Please help a newbie!

Hi there all! I just stumbled across this site a few days ago and have spent hours this week reading posts and looking at pictures for inspiration. My husband and I are in the process of putting a built in pool in our backyard and just decided we'll need a tiki hut bar and some Tiki decorations. To start things off we want to purchase a couple of collapsible 9' thatched umbrella for the pool area.

In order to avoid a stupid newbie mistake I thought I'd ask for help in selecting umbrellas or suppliers rather than choose blindly. Here's the questions:

Can anyone recommend a website to purchase from? I've been looking at bambooandtikis.com and tikishackimportr.com. Bambooandthatchetc.com seems only to have umbrella covers, not umbrellas themselves. Any feedback/opinions on those sites???

Secondly, is there anything in the product description to be looking for? I'm seeing bamboo an seagrass umbrellas, bamboo thatch, etc.

Thank you in advance for helping a newbie who loves Tiki and I look forward to learning from you all!

:)

Lori
Tiki Newbie

[ Edited by: LoriLovesTiki 2011-07-03 19:25 ]

Hi and welcome aboard! The best ones I've seen are palapa thatch done as a cover. They are made for a frame of your choice. I've seen 1 done on a regular 9' umbrella, and the other done on a homade frame using a landscape round and some tree stakes cut to size. depends on how you want it to look. These would be like the ones bamboo and thatch sells. You can also take a look on oceanic arts web site.

We check Craiglist daily. We got lucky and picked up a sturdy wood framed thatched cover. It is round but not an umbrella. We check it daily and have picked up some awesome stuff for decent prices. Sometimes you don't always get what you are looking for, but creating a tiki bar is an ongoing process unless you have an unlimited budget. If you have an unlimited budget, call Bamboo Ben and you can do it all at once. I've picked up everything from puffer fish to 6 foot tikis on Craigslist. Welcome to TC and good luck on your tiki bar!

On 2011-07-06 14:35, Trailerpark Tiki wrote:
We check Craiglist daily.

FANTASTIC idea! Thanks so much for the suggestion!!

:)

We also check the paper for garage sales with tiki stuff. I went to a garage sale at Tiki Lee's house and scored an awesome tiki. Sometimes people want to change their decor and sell their tiki bar stuff. Garage sales are good for finding cheap treasures. Remember, sometimes a little paint can turn a piece of junk into a piece of art. Since part of the tiki culture is mid-century decor, garage sales are good for finding stuff that some people view as outdated. I also go to the antique mall here in town where Tiki Lee has a room full of stuff. If you have an antique store in your town, they usually have tiki stuff.

On 2011-07-07 15:21, Trailerpark Tiki wrote:
We also check the paper for garage sales with tiki stuff. I went to a garage sale at Tiki Lee's house and scored an awesome tiki. Sometimes people want to change their decor and sell their tiki bar stuff. Garage sales are good for finding cheap treasures. Remember, sometimes a little paint can turn a piece of junk into a piece of art. Since part of the tiki culture is mid-century decor, garage sales are good for finding stuff that some people view as outdated. I also go to the antique mall here in town where Tiki Lee has a room full of stuff. If you have an antique store in your town, they usually have tiki stuff.

Thanks so much! We have a Goodwill store nearby that I'll have to check out!