Cartooniverse, do you have a garage of your own – or a designated parking spot at your apartment?
Okay, I’m stealing the following from some on-line magazine and I can’t remember where or when I got the idea so I apologize in advance for the theft:
Purchase (if you don’t already have them)
[ol]
[li]ten or so 8-foot (standard length) 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipes [/li][li]6 corner and 4 T-connectors (at least)[/li][li]plastic sheeting and/or vinyl tarpaulins[/li][li]a hacksaw or rip-saw. A miter-box or chop-saw would be even better[/li][li]a tape-measure[/li][li]a roll of shipping tape[/li][li]a 1-gallon zip-lock bag[/li][/ol]
Build an 8’ x 8’ x 8’ cube with the PVC.
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[li]Design it (on paper, in advance) to include one or two runs of 8’ pipe over the middle of the top of the cube.[/li][li]Put it all together and number, letter, and/or color-code your connections[/li][li]Do NOT glue your connections.[/li][/ol]
When you want to paint,
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[li]Lay down a 10’ x 10’ square of tarp or plastic[/li][li]assemble your 8’ x 8’ x 8’ cube[/li][li]Drape plastic or tarp over the top in 2 directions[/li][li]You might need to create a short wall around the bottom of the perimeter (depending on whether or not the lengths draped over the top will reach the ground. Make sure you include an overlapping section as your door.[/li][li]Use shipping tape to hold the “walls” and “ceiling” onto the PVC from the inside[/li][li]Hang your parts from the (pre-planned) ceiling pipes or set them on a card table.[/li][li]Put on your painters’ safety gear[/li][li]Paint away[/li][/ol]
[I don’t remember how the author ensured a steady supply of oxygen. Maybe she just didn’t stay inside for very long.]
When you are done
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[li]Wait a couple hours for the mist to settle[/li][li]Disassemble the painters’ cube and throw the connectors into a 1-gallon zip-lock bag[/li][li]Strap the 8-foot pipes together with more shipping tape.[/li][li]Stash everything underneath the bed.[/li][/ol]
The author said she used to paint in her master bedroom because it had the most unoccupied room at the foot of the bed.
Since it’s PVC, you can use a hacksaw to adjust the lengths of pipe. Marking your connectors and connections becomes that much more important then. If you skip the ceiling rods for hanging stuff, you don’t need to cut anything and you don’t need the T-connectors.
–G!