My wife and I live in a house with two levels. The main floor (upper level) includes the living and dining rooms, kitchen and breakfast area, master bedroom and bathroom, a half-bath, and a laundry room. Because the property has a fairly dramatic slope, the lower level has large doors that open onto a stone patio. This level also includes a bedroom, bathroom, family room (perhaps called something else where you live; this is the room with the TV, hi-fi, comfy couch and chairs, lots of properly-lighted display space for art, and a corner area I use as office space). This level also includes an unfinished room. When we designed and built the house in 2004, the plan included this room as a third bedroom. We knew we'd never use it for that purpose, and we left it unfinished—bare concrete floor, exposed studs, joists, insulation, etc. It has a large window with a southern exposure, bringing plenty of light into the room and providing emergency egress, as required by building code for any below-grade room that may be used as a bedroom.
When I telecommuted in the tech industry for a company in Ohio, this room was my office, filled with computers and the products on which I worked. When that job ended a few years ago, my wife took over the office space. The room now has her desk, computer, files, phone, bookshelves, etc.
This is also the room where my 7900 lives, and provides storage for my paper, ink, framing and matting supplies, and other printing and display essentials. The printer is on my network, so it doesn't require immediate proximity to my Mac Pro out in the family room area.
We've decided it's finally time to finish the room. It's basically a rectangle, 13 x 15 feet (4 x 4.5 m), with a large walk-in closet. The walls are wood studs with fiberglass bats for insulation. The ceiling is also insulated. With only one exterior wall, the rest of the insulation is for sound, making for a very quiet room. Lighting is provided by two overhead florescent fixtures. The room is bright enough, but not exactly an inviting workspace.
Beginning next week, a contractor will build an additional closet, hang sheetrock (aka "drywall"), paint, and add the finishing trim. Sometime later I'll install a floor (perhaps bamboo—TBD) over the concrete, build some cabinets for storage, and a large work surface for framing and matting. I'll also install track lighting, and hang a large steel panel under a track with dim-able, color-corrected bulbs in track fixtures. I'll be able to hang prints on the panel with magnets, making this area a viewing booth of sorts.
Naturally, before the work can begin, everything must be removed from the room, including the 7900. So far, while installing additional wiring, adding insulation (sound-proofing), and doing other preparations, I've worked around the desk, table, shelf units, and the printer. Finally tired of tripping over stuff, yesterday I began moving things out of the room, including the printer. I moved it into the adjacent room. This area includes my network/audio/video/telephone wiring "closet" and my file servers, the circuit breaker panel for the lower level of the house, and other "mechanical" systems for the house. It's also my main storage area for framed prints. It's a small room, so it's going to be pretty cramped for a while.
After some rearranging to make room in the new location, I unplugged the printer's UPS from the wall outlet. This kept the printer, which is in standby, powered up during the move. It also made the UPS beep at regular intervals, by design a maddening sound. This was incentive to move quickly! The printer rolls very nicely on the hard concrete, but I had to negotiate a tight corner on carpet. This proved to be easier than I expected. I had the printer in place and its UPS plugged in to power in under 10 minutes.
The new location is several degrees warmer, and, according to my hygrometer, a bit more humid than the machine's usual location. The room is not well lit and is currently very crowded. This is far from an ideal situation, but the printer is accessible and, while inconvenient, in theory it can be used. I will make several prints this evening (for a show next weeks) to test that theory.
It'll be a while before I can move the printer back to the newly-finished room. I'm really looking forward to a nice working space, good lighting, a viewing booth, and new wall surface for hanging artwork. In other words, a print studio!
--Jay
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