The Saga of Tiki Lee's Home Tiki Room

Well Friends...

It's taken me 2 1/2 years of living at the "Sanford Arms", but I'm FINALLY starting to build my Tiki Room! Other projects in our "fixer-upper" that we bought back in 2005 have taken precedence, and now that they're (almost) done, it's time for MY room!

I'm doing all the work myself, with the help of a friend that does house rennovations for a living. He's got the cool equipment and the know-how, & I gots da stuff!

I'll take you thru the process in stages. The photos will always be in the same order, so you can get a feeling for the progress as it happens bit by bit.

So, first off, here's a few shots of the room full of what I like to call "raw stock:"

My wife and I spent a night moving as much "raw stock" out of the room as possible to make room to work. Now the rest of the house looks like a hurricane hit it. Every room has something in the way! Even with tons of stuff moved out, there's still a huge "island" of stuff in the middle that had to be covered 'cuz there's nowhere else for it to go.

I think my wife's artwork is GREAT, by the way!

Then came what many consider to be a "Home Sale Killer"; painting the ceiling purple!

The wifie's artwork still intact!

Boy, my wife's gonna KILL ME when she gets home! :wink:

Actually, she wants the ceiling dark as much as I do. It'll give the room a very close and comfy feel, and will also make the fiber optic stars and directional lighting show up much better.

Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow the walls get done. Wish me luck!

Alooooooo - HA!

[ Edited by: Tiki Lee's 2007-06-08 23:03 ]

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You're off to a great start, Lee.

What color are the walls going to be?

What are ya, some kind of freak? Paintin' yer ceiling purple!?!

I love it.
Freak on.

** FIBER OPTIC STARS?!**
Will they cycle through different colors???

Wow! I dig the purple man. How about some gold spec on the purple? Hmm?

I like the purple too....that is going to be neat. :)

Good Luck Lee! Enjoy the journey, now the fun part starts.

Looks like you have a nice space and tons of great 'raw materials' to work with. Keep the photolog coming.

Zulu

From one Lee to another, good start Lee!

A purple ceiling? Excellent! It's going to be fun watching you transform this room. Have fun!

I like the Graffiti! Great start Lee. The purple ceiling look cool to me.

Chongolio

Lost-Isle
Coconut Wired Podcast
Barefoot bloggin'

Aloha Gang!

Thanks for all the encouragement on the Purple Ceiling. It's a pretty un-conventional color, but then, I'm going for a pretty un-conventional room! Besides, my room at the antique mall is the same purple, so I guess it's just a natural fit...

Cammo: I'm getting an LED Fiber Optic Starfield kit that just randomly twinkles the white lights. Colors and shooting star kits cost a bit too much, plus alot of it is going to be obscured by hanging objects.

Mr. No: We were actually going to throw Gold glitter into the wet paint so we could have sparkles, but I forgot to buy some to have on hand on painting day. Maybe I can put a gel in the LED light generatror and have gold stars that way. We'll see if it's possible when the kit gets here.

TikiKate: Your answer is below....

And Now, ON TO TODAY'S PROGRESS!

Today was grasscloth wallpaper day, and we almost got done in the 8 hours we worked on it. Man, is that stuff difficult to work with! You really have to struggle to get it all lined up, and trimming the flash is a bitch 'cuz it's so thick! But, as you can see, the final outcome it worth the extra effort:

This is my buddy Ron (who is doing most of the work) putting up the very first piece.

The Wifie's Graffiti is almost gone now. Sorry Baby!

There's a few pieces above the window and sliding glass door that we'll get to tomorrow, but you can still get a general idea of how the purple and red look together. Also, if you look hard at the middle room photo, you can see my little experiment of how the matting will look on the bottom half of the wall.

Tomorrow, the walls should be finished; luhala matting, bamboo trim and all!

-loha!

I'm loving the purple/red combo. Can't wait to see more.

VEREEEEEEEEE Interesssssstink....
It looks good, very unique so far. I love the walls!

did I see an OWL CLOCK??? :wink:

Man you got alotta STUFF!

Hey Lee! What's the story on those 3 framed wood masks that look kinda witco ish in the 1st pic? I bought 2 of those from a yard sale here a while back, look like the same artist.
I just looked at the back and they read
Mike Mcvay Dallas, Oregon. Anybody know anything about this guy?

Hey Von!

Mine are all Witco's & I've never heard of that Dallas guy. Maybe BigBro knows... ?

Anyway, here's a new set of pics. I skipped posting yesterday's progress 'cuz it didn't look like enough to post about, even though it took us a full 8 hours of hard work to do it. I tell ya, the only thing harder that measuring, cutting and mounting luhala matting on the wall (yesterday's work) is measuring, cutting, and mounting BAMBOO on a wall! My God, I can barely type; my hands are so full of splinters! I have a new found respect for Bamboo Ben; all the finessing and nipping and drilling and counter-sinking and on and on and... My God, Ben must be a machine!

So, here's a few more shots of the room with yesterday's and today's work. I had to abandon the same angle shots since all the work is covered up by the junk in the middle of the room. Maybe you can recognize a few angles.

All that's left to do is to secure a few more little pieces to the wall and then make my Witco-style shelves for my mugs. I'll post again when those are done and up.

Aaaaalloooooo - HA!

That is lookin' swell with the secondary color scheme, kinda looks like a Shag painting come to life. Orange and purple, right on!

That's looking really great! I love the colors! Is that silk shantung on the top half of the walls?

On 2007-06-08 21:45, VonTiki wrote:
Hey Lee! What's the story on those 3 framed wood masks that look kinda witco ish in the 1st pic? I bought 2 of those from a yard sale here a while back, look like the same artist.
I just looked at the back and they read
Mike Mcvay Dallas, Oregon. Anybody know anything about this guy?

Von T. , there's two possibilities: Either they are Witco, and Mike McVay was a store, or they are done by a Witco copyist of that name, of which there were quite a few (Gale Haner, Frank Hart, Gordon, The Woodcarver), especially up in the Northwest. If you post some pictures of your two masks in the Witco Finds thread, I (or Ken) will be able to tell you. Either/or, they're cool.

Lee, getting the job done right! As Ben always sez, NO WHITE WALLS. The best way to convey Tiki is to create a haven from the ground up, with all the layers, and the non-believers will be in awe.

Lee, your room looks fantastic so far! I love the color combination. Looking forward to seeing your Witco style shelves too! I am still thinking about how to tikify my shelves with some bamboo I purchased.

Well done! :)

Great looking room! Gotta go all the way, Lee. Exposed bamboo beams/framing over matting, chinese newspaper on rusty galvanized, etc. on the cieling. The cieling is the single most important aspect of any tiki bar. It's what completes the illusion and gives complete environmental immersion, which is what you want.. I'm jealous of that space, brah! ROck on!

Aloha Lee!

Sweet Room!!!

But....the ceiling is soooo flat.

Light-bulb?

Maybe a 12" running plywood at 45 degrees ( like a crown molding ) along the wall and ceiling, then some thatch, some bamboo beams, and, wooolah! Instant (fake) pitched roof! Or, the essence of a ( fake) pitched roof.......

...dig the purple sky!

Splinters are nothing. Try nails at 90 psi!!

I was actually going to make this comment before I saw BK's (and Ben's as I was writing) so it isn't in reaction to his, it's just another view. And I'm making these comments (again) mainly for others considering their own Tiki room projects as Tiki Lee's project thread is sahping up to be a a good resource.

A great choice on going with a dark color on the ceiling. Though a well done ceiling is a joy to contemplate while flat on your back and the room is spinning, most folks rarely notice a ceiling (or anything above their upper peripheral vision) so putting a lot of time and money into it, especially when time and money needs to go elsewhere, makes no sense.

A coat of dark paint is usually the easiest and lowest cost option. In that ideal perpetual twilight of a swell Tiki bar a dark ceiling gives a sort of "infinite horizon" overhead, especially when many swell objects and low light lamps are hung beneath it.

The wainscoting type treatment on the wall is also an excellent idea. It can add a strong architectural aspect to the plainest cube of sheetrock room and can be done for not a lot of money. Burlap, aloha cloth, wall paper, or different color of paint can be used for the back surface, wood stained to look like a tropical variety or just painted can be used to frame it all. Or you can use exotic pricier materials below and just stick with paint above...Which is of course going to be covered with fantastic Exotica decor.

Looking awesome Lee! heres those yard sale scores I picked up. They look like Witco, no?

Yes, the look is there, but I believe they are copies. Which is cool in itself.

Thanks for sharing the pictures along the way....it is looking great. Good to know about the difficulty of working with the grass-cloth. That looks like a really big room, was it an add-on or already part of your house? At least you are going to have a ton of stuff to use when you start the actual decorating....how exciting. :D

Aloha!

Thanks again for all the kudos!

Von- Your Dallas Witco's look cool! The Washington Witco's are deeper cut with more detail, and a slightly narrower box-frame. You've got yours displayed just right and they look great!

BK- you're a madman! Chinese Newspaper!?!? Man, they grow dat stuff STRONG down there! :wink:

BBen- The ceiling's not quite done yet. Since it's pretty low, I can't do too much with it. That's why I painted it purple; so it will simulate twilight thru an open roof. I still have to install the fiber optic stars like I mentioned earlier in this post, then I'll be hanging bamboo grids at various levels to break-up the flatness. I'll also be running my Witco-style mug shelves with hidden foot-lights around the perimeter at the top of the walls with a 2" bamboo crown molding at the actual wall/ceiling meeting place. Lotta work left...

VRN- The room is an original part of the house. It's the "Family Room / Dining Room" combo space. But now, it's just gonna be "Da Tiki Room"!

I started my new job at The Lassen Gallery today, so progress is gonna be slowed WAY down. After making the Shelves, Crown Molding and Grids, I gotta make another 500 mile round-trip to Frank's to pick up more 3" bamboo to frame a door with. I'll keep posting those photos as I go.

Mahaloz!

Very nice Lee!

I like the grass wallpaper and matting combo, very nice contrast.

Very nice and vast collection, I like the witco masks.

Good job!

Can't wait to see it all done!

Tiki Lee -- Any progress? Any new photos to share? Don't leave us hangin'!

Well, there's finally a few more photos to share. My new job's been taking a whole lotta focus and training, so my room's kinda been secondary. I had the time to make one mug shelf and put it up to see if I like the direction it's going, and I think it works for me.

It took about 1 1/2 hours to carve, burn, scrape, and varnish this 6' section, then another 15 minutes to install it the next day. Multiply that times about 6 more of 'em. That's what lies ahead in the coming week.

After that, I installed a shelf for my Tiki Room Drummers. I put them opposite each other with the old intercom speaker between them so I could cover it up with the first Tiki I ever carved. Sort of a "place of honor" thing. Two of my Witco poles conveniently went on either side to cover up the drummers' electrical cords.

I haven't done anything else major. I just re-hung my lights & a few other things on some walls, and shoved stuff into the corners for now.

I'll post more photos next week. Lemme know what ya think o' stuff so far!

Alooooooo-HA!

I think you have great taste and it looks mahrvelous dahrling. :)

Lookin' good Lee! Where did you find the starry sky lighting effect? I'm looking for something like that for The Aloha Room.
Aloha,
:tiki:

Thanks Hil!

TR- I found the whole set on eBay, of all places! When I Googled Fiber Optic Star Ceilings, all I got was a bunch of really High-End companies. When I tried eBay, a few affordable versions popped up, which actually are perfect for the size of ceiling I have.

Steve Wynn on line 2 ...Hey what's this tiki stuff all about????

Heckuva of job TikiLee

It's really coming along. I'm liking the use of color. Great work Lee. I've gotta see this thing in person some day. When's the grand opening?

the way you round out the edges with tiki and use color to soften the senses works wonders ......fine work....has that warm hazy feel even before the drinks! ....

This space is truly wonderful!! Brilliant work.

The best thing about the purple ceiling and the red walls is; you cannot see it from my house. Serious, it is coming along grand! Keep feeding our vicarious interest please.

Wow...it is looking absolutely awesome. :tiki:

Aloha! Thanks again for all the comments!

Here's the latest, and I'm afraid with my new job & all, there's not very much that's been done. Although I blabbed that it would be easy, I have to say that making those shelves and getting 'em up on the wall is REALLY time consuming! Two 18' spans of carved, burned, sanded, varnished, and mounted shelves only hold about 120 mugs by the way. That's barely enough room for about 3/4 of my vintage mugs alone. Now I gotta figure out where to put the rest, as well as the other 150+ of the newer mugs. That's not even considering all my bowls and S 'n P shakers! Looks like it's back to carving more shelves for a second row....

Anyway, here's a few photos of the shelves, complete with lights and mugs:

One side of the room...

...and it's far end

Here's the other side of the room...

..and it's far end, complete with self contained, floor-to-ceiling fountain that I still need to get a light on.

Mahaloz!

Aloha!

It's been a slow month, but I've been unpacking and finding homes for things little by little. Nothing structural has been done, save for the building of my Bamboo shelving to display all the "new" mugs. The shelves near the ceiling are completely full of vintage mugs and there was just no room for anything made in recent years. So, I got out my old bamboo shelves that I used to use whan I sold stuff at Tiki Oasis, cleaned 'em up and re-varnished them, and stuck 'em right in the middle of the room as a room divider. I kinda miss the open-ness of the space, but it was either that or keep them in boxes. -Can't do that! I still have to do a lot of organising and find places for a lot more stuff, but I though I'd take a few shots and share them with ya anyway since it's been a while!

O.K., so these are the bamboo shelves where all the "new" mugs are, as well as some other things that don't have "homes" yet.

The back of the shelves...

The side of the shelves...

This is directly to the right of where I was standing to take the first photo of the shelves.

...and this is what is behind and to the left of the shelves as seen in the first photo. All that stuff on top of the showcase hasn't found a home yet.

In case you were wondering what is INSIDE the showcase, here it is; my vintage Vegas Casino ashtray collection.

-just a neat shot.

My jukebox corner is pretty much done now...

This vintage bamboo round will eventually hold only my hook-knife carvings. But for now, the rest of the vacancies are filled with other goodies.

Ahhh, there's nothing better than a vintage tiki pole to cover up awkward corners made by jukeboxes that don't fit well in corners!

Well, that's about it for now. Please lemme know what ya think and if ya have any suggestions, bring 'em on!

Alooooooo- HA!

Wholly Crap!!!!!! :o

That's a good-lookin' room right there. You must have worked your tail off.

OMG....it is looking like an upscale swank club in there. Love your lighted display case. The pictures are inspirational. :)

Looks great! Amazing decorating job- obviously a lot of work went into it. The photography is good, too.

On 2007-08-06 22:54, Tiki Lee's wrote:

In case you were wondering what is INSIDE the showcase, here it is; my vintage Vegas Casino ashtray collection.

Lee you are one sick bastard!.....and I mean that in an empathizing fraternal way! :lol: I'll never feel bad about my slowly growing collection of 75+ mugs, 2 score of decanters and 2 dozen or so vintage Vegas plates and casino ashtrays I have stuffed into my little Tiki Coop ever again! :wink:

Wow Lee, here is proof positive that you are a collector first, and an An-tiki dealer second. I always thought I could never be a dealer, because I never would let go of the good stuff, but here we can see that a lot of good stuff sorta sticks :) That collection is really a proud achievement. It seems that when one makes it a business, one gets to see that much more stuff, and can pick and choose. How cool.

In film production, I always envied the guys in the art department because they would get to go to the prop rental houses. I only visited a few so far, but I tell you, the vintage treasures at Hollywood prop places! These places have warehouses full of great rare stuff: Shelves upon shelves of rattan furniture alone, and more of home bars, 50s lamps...everything. Not that you can keep it all, but sometimes stuff gets "broken", and the production insurance pays.

I really like the ashtray collection, it glitters like jewelry. Are they from all genres-Tiki, Vegas, lounges, etc?
-Oh, already answered that one now... And who did that wonderful black velvet, is it signed?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-08-07 06:26 ]