Return of The Darkroom

[Terri]

.....MY darkroom, that is! :cheer:

My darkroom is in a converted upstairs bedroom. Way last summer when Rolleimaniac started painting the exterior of the house, he started at the back upper corner - which meant my darkroom windows had to come open at last. We pulled down all the ugly black plastic trash bags that we'd taped over the windows so they could be open and closed for exterior painting.

I then found a product online, from a company called SnapTint, that made opaque window film which, according to the company, was perfect for windows where you wanted blackout conditions such as a darkroom. :hmm:

Once the house project was done it was time to put the darkroom back together. We ordered several sheets of the stuff. They had to be cut to size and wedged into place, and a strip of black caulk to fill in around the edges. We tried weatherstripping first but it did not adhere well with the sheets in place.

Once the sheets were on and caulking done, we were able to put the former window blinds back up. It looks so good I had to take pictures. :lol:

With shades up:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/Windowpanels.jpg


And with shades down (can't tell anything is on the windows):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/Windowpanelsshadesdown.jpg


I rearranged some things and generally tidied it up. Brad even defrosted my little darkroom refrigerator up there. :big grin:

So, here is the rest of my little darkroom:

My father in law gave us his old desk some years ago. Little did he know we'd drill holes in it for the enlarger: :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/Enlargerdesk.jpg


This one makes me laugh - I still clearly need additional shelving since that top one is sagging:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/Enlargerbysaggingshelf.jpg


My typical tray lineup. Amber safelights here. There is no running water, of course, so I rinse my prints off in the hall bathroom and leave them in a plastic storage bin filled with clean water at the end of the line.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/Traylineup1.jpg


The other side of the room is more a workspace - cutting board, light table and stuff. I mounted the red safelights here from small towel racks. Tilted them to bounce from the ceiling to keep the light low. That's my son's old toybox with various darkroom supplies in it now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/Workdesk.jpg


My wonderful old Cromega enlarger: :heart:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v435/terriks/miscellaneous/SuperCromegaD.jpg


Thanks for looking! I just had to share my joy in getting set up again. :razz:

[MissMia]

It looks great! How wonderful to have it set up again. I look forward to seeing new work soon. :big grin:

[Fox Paw]

Looks good. It looks much tidier than any of my hobby areas.

[Terri]

Thanks! After all that, I've had little time to actually get going. :lol:

But I'm working on it! It will be sloppy and unorganized again soon enough. ;)

[ann]

How clean and neat. Never had something that neat and clean :)

[Aggie]

I brought one of my enlargers along with me here to Fl. but haven't even taken it out of the boxes. I'm jealous! It looks so good and inviting.

[Terri]

How clean and neat. Never had something that neat and clean :)Well, notice I didn't post any "before" shots. :big grin:

Aggie, maybe this will inspire you to get that enlarger unpacked and set up. I'm sure you have stuff waiting.