congrats on completing the new darkroom!

1. I know that some people like to have their darkrooms dark all the time, but in mine, when I'm done and ready to leave, I just turn on the white lights. The number of times I've wanted to leave the darkroom with light sensitive material out where it could be exposed is very small. Group darkrooms need to be dark, because you can't coordinate when to turn on the white lights with six other workers in the room. But for a solo darkroom? Just turn on the lights.

2. I don't use shelves. I have cabinets, with doors that close. More work to put in (or more money) but dust doesn't accumulate on stuff, and I can clean up the dust in the darkroom just by wiping down all the exposed surfaces with a damp rag. It looks tidy, too, even though some of the cabinets are a complete disaster area inside.

3. I have close cell fatigue matting that I bought at a Lowes hardware store (the combination hardware/liquour/wine/lumber/feed store here in Carnation did not have any fatigue mats!). The closed cell stuff is spongy and makes it easy on your feet, but you can clean up spills easily. In my last darkroom, I had fatigue mats that had large, open cavities which trapped the dirt and made it hard to clean up spills without pulling out the mats and hosing them off. The open holes were also hard on my feet (we don't wear shoes in the house).

Enjoy your new work space!