Stuck in a dreary corporate cube all summer?
Transform your cube into a Tiki Cube and feel like you're really on
vacation in Adventureland.
Difficulty: Beginning hobbiest
Get rid of non-essential stuff - Clean up your imagineering canvas
Get rid of non-essential stuff
Eliminate all non-essential work-related clutter from your cube. File
excess paper. Put away corporate awards, coffee cups, paperweights,
etc. Take old memos and calendars featuring kittens off your bulletin
board.
Go shopping - Obtaining material
The party-supply store: A good source for paper palm trees, pineapples,
flowers, parrots, and leis. Grass skirts can also be creatively
incorporated into your new cube decor.
The drug store: Pick up a bottle of suntan lotion in your favorite
scent.
The plant store: If you have a green thumb, get a couple of
tropical-looking plants such as bromeliads, jasmine, or anything with
lots of big green leaves. If you have a REALLY green thumb, buy an
orchid. Make sure your plants are short enough to fit under your desk
lights.
The thrift shop: A prime source for tiki mugs, tiki ashtrays, or tiki
toothpick holders. Also a good source for any number of tacky souvenirs
stamped "Florida," seashell windchimes, straw hats, etc.
The art store: Get a poster or two featuring palm trees and beaches.
Discount department store: If you're planning to keep plants in your
cube, buy an inexpensive timer for your desk lights. Pick up some cheap
baskets.
A travel agency: Pretend you're planning an exotic vacation. Get as
many Disney and island brochures as they'll let you cart away.
The "nature" store: A CD of rainforest sounds. Also, a "rain stick" is a
nice touch.
Your house: Drag out any souvenirs you've picked up during your last
trip to Disney. Find a beach towel and chair.
The color copier: Make enlarged copies of any great photos you find in
the stuff you got from the travel agency. If you don't have a color
copier in your office, think about getting another job.
Decorate - Imagineer your cube
Hang your posters from the top of the cube walls with a little tape.
Put the beach chair in a comfy corner and drape the beach towel over
it.
Arrange the travel reading in a basket next to the chair.
Arrange your plants under your desk lights (remembering to put saucers
under them to catch drips) and plug your desk lights into your new
timer. Set the timer for about 12 hours. This is important because
plants don't like to sit in the dark all weekend.
Hang the rest of your great tiki stuff around your cube. Use your
imagination - a parrot can look great perched on your "out" bin.
Enjoy your cube - Imagineer your day
Dab some suntan lotion behind your ears.
Put on the rainforest CD.
Sit on your beach chair and read travel brochures.
Pretend you're on vacation.
Bonus projects
Bonus project #1: Throw a party
Play Jimmy Buffet music.
Make Piña Coladas in a blender.
Invite your friends in for drinks.
Bonus project #2: Install a fountain
Buy a "tabletop" fountain on sale.
Check to see that it doesn't have any angels or cherubs.
Install the fountain next to your plants.
Bonus project #3: Take out your inter-office aggressions
Buy a water gun.
Shoot your plants.
Bonus project #4: Dress to match your cube
Wait for casual day.
Wear a Hawaiian shirt.
Testimonials from satisfied visitors to my Tiki Cube
As I read this Imagineering Submission, I got to thinking, why not use this same idea/concept to do other themes, such as "Indiana Jones", or "Thunder Mountain". You can find all kinds of cool stuff in Thrift Stores to decorate your cubicle or office. Use fake (or real if you have the money and time to find it) jungle type plants and use items such as rubber snakes, pith helmets, "voo-doo" dolls, "artifacts" (stuff that you can find in a thrift store that looks old and mystrious), mosquito netting, and if you have a place for it sand, to decorate the office/cubicle. Wear an "Indy" style hat, and khaki color clothes, hang a bull-whip or pistol on the back of your chair, etc. Basically take people into your adventure. Play music of native drums, or jungle type sounds just as you would with the Tiki Tiki cubicle, just change your props to fit the new theme. Or you could do a "Thunder Mountain" theme, use an old flannel shirt on the back of your chair, other props would include: gold mining pans (you can find these in Mining Supply Stores, or if worse comes to worse, try using an old metal pie pan), pick ax, shovel, fools gold, sacks of gold, old whiskey bottles, old wanted posters or "rules of the saloon" (you can make your own "old signs/posters" by creating the poster/sign that you want and aging it. The way to "age" your poster/sign is simply to leave it in sunlight for awhile until it looks how you would like it, or it can be done by submerging the blank paper for the poster/sign into a tea solution until the desired tone is obtained, and then taken out and allowed to dry, you can then fold it and unfold it to achieve the look of an old, roughly handled document.), rubber rattle snakes, old wire rim glasses, if your adventurous you could install or build a fountain/waterfall and pan for gold in it (sprinkle fools gold along with sand and small gravel into the "pools" of the waterfall/fountain), put some old boots in the corner. Again basically find things that fit your theme and put them around, play the "tin-panny" sounding piano music, or banjo music, that you hear on old west type shows. The basic theme/concept of the Tiki Tiki Cubicle can be used to create many different themed cubicles/offices, it just takes a little imagination and a little adventure of your own to find and create the items for your themed cubicle/office.
REPORTED: Jeff 19 APR 98
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