) and http://tikiarchitecture.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html (part 2).

I also shown in my grandson’s luau a slide show of tiki art intermingled with space age. A common tiki art theme like this example from artist Edwin Wade.

Again both mid-century themes combined.

I also shown some clips of what I call Polynesia in space where in Sci-Fi South Seas Cinema there is a space connection either by 50’s “B” movies where alien like creatures end up in the Pacific like "Spacemaster X-7" (1958) or from Japan "Space Amoeba" (1970) or more recently "Mars Attacks" (1996) or "Battleship" (2012). There are also Polynesian connected scenes throughout the Star Trek universe and many characters in Star Wars played by Polynesians. In fact the whole clone army are extracted from the Mâori DNA of actor Temuera Morrison.

Finally back to the luau and a couple of Tiki/Space Age decorating tips that all in TC are free to use. The first one is not so creative – the hanging glass float planet lineup:

This second idea is more original using items from a good party decorating store or online – a black net and white dried star fish of various sizes that you can hang on a wall or from a black-painted ceiling.

[ Edited by: creativenative 2016-06-07 23:46 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2016-06-08 00:02 ]

[ Edited by: creativenative 2016-06-08 00:09 ]

Loved reading your take on this, creativenative. Interesting ideas. There is certainly a shared theme of exploration between the two.

I like your float planets and the starfish net as a take on actual stars. Reminds me of Bali Hai here in San Diego; when they did their remodel a few years ago, they put a big illuminated star map design on the outside wall. Very reminiscent of the island/current stick charts, but with blinking stars like an astronomical navigation chart.

Maori clonetroopers are go! Ha.

(And I'd still like to see the updates to Kedex's bar.)

You CAN mix Star Wars and tiki. Look what I found last week.