The Embassy Room @ the King's Club Barber Shop

A little while back, a couple of friends of mine were bitten by the Tiki bug, and decided that they wanted to build a tiki/beachcomber/nautical bar in the back room of their barber shop. The ball started to roll when we found an amazing curved rattan bar (w/4 stools) for a song on CL. After a couple "R&D" meetings at my home bar and Don's, and a few nights of brainstorming, we finally got a game plan for their bar, the Embassy Room. They slapped on some paint, tore out the acoustic tiles in the dropped ceiling, and painted the ceiling frame.

Here's a few shots of the shop, looking into the back room (behind the french doors.)

Some shots prior to the matting/reed fencing going up. We decided on leaving the brick wall (at least for the time being), which kind of gives the back bar a cohesive feel with the old-school vibe of the actual barbershop. Scotty's finishing the paint on the white walls that were discovered when the dropped ceiling was removed.

Here's the matting/ fencing going up. They wanted to use fencing because the long term plan actually involves closing in the double doors and adding an entrance the the back corner of the room. It's a lot easier to scrap a bunch of reed fencing than matting...

Here are some shots of the ceiling (which luckily had a cool dirty-old-hull-of-a-ship look), and the trim going up. Having the frame from the acoustic ceiling still in place made it really easy to hang the bamboo poles down the length of the room. At about this point, we ran out of bamboo and netting, so decided to call it quits. The fact that it was 1 o'clock in the morning didn't exactly dissuade our decision...

More to come!

Love the retro look of the barber shop. What a fantastic idea. That should really bring the customers in. Looking forward to more pictures.

Well, we put in some more work last night at the shop, and it's really coming together. Theres going to be a Christmas party in the town center this weekend, so we're trying to get the place into working order by then. I'll be mixing drinks behind the bar, and there'll be an awesome barbershop quartet serenading everyone in the shop. If you're in Dana Point this weekend, feel free to stop by.

Here's some trim pieces I routed/burned/brushed this weekend for the thatch/reed seam.

It's a little tough to see, but at the bottom of the corner panels, I trimmed in an ER (for Embassy Room) and SOS (for their motto, "Sink or Swim"). Some of the little things that are always cool to stumble upon in Tiki bars.

Added some small tapa pieces to break up the the long wall.

We finished up the ceiling in the corner of the room with the last piece of bamboo and some more netting.

These last couple of shots are a bit blurry, but I wanted to get a shot of the actual bar, and their vintage barber chair.

Hoping to get up to Oceanic Arts soon so we can get some actual "Tiki" in the tiki bar. There'll definitely be a lot more progress shots, but this is how the bar's looking at this very moment.

Very cool - I hope the barber isn't drinking on duty or someone could lose an ear!

Unique ceiling with the bamboo, nets, and unfinished rafter - nice approach!

Nice. I'd get a haircut a couple of times a week if I lived nearby!

Very nice kruzer! Awesome job so far.

Chris

This is gonna be good!

MMMMmmmmm, I am in need of a haircut.......very cool and original!

Thanks for all the kind words. It's definitely fun having another local tiki bar to go. Slacks, I've always wanted to build a faux lava-rock back bar area like the one you built in your bar. I don't have any room in my place, so this might be the time to do it!