Bedroom of Bamboo ...

When we lie down and close our eyes at night we hope for a restful nights sleep, without the savages waking us up too many times, where our dreams can take us where ever we want to go...

Check this guest room which belongs to Tiki Central's Tiki Lee. Looks like a nice place to take a nap amongst some Tiki design touches...

Well after years of longing for a real tiki room he could call his own, and not being able to get off his ass to do anything about it (His words not mine!) he called in the big gun: Bamboo Ben.

Bamboo Ben crafts beautiful bamboo pieces, tiki bars in particular, but also other furniture and home decor items. Ben specializes in custom work, but always has a number of pieces for sale in his showroom. Ben is also the grandson of "the original beachcomber," artist Eli Hedley.

I'm sure that you'll agree the finished results are stunning... its enough to get me thinking about some New Year design changes of my own here on The Secret Island.

Tiki Bar Inspiration ...

In Aubrey London's most recent post she mentioned being inspired by commercial Tiki Bars and wanting to create a space in her home. It's the natural progression right? Experience a bit of the Tropics and you want take it home with you. It was those service men that were stationed there during WWII doing just that that bought Tiki culture to mainland USA.

Many people since have poured their love of the Tiki Lifestyle into their own intimate spaces at home. If you're looking for some inspiration there are plenty of reference books out there, but none seem to take you from the blank canvas to home Tiki Bar perfection quite like the Home Tiki Bar forum on Tiki Central. Some of the tiki bars on there are simply breathtaking... and certainly give people like me here on The Secret Island something to aspire to. However I strongly encourage anyone to follow their instincts, whether its the traditional route or not it's yours so make it work for you. I've thrown together a little movie with my collection of images of my Tiki Central favorites ... enjoy.



Mahalo to everyone who features from Tiki Central and YouTube for changing the music due to some copyright issues!!