So, I've finally completed the 5th renovation of my darkroom. Over the past ten years it's seen everything from sawhorses with plywood countertops, laundry tubs, and various forms of used cheapo kitchen cabinetry pass through it. For a time, I used the washer/dryer as a countertop. When we bought a new washer/dryer this year and my wife refused to allow me to put trays with developing chemicals on them anymore, I had to act.
The darkroom doubles as a laundry room (and vice versa - depending on whom in the household you ask), and I only had about 7' x 7' to work with. The overall room dimensions are about 7' x 13', and, of course, the doorway is on the darkroom half.
I hate taking things out of drawers or cupboards, plugging them in, using them, then unplugging them, and putting them away. I prefer a dedicated station for everything. However, my available countertop space was about 4 feet - total. And that included a place to put my enlarger. So, one thing I had to do was maximize the surface area on which to put things that I only used occasionally such as densitometers, light tables, masking film punches, etc. And also places to store paper, film, dodging and burning cards, digital scales, etc.
So here is what I came up with:
Attachment 8885
I had the sink made by a local plastics manufacturer, Canus Plastics in Ottawa. It's 6' x 2.5' x 0.5'. They knew exactly what I wanted. I made the "basked" in which the sink sits using 3/4" plywood. The cut shop at the local Home Depot cut the wood as I asked. There was a cutting fee because of the number of cuts. The floor of the sink is supported by 4 cross members made with 1 x 2 pine slots. This is mostly to support the print washer (at the far end of the sink) which can get pretty heavy when it's full.
Under the sink are two shelves, again made of plywood. The bottom shelf is the full width of the sink while the upper shelf is 1 ft deep. Both are covered with 1 sq ft peel and stick tiles (the cheapest I could find at Home Depot) - as is the entire floor of the darkroom/laundry room. Those are the shelves on which I store all my trays, and my stock and working chemicals. I tend to prefer 1 gallon jugs of paper developer, stop bath, fixer and selenium toner. All of which have their place on the shelves.
The black box attached to the ceiling in the upper left corner of the photo is the ventilation fan. It's basically a bathroom ventilation fan - again, the cheapest I could find at Home Depot. Unfortunately it's also the noisiest. I wrapped it in a box I made of plywood and drilled holes in to it in an attempt to quiet the thing down a bit. It's still a bit noisy. One benefit to sharing facilities with the laundry room is that I could tap the exhaust into the dryer exhaust. You can get a little 4 inch vent "T" valve at -- the Depot. It's intended purpose is to reclaim dryer exhaust heat back into the houst. It comes with a filter sock so that you don't fill your house with lint. I just reversed it so that I could tap into the exhisting dryer exhaust.
With a sink being only six feet long, I can only fit three 16 x 20 trays in at a time. With the washer/dryer being off limits, I constructed a platform on the end of the sink that allowed me to put a fourth tray. That tray overhangs onto the sink by a bit. This turns out to be a good thing since I can hang a Kodak Tray Siphon over the edge and have it drain into the sink. This is the holding tray for prints while I'm still developing. I can then switch the developer/stop/fix trays with fix 2/Hypo Clear/Selenium in the sink for the remainder of the process steps. They then find their way into the print washer at the end. Of course its alot easier when I'm printing 8x10's.
The shelves above the sink are -- again, Home Depot -- wire shelving. It was cheap, easy to install, and I can put wet things on them and let them drain into the sink. Behind the gloves is one of those counter-top dish drains. After washing the developing tanks, I just throw them into that and let them drain.
PEX piping -- I LOVE IT. No more soldering. Need I say more??? I installed two laundry tub fawcets using pex piping. It took me all of half an hour. I rented the crimping gizmo from -- you guessed it -- Home Depot. I use Gardenia garden hose extensions on all my hoses. That way I just snap on/off any hose I'm using. No screwing around (sorry!!).
Attachment 8881
This is the dry side. I ended up throwing away all the prefab cabinetry I had been using in the past and made this stuff myself. With only two feet of usable counter space (after the space taken by the enlarger is subtracted) my goal was maximum usable surface area UNDER the counter. I just bought the drawer hardware at the HD and made the drawers myself. The drawers are wide and deep enough to store boxes of 16x20 with room to spare.
You like my multi-tone paint scheme? I ended up using whatever paint I had available. I did however buy the dark green matte paint since I couldn't handle the dark grey walls.
Here is how I dealt with the equipment I use occasionally and that would normally be put away.
Attachment 8884
The top drawer under the enlarger is basically a virtual counter top. In it I put the densitometer, the light box and other various gadgets. They are all plugged in to an outlet behind the drawers. So they are always ready for use in their own permanent stations. Ditto for the drawers below.
One more thing...
Attachment 8883
I had to find a place to dry the prints (fibre) and for my dry mount press. I had no more space I could use. The remainder of the room was reserved for laundry activities. So I put them on a cart that I made myself. It sits on heavy duty castors I bought at the Depot. You can't see them in the photo but there are three drying racks made with 1 x 2 pine boards and black fibre-glass screen. There are also two drawers above the racks for storing finishing supplies like frames, hanging wire, mat cutter blades, X-acto knives, spotting inks, etc. When the darkroom is in use, I roll the cart into the laundry area (I've a signed treaty permitting me to do so). When the darkroom is not in use, the cart is rolled into the aisle way between the wet and dry areas of the darkroom.
So, for those of you on your n-iteration darkroom and thinking about n+1 iteration, I hope this offers up some ideas. Me?? I'm thinking about where I can fit an 8x10 enlarger. It never ends!!!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks