Tiki Lighting - For Better or Worse

Aloha, Ohana!

In searching through the voluminous topics that have been covered on TC over the years I couldn't quite find one that specifically centered on comparisons and contrasts in tiki-centric lighting -- both exterior and interior -- over the years. There are many comparisons of architectural alterations in various tiki temples, but aspects of lighting that were discussed were incidental.

I don't think I'm stating anything particularly revelatory here by saying that both interior and exterior lighting is an extremely crucial aspect of the ultimate atmosphere inherent in any tiki locale, be it home bar, commercial bar, restaurant, etc. And judging from the vast majority of home bars I've seen posted by the TC Ohana, this is a lesson well-learned by many of you who have created home paradises and private hideaways to rival many of the best commercial establishments, making up in terms of atmosphere what you may lack in terms of space and money, illustrating that it doesn't always cost big bucks to get big results. In the realm of home bars, imagination is king.

Having a spectacular tiki environment, architecturally speaking, without having equally spectacular lighting is tantamount to having wonderful sets for a film or stage production and then not taking the trouble to light them properly. All that work can be for naught -- or at least for a lot less -- if equal attention is not paid to the myriad possibilities inherent in lighting, both of the usual and special FX variety. And, given careful and imaginative thought and implementation, it can make the difference between something merely okay or good and something truly magical.

My own personal experience with this comes from years spent in creating the best home tiki lounge I could while somewhat hamstrung by the fact that my lounge was necessarily constructed within a rented apartment and thus was limited by what I could and could not do, structurally speaking. And yet I found that, in my case, careful and elaborate lighting could cover a multitude of other deficiencies and, in the process, turn a limitation into a strength.

For easy reference, here are a few images of my own Paradise Cove Tiki Lounge...

For a more in-depth look you can check out these links:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=28843&forum=20&hilite=Paradise Cove

http://critiki.com/location/?loc_id=658

(Just yesterday I added a new lighting layer to my lounge with some nifty underwater light-ripple FX which I'll post pics of as soon as I take some.)

But what specifically urged me to create this particular post was something I experienced a while back upon my last visit to the wonderful Don The Beachcombers in Sunset Beach, one of SoCal's last remaining Tiki Palaces (along with Bali Hai and Damons) now that Trader Vics and Bahooka have left us, joining the other Tiki Temples in the sky.

Pictures being worth their proverbial weight in words, this is the sight that greeted me upon my last visit to Dons...

Attractive? Yes. Cool? Of course. I love this place, as do most of you. BUT -- and this is my point -- THIS is how the exterior looked at night when I visited DTB the PREVIOUS year...

Now, is it just me, folks, or was it way cooler and more magical looking before, with the use of multi-colored lighting, than with the standard white? (Fortunately, I saw no alterations in the superb indoor lighting.)

But because I haven't been there in quite a while, please let me know if they've (hopefully) gone back to their earlier more atmospheric look now.

And please share pics and stories of your own adventures/experiments with lighting and lighting-FX in your own home lounges and bars, as well as what you've seen in the outside world that applies to this topic. I'll be very interested to see Before & After pics as well as other illustrations of what differences lighting can make in a tropical/tiki environment.

Cheers and Mahalo :drink: :tiki:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2015-04-11 09:20 ]

I'm digging the lighting of the Paradise Cove. That galaxy projector or whatever that is, is awesome!!!! That adds another depth. I have been to Don's many times but it's been mostly during daylight hours. So I can't say for sure if any of the lighting has changed. But the colored lighting definitely adds a more dramatic feel. Almost lagoonish like. Overall, colored lighting has always been essential for the aesthetic of Tiki in my opinion.

"before, with the use of multi-colored lighting, than with the standard white?"

Well part of the reason they don't use colored lights anymore could
be as simple as the new non incandescent lights cost way more than they used to.

"But they last a lot longer"
Well we don't really know that yet, on the electronic lights like say florescent
when we would have a power outage or a lightning strike the bulbs or the transformers
all over campus would go out, something about that surge messes em up.
I know as I used to be the one who would go and change the bulbs
or rewire a new transformers into the lights all over OSU.

They did not tell you that one did they?

So change is not always for the good even if that is the idea behind the change.
I hate the new LED lights, and the idea that a law can totally wipe out a type
of light bulb (incandescent) we use is nutz!

PS we unplug our things that have electronics in them during a large lighting storms
or after the power goes out as the surge when the power goes back on really does mess with and shorten the
life of your electronic type stuff.
Turning off the power does not help.
Heck even washers and dryers have electronics these days.

Thanks, forgotten tikiman! And that projector is called "Laser Stars" (sometimes called "Laser Twilight" as well) and they can be found on Amazon. But, unfortunately, it ain't cheap (in the $100 to $140 range), but perhaps eBay has some better deals.

And that's interesting info on the white vs. multi-colored lights, tikiskip, but you've made me paranoid about power surges now. I do have surge-protectors on all my Paradise Cove lighting, however, as well as on my PC etc. So is that good enough?

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2015-04-13 06:22 ]

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2015-04-13 06:22 ]

"I do have surge-protectors on all my Paradise Cove lighting, however, as well as on my PC etc. So is that good enough?'

Well not really.
A surge protector detects a surge at a certain voltage and bleeds that off to ground so
it will save you from a high voltage surge, but if you get a surge just under your
surge protectors rating it will do nothing.

At our house we have a tv outside under the roof line and if we get a lightning strike it
will turn on all by its self, so will my stereo.
At times we don't unplug everything, and don't care about that tv.

We also have a surge-protector in our electric panel so it's not just the kind
you add on later. These are best.

If you unplug the item the power surge will not be able to do any damage.
Now it's not going to kill your electrical whatever right away in most cases
but it can eat away at the life of your electrical appliances life.

At OSU we added lightning arresters to all switchgears (Large high voltage fusses)
and saw that we had fewer blowouts (power outages)
They said that when the power is turned on and off you get a surge like
a train running wild to the end of a track.
But the arresters would take the surge to ground to help lessen the power surge.

So we just unplug the good stuff and let the rest go.

need some extra lights?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=48454&forum=12&start=30

pm me

Great minds think alike! I, too, have a laser/light projection system for my ceiling in my tiki office.

You have a wonderful set up.