Tim's Tropical Lounge and Tiki Bar

I love this site! My fellow Tiki enthusiasts encouraged me to post about my home Tiki build, so here goes.

This project had some interesting things to take into consideration. The space I was working with was a bonus room above our garage which was completely unfinished (12'x20'). We recently downsized and moved to a condominium that didn’t have a basement, so I had to somehow accommodate storage.

The centerpiece of the tiki bar is the L-shaped bar top designed to get as many people face-to-face as possible. My wife, a master mosaic artist, and I laid out a 6’ x 6’ L-shaped frame. My wife painstaking laid out over 2500 shards of glass, seashells, bottlecaps and sundries. When the mosaics were in place and glued down, we encased it in ¾” of clear epoxy resin.

The finished bar top

The raw space

Bar top vision

Tiki Tim!

Still getting the hang of adding information to the site. I'll post more pics of the build. Great to see a community of Tiki folks!

[ Edited by: TikiStay 2020-02-25 19:56 ]

[ Edited by: TikiStay 2020-02-27 07:38 ]

Nice mosaic! Looking forward to seeing what else you do with the space.

A few more shots of the build process.

And the finished space - minus accessories

I focused on getting the bar/drinking area up and running but now I have to accessorize. I've seen a lot a great Tiki bars on the site and I'm totally impressed on how creative people got decorating them.

I have a few challenges:

1. The wife doesn't want a 'hard core' Tiki Bar so wallpaper and permanent fixtures are out.
2. It's an awkward area with the slanted ceilings and narrow space
3. There are not a lot of places in Grand Rapids, Michigan that have Tiki gear to choose from.
4. Limited budget (of course)

I welcome any and all suggestions, advice and feedback.

thanks!

Very cool TikiStay! I really like that mosaic too! Don't worry about the wife, just keep adding Tikis a little at a time until it's completely saturated :lol:

I have a few challenges:

1. The wife doesn't want a 'hard core' Tiki Bar so wallpaper and permanent fixtures are out.
2. It's an awkward area with the slanted ceilings and narrow space
3. There are not a lot of places in Grand Rapids, Michigan that have Tiki gear to choose from.
4. Limited budget (of course)

I shared some of the same concerns when I started out last year. Lauhala matting, half-round bamboo, and a dark color scheme really helped transform what was previously a formal dining area into a bar. You can attach lauhala with staples, instead of liquid nails, so it can easily be removed if she's still opposed to it. You don't have to cover all your walls at once. start with the back wall and see how it ties in with the rest of the room. Chances are your wife will come around.

I'd also replace the white or aluminum blinds to dark brown blinds.

For decor, shop around online - the marketplace on tc, etsy, ebay, call up oceanic arts and find out what they have in stock. Even better, try build your own decor. TC is full of helpful how-to guides by people like tikiskip, swizzle, danlovestikis, among many others, that will blow your mind. This site made me try a lot of things and sometimes you fail and sometimes you succeed, but it feels pretty awesome to add your own personal touches to your home tiki bar.

Great start and AMAZING bar top by your wife.

If she doesn't want to go hardcore you might want to just consider painting the walls a little darker and adding some nice
PNG masks and maybe a few pin-up fishing float lights.

Great work so far.

I agree that a darker color on the walls would work better, and maybe just one accent wall with matting. Check out this space for a well-executed example (including walls that aren't brown/black).

You might also consider putting some tapa over the panels on those sliding doors. Prints or thin masks could look good on them, too, as long as they're well secured.

Thanks for the feedback and great suggestions. I have a long way to go to catch up to some of the insane tiki bars here. I've have some ideas, I'll post updates as I upgrade.

Nice work TikiStay! Love seeing your progress.