Diners, Drive-ins, and Jives...

You see what i did there?  Jives, not Dives?  Because my basement will not be a dive.  I hope.  It will,  however, be decorated like a drive in/diner, complete with theatre screen that will drop down like magic from the ceiling.  Right now we are nowhere near that level of decorating, or bar building. Or, you know, a ceiling from which to drop the screen.  We're at the "figure out the wiring and outlets prior to drywalling" phase.  So you get the idea.  Months to go.  Here are some inspiration pics with the colors and retro theme i'm going for.  So sorry that i don't know where most of these images came from, i wasn't blogging then.  Just stalking and saving.  Please let me know if you know so i can properly credit! 

Sigh, these are the colors i want to do spot on.  Red, turquoise, black and white.  We already have 4 red retro bar stools that came with the house and probably need to be rechromed.  For additional seating at the bar, we're thinking a little two seater along this table's vibe.  How do you feel about a turquoise wall?   (i know this image is a blog find)

Our black and white tiles will be going on the floor a la angled checkerboard in the bar area.  In the lounging area, i will bring in the black with frames around my tin signs, and the chrome with the fireplace (hopefully).  I don't know about seating...red couch with turquoise cushions, and a neutral wall color?  Continue with the turquoise wall color, do a neutral couch, and red pillows?  i need to figure out how to do a mood board or something.  (retroplanet.com)

Is this bar not gorgeous!?!  Can't get much more retro than that!  We will not be having the tv there, we will be having a mirror like the image below, but with the sundae and soda shop looking glasses flanking it on either side.  It pained us to seal up a window, but there was no point in replacing it or worrying about water getting in.  They're your typical tiny basement windows, anyway, so we wouldn't be missing much light.  Plus we're putting in a sliding door where the old garage door was, and that will bring light.  (sheetmetalartcreations.com)

We're going to be building the bar, and i like the rounded edge to this.  To keep it classy, we are probably going to do black granite, but it needs to have this chrome wraparound edge to maintain the diner vibe.  What i want it some sort of conglomeration of this and the blue bar b/c we have the space for it.

I already have a Beatles poster, and there's the neutral in the curtains.  Proof i am not making this color scheme up!  (Casa Moxie)

I like this image for the colors and the props.  We have a retro inspired popcorn machine, much wall decor with popcorn and burgers, and fries, and reels, oh my.  Old school looking pendant lights and framed movie posters. We have this strange desire for an old gas station pump as well. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but we are super excited for the day this becomes a reality. 

Well, mostly S wants to make the magic screen come down.  Talk about motivation.