You could call me a serious amateur and I have done two very cheap set ups similar to what the article describes. First Setup: Windowless bathroom What I lear

You could call me a serious amateur and I have done two very cheap set ups similar to what the article describes. First Setup: Windowless bathroom What I learned from this is that you need a really rock solid bench or counter to put your enlarger on or very small vibrations from focusing or triggering the timer might cause blur in the printed image. Monorail designs like the one in the article are very prone to this already. Second setup: A basement I went to an art supply store with a flashlight and inspected each piece of cardboard they sold until I found one that the light did not shine through (Elemer's, I think). I cut these to the size of my windows and then used electrical tape to make a light tight seal. Electrical tape is just terrible for this but it blocks the light. I had a nice bench for the enlarger and a table for the trays. There was a utility sink already installed that I used to rinse my prints and film. This was way better than a bathroom, but it was not dark enough to change film because of the pilot light on the hot water heater. Future: My plans are on hold at the moment, however, I now have a basement with a great room for a dark room with nearby access to water and sewer. I'm planning to go the whole nine yards this time and install a dark room sink plus dedicated lighting and ventilation. Not exactly a $100 project though.