Tonisha Ramona: VINTAGE TV BAR

I'm doing this super fun commercial project for an Entertainment Company called Rock With U, located right outside of Miami FL. I've shared a few of the happenings with you thus far, and today I'm going to update you about the concept for a statement piece in the lobby.

In the lobby of RWU I was determined to use a mixture of both vintage & modern pieces. {Which if you speak to many it’s the same thing, but we’ll get to that later} As it’s an entertainment company I really wanted to create both pieces of interest as well as pieces which were in line with the personality & character of RWU.

From the inception of the project I new I was going to have a TV BAR in the lobby. But I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to go about this task as purchasing a TV BAR can be pretty expensive and I wasn’t sure exactly how far the project budget would lead us, but as always we figured it out, join me on the journey of the TV BAR.

My design team & I started re-searching the many types of TV Bars and started putting our heads together of exactly how we wanted the construct & style of the television to be. These are the inspiration images we started to work with.

What to consider when making a vintage TV Bar:

Size

Color

Style

Price

Electrical Pieces Removed

I finally found a TV, which would work. It was a {type of TV} and I had to ask my vendor to gut the interior, as I didn’t want to pay for shipping for weight I had no use for. Other than that this TV was the style, height and size I wanted, it was aged & very authentic to it’s time but not too worn down or dilapidated. The TV dial was still attached & all inscriptions & labels were still in place. This was truly the piece I needed.

Now I had further creative decisions to make, I didn’t know how much I wanted to alter the TV, but I knew it needed a bit more character to it. We started doing some sketches to try and figure out how we can liven up the TV to give more personality once it's the completed TV BAR.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

We took some left over scraps of wood and painted it an eggplant color then inserted it at the back of the TV {The contractor added a bit of black to make our deep purple color even deeper.}

Paint Color: BEHR LANTANA 680D-6

I then decided to line the bottom of the TV with faux grass to add some texture. This is the same faux grass we put on the ceiling of the lounge, {stay tuned for the details of that project} once completed I really loved how it looked. This was exactly the oomph that was needed.

I then added the liquor bottles inside and it truly was exactly what the TV Bar needed. It was a subtle touch, but very needed for a bit of flavor & pizazz.

Talk about a "vintage" look.

We added a marquee “BAR” sign above to add a disco vibe and the look was simply amazing. I started styling the top of the TV Bar with glass wear and liquor bottles to get a feel of what may look best.

We are still working on adding lighting inside the bar as well as a concealing the wires, but all in all, the TV Bar turned out to be something well worth the hunt & headache.

Don't worry folks, it's not done yet. Stay stunned for the professional shots of the TV Bar, as well as the completion of the RWU Lobby. This is just 1 gem in this room. Once the lobby is completed, it's definitely going to be something very different from anything you have seen.