What do you "look for" in a home bar?

Aloha Ohana!
So I think it's become official this is the summer I'm going to finish and unveil my outdoor home bar "The Hydeaway" (Hyde is my last name.) It's not too big but it has enough room for a dozen or so friends. I'm working on the landscaping now to make sure all is comfortable and inviting and just as tropical as I can make western Washington. Now I've got a couple cool structural things I'm doing and a few really nice accent pieces but here's my question.
When you think of an outdoor tiki bar what really MAKES it for you?
I've got a nice fire pit and probably going to be building a small bocce court. I'm hoping someone has some fresh awesome ideas that I haven't come up with yet!

With out the ramble.
What is it you like best in a tiki bar, what creates that tropical feel, what really MAKES it for you?

A-Frame roof jutting out at an angle with a hanging fish float light.
Bar utilizing lots of bamboo, thatch, and grass matting.
Plus Tiki torches, a water feature, and large wooden Tikis that aren't dopey looking.

Here are a couple of outdoor home Tiki bars for inspiration:

RINCON ROOM:

QUEEN KAMEHAMEHA'S

ramble, every tiki bar needs ramble if you ask me.
As in "Pirates are not tiki" "well they can be" stuff like that, debate is not a bad thing.
Don't know when a difference of opinion became so offensive or frowned on.

But more to your question, would guess you have seen this...
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=43018&forum=20&92

"I'm hoping someone has some fresh awesome ideas that I haven't come up with yet!"
I say look more to the old ideas like the decks and landscapes of Frank Lloyd wright.
Type in mid century modern patio online and look at the pics that they show for that.

See here....
https://www.google.com/search?q=mid+century+modern+patio&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=633&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjL6-eup6LMAhVITSYKHfq-DAAQsAQITQ

For outside I say HUGE rocks in the deck.
They don't cost a lot but the hauling and placement may cost a bit.
Plus rocks don't need watering or feeding they don't die and always look great and
can be seating or a place to put your drink.
Wish I had put way more huge rocks in my deck.

Tiki is all about natural, wood, rope and bamboo, maybe a pond ect...
Outdoor tiki should be a natural wonderland as if Robinson Crusoe or Gilligan built it with stuff left from the boat.

This is grungy tiki or you could say old school.

Pretty tiki is altogether different, Don't fire me but pretty tiki is not really a style I like and not a fantasy land like old school tiki.

One more thing.
Do a search on eBay for Mid Century Modern patio book.
Now find the titles that look good and go to the library and see
if they have these books.
Do they still have library's?

Got to get the bones of your space right before you throw a bunch of tiki in your yard.

Heck that's free.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Swimming-Pools-Mid-Century-Modern-Pool-Patio-Structure-Landscape-Design-/191837352214?hash=item2caa65b116:g:ObAAAOSwDuJW0JN~

Thanks so much! Haka those images are really something to strive for. I like that moody ambiance. Skip, man every time I see you post it's solid gold. Thanks for the ideas. My mid century obsession runs as deep as my tiki one. I'll go digging through some of my old design boss. For some reason I hadn't even thought of it.

Actual tikis, lots of them!

On 2016-04-22 20:38, 4WDtiki wrote:
Actual tikis, lots of them!

For sure you want those.
But we have all been to that house that has a yard with little to no interest and a handful
of tiki here and there.
Sorry but it looks like crap, it is sorry.

Get the bones right and it will all look better.
The tiki is the easy part.

Glad I could help, if I did indeed help.

Good luck!

Yeah! I've got two big tikis 3'and 4' respectively that were done a while ago by a local carver.
I want more but they are proving really hard to find up here. I want to get some stone tikis to put in the landscaping and just some more tall wood pieces because I can't have enough. Anyone know any secretly great carvers up here in Washington?

What Hakalugi said PLUS big Tikis. I don't have to drink out of a Tiki mug, I actually prefer to drink from a clear glass to see the loveliness of the cocktail.

I want 3 things if possible.
(1) I want to feel the love of the host/hostess and the comfort for all the guests.
(2) Along with the Tiki factor...interesting collections which tend to prompt conversations and education about items.
(3) Memorable encounter to enjoy the hospitality and gaining new friends that create lasting bonds and a love for all of our collections...and that is accompanied by great music.

As others have said, collections are nice…tikis, lights, decorations…my wife loves decorative candles, and we use a LOT on and around the bar, with torches generally out in the yard and around the pool.

I also like to see some personal items, especially framed photos of the owners, or images of places they have been, hanging in the space.

I have some framed photos of myself surfing and on surfboards in the water at Waikiki with my daughter, some mounted postcards from places we’ve been, like Duke’s and Trader Vic’s. I also frame and hang some smaller posters from beaches we’ve visited, like Huntington Beach and Palm Beach. It’s a little nostalgic and always inspires conversation.

Unless you’re printing with special UV-resistant inks, we generally expect to re-frame and reprint these every year or two; dampness (it rains here in Ohio) will get to them eventually, too - but it’s no big deal to kick out another copy and stick ‘em back in the frame.

[ Edited by: AkronTiki 2016-06-17 09:02 ]

I'm a big fan of themed spaces myself... That is, physical space as a medium for interactive storytelling. Your basic Tiki bar as a collection of Tiki ephemera with the adequate amount of bamboo and thatch and statuary is fine. There is nothing whatever wrong with that, but there's also a sameness to it. It's easy to collect photos of the cool things other people have done, make a checklist, and come up with a sufficiently Tiki bar. But to me, standout examples that I've seen have a motivating logic or story behind them that pulls it together, making it more than "my collection of Tiki stuff".

So I think the more important questions than "what are neat things you've seen?" are WHERE does your Tiki bar take place? WHEN does your Tiki bar take place? And WHAT HAPPENED at your Tiki bar? Basically, think about it like a story. What is your Tiki bar's setting? Is it pre-colonial, British colonial, French colonial, American colonial, pre-war, or post-war? Is it Easter Island or New Zealand or Hawaii? East side of the Big Island or West side of the Big Island? Active volcano or lonely atoll? Is it real or is it fantasy? Authentic Tiki replicas or Atlantean ruins? Did anyone get shipwrecked there? Who? Pirates? A Swiss family? Is there a giant monkey on your island, or a mad scientist with a Victorian submarine?

I could keep going... Point is, if you think about those questions, that can give your grotto a focus, help you to formulate a plan going ahead, and even help you come up with fresh ideas (because nothing hurts creativity as much as absolute freedom... Sometimes rules and limitations help). I love that bridge going over a moat in one of the previous photos. But now, the question stands, if I wanted to include that in my own bar, why? Does it fit in the story? What is on the other side of that moat? Is it a bridge to an island? Is it keeping dinosaurs out?

All that said, this is just one way of thinking about it. Clearly I'm picking this idea up from Disney, and model railroading, and other avenues where themed design is thought about. Some people, yourself included, might not like it because it can come off as fake. There is also something to be said for a Tiki bar that is your own collection of stuff and grows organically from your own life and experience (like having photos of yourself and your family in it). You're not answerable to anyone but yourself. I just thought I might throw this perspective out there though, if it might help you at all.

This online magazine on model railroading has a good article on thinking in terms of story and theme: http://mrhpub.com/2015-05-may/port/. The article is titled "Imagineering: Modeling a Themed Environment".

More of a design thing than a decoration thing...but when I think of an outdoor bar a MUST HAVE for me would be SHELTER. You need to have protection form the elements, to be able to keep drinking without getting wet if it rains, if it's susceptible to high winds some cover from that too, and of course some shade at the bar to keep cool. I've seen more than a few that don't tick those boxes and I always think "what a shame". Otherwise, as far as decorations go, it's open slather for mine :)