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OK, for the last time, once and for all, what color to paint the darkroom?

Turquoise.

Why? Well, my mother painted our entire house interior (not the exterior, in our small Canadian town the neighbors would have gossiped about us) in this color in 1955, excepting only my bedroom, as I threatened to leave home if she did. I was an only child at the time, so I got my way.

Years later we ended up in New Mexico, where I dipped deeply into the native culture and learned to love the color for its unique cultural meaning.

Dark colors in the darkroom deaden everything, including one's soul. Framed prints in natural wood frames look good on a darker wall, however.

Just go to your local paint shop, gather a few samplers (the small brochures the paint companies put out to promote their latest colors), go home, mull it over a good whisky or two, and decide.

So what color is my darkroom? Huh... I don't know. My partner selected the color and did the painting, the room is also used as an architectural drafting area.

I do know it isn't turquoise. That's about it. One color is as good as another.
 
Good Evening,

I agree with others above who prefer white, except flat black near the enlarger.

Konical
 
Last darkroom I constructed had white walls, even around the enlarger. It was a glossy finish provided by tileboard (like markerboard surface) on 2 of the walls (by the dry side) and white semi-gloss paint on the 2 other walls. Reflections were more specular than diffuse (so they tended to reflect away from the source). I had no problems with reflections from any light leaks around the walls near the enlarger. A white darkroom makes much more efficient use of the light that is available.

As photographers we are supposed to understand how light works, so if you give it a little thought, you'll figure it out.
 
mine is light yellow.

"last time, once and for all"?? good luck with that part!
 
I have seen ALL KINDS of paint schemes in darkrooms for the last 40 years.
My darkroom is a converted bedroom. There was enough work involved with doing THAT...i did not want to repaint the "bedroom" again, as i had just done it a year before.
So my darkroom has a.....
White Ceiling
"Medium" Green Walls
I have not noticed any problems ....... plus, i hate to paint.
 
All I'll say is use an "eggshell" or semi-matte anywhere liquids might splash on the walls. Blotchy-yellow-brown walls looks like you have roof leaks of something, flat paint is impossible to clean.

I got a big sheet of some sort of formica/melamine stuff that covers part of one wall and curves out over a sink at the bottom for sticking wet prints up and squeegieing things, that's been very handy. You don't want any texture for that use.
 
Dear APUG Photo Members,

I wanted to Thank You all for your suggestions on painting the darkroom, I shall be painting it this week and post some
photos of it this week, again thanks for you input!

With the Exception of post #7 (Greg Heath), your comments were as "PATHETIC AS THE PACKERS" were on Sunday.
What a jackass!
As a result, I shall NOT be painting it pink, besides do modern women even do sewing anymore?

Many Thanks for your input!!

Harlequin
 
Zebra stripes, alternating puce and pomegranate. Or, on a more serious side, see what's at the discount table at your local paint store.
 
Flat black around the enlarger and white everywhere else.
 
studiocarter said:
WHITE. Mine was black and I couldn't find a thing with the lights on. When there is no light, there is no light. It doesn't matter what color it is.
Click to expand...
studiocarter said:
WHITE. Mine was black and I couldn't find a thing with the lights on. When there is no light, there is no light. It doesn't matter what color it is.
Click to expand...

My thinking exactly. If my enlarger leaks enough light to fog paper, I need to work on my enlarger rather than paint around with flat black (easier to write than say). My darkroom is painted "off white" semi-matte except for the sink which is machine-gray inside and out. Why isn't the sink off white also? I think it looks better when the lights are on......Regards!
 
If you're doing b/w printing, the color of the room doesn't matter quite so much. If you do any color printing, then it should be either neutral white, neutral gray, or black.Otherwise you'll get a color cast when viewing prints, and if your enlarger leaks light, you could get a color cast in the print itself from the reflected light.
 

Harlequin there is One Color you should not use : radioactive flourescent luminous color.

The rest is on you !

with regards
 
Any color will do.
 
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