Where is your darkroom?

[Gary Holliday]

I'l be moving into rented property soon and I doubt that I'll have a dedicated darkroom.

I just wanted to know where do you all have your darkrooms?

Two separate rooms or something purpose built?

 

[avandesande]

WC, that's where I do my best thinking anyway.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

You'll find many answers and images in this thread--

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

 

[JBrunner]

The basement of my mothers house...600 sq. feet of beautiful darkness.

 

[ron mcelroy]

Mine's in the basement of my house. Before I built this one it was in an extra bathroom.

 

[John Bartley]

Bathroom.

We only have one, so I check in with my sweetheart before I head in ....

 

[raucousimages]

#1 was in bathroom
#2 was in large walk-in closet in basement bedroom
#3 was walled off section of my garage
#4 basement of my new house

 

[wfe]

I share space with a laundry room and domestic storage.

 

[Gary Holliday]

You'll find many answers and images in this thread--

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Thanks for the link. I don't normally venture into 265 post threads!


In short I would like to use only the bathroom - have everything in the one room, but I'm guessing that the shower and steam will destroy the enlarger.

 

[Dave Parker]

In the two part shop I built with a darkroom in mind, part of it is dedicated to the darkroom, part of it is dedicated to glass production, makes for a nice setup, no fumes in the house and when I need to get away, I only have to walk about 20 feet and hit the heators.

Dave

 

[removed account4]

in the basement.

 

[jp80874]

Started as 1/4 of the basement. It is going for 1/2 at this point.

We live in the country. We had mice in the basement this winter and that has brought out at least two small snakes this spring. My guess is that by September my wife will not want to set foot in the basement. Could be 100% darkroom by Christmas.

John Powers

 

[Valerie]

We have a 3 car garage. Rather, we had a 3 car garage--now its 2 cars and a darkroom. Piped in A/C, water, and electricity from the rooms above. Heaven!!

 

[esanford]

When I built my current home, I had the darkroom specifically designed into the main part of the house behind the laundry room. It is completely dark with no windows and includes a flow ventilation system. In my last home, I had the darkroom built when I finished the basement. And, in the 1980s I worked in the corner of the laundry room. Start anywhere and keep the faith...

 

[Derek Lofgreen]

Mines in the garage. I have made it as light tight as I can and print at night. Works great, it's not wet but the Kitchen is in the next room.

D.

 

[noseoil]

Darkroom

This is an old shot of the darkroom, poor scan from years ago. It started life as a one car garage, then a work shop, next a small efficiency apartment and finally it's true self came out. I got tired of buying refrigerators, fixing holes, cleaning up after smokers and screening people (one was a convicted felon, fortunately just a burglar). We did meet some wonderful people as well, but the darkroom is the best use for 'most any room or building. It has full plumbing, plenty of storage, a closet, bathroom, desk and the fridge is full of film. Only wish it was a tad bigger. It is free-standing and has a complete security system as well, so I'm happy to spend time there. tim

 

[ron mcelroy]

This is an old shot of the darkroom, poor scan from years ago. It started life as a one car garage, then a work shop, next a small efficiency apartment and finally it's true self came out.....

That's a great looking freestanding darkroom. The first one I ever used was in a 2-car garage that used a large area for matting, framing and dry storage. The entire space was light tight and used when processing 30x40 prints.

 

[MurrayMinchin]

When we bought this house (our first) my wife was into breeding cats, so they got the heated and insulated garage and an outdoor run. The laundry room 'wet side' was on the other side of the wall in our bedroom closet, so now the washer and dryer are in what used to be our bedroom closet, and I have the whole laundry room for a darkroom.

I'll have the garage converted into a darkroom within the year

Murray

 

[Donald Qualls]

In short I would like to use only the bathroom - have everything in the one room, but I'm guessing that the shower and steam will destroy the enlarger.

Then don't keep it in there.

My darkroom is in the master bathroom (we have two, but my wife doesn't like the smaller one, where the vanity interferes with her knee). Since I can't leave things set up anyway, I "promoted" a kitchen cart for which there isn't room in the kitchen since our last move; my Omega D2 lives on there, and can be semi-easily wheeled into the bathroom for printing sessions, and back to my computer room (spare bedroom) for storage between. In fact, with a slip-in, friction-retained window cover and weatherstripping around the door (and a towel underneath) I can set up for darkness to change film in about five minutes, pull out the rugs and wheel in the enlarger cart in less than ten, and put it all back to "bathroom" in fifteen minutes at the other end (including wiping down the counter and sinks, leaving only a tray under the bathtub faucet with prints still washing). Add time to mix chemicals, and I can still spend four hours actually printing when I have a five hour time slot while she's out of the house...

 

[Sportera]

I took another apugers advice and bought a craftsman tool cart. it has a lot of storage and very easy to roll into the bathroom.

 

[Sportera]

Oh and to give proper credit agGNOME shared his darkroom secret with me I think he uses two carts though.

 

[winger]

Mine's in my ex-husband's house (yes, I was still there when I built it). It's in the basement and is about 10x10ish. I can still use it, so I'm not building another one 'til I have enough room and darkness (my apt has too many windows and not enough space).

 

[resummerfield]

Thanks for the link. I don't normally venture into 265 post threads!

You need to make an exception with that thread. There are some amazing setups, with pics, in that thread. Well worth the visit!

 

[thefizz]

My first was in a spare bedroom (pain in the ass walking from bedroom to kitchen or bathroom to wask prints etc.

My second was in the Utility room. (an improvement as it was next to kitchen)

My third and current darkroom is in my attic. (The best yet with wet and dry areas. A great place to hide away for a few hours).

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

My current darkroom is in my basement, purpose-built. It's kind of small, about 7'x8', but it gets the job done admirably. I can do enlarging up to 16x20 from 35mm-4x5 negs, and alt process to 11x14". All my previous darkrooms have been various bathrooms in the apartments I've had. I had an IKEA cart that I used to put the enlarger on top (and was the perfect size for the baseboard), and the Nova vertical processor underneath, so the whole kit could be wheeled in and out in a few minutes. When not in use, the remaining kit could be wheeled into the walk-in closet in the master bedroom for storage.