New Booth!

A while back I had posted about how I was designing and building a new booth. Well, with the application of cash, it's humming along nicely. I've acquired the new curved-roof canopy with vents and a skylight, and all of the drapes for the inside. I also designed and created a sturdy, invisible curtain-rod system that lets drapes turn corners without a seam.

Here's the computer mockup I made so that I could take virtual measurements and count parts.

Here's the real frame set up in the studio with the old drapes so I could double-check everything and build a new curtain-rod system before ordering new drapes.

Then the drapes arrived. Oh, joy! They'll never be folded this neatly again.

Here's how my drape system handles corners. Seamlessly!

Here's the booth set up outside for a dry run. In this shot, the drapes are 8' tall. It's too much. The space feels a little intimidating and the ceiling is so high that I would need a real ladder if I had to work on lights during a show. This is no good so I hemmed up all of the drapes and dropped the booth down to 7' tall.

And, finally, here it is set up at its first real show. See how bright and spacious the ceiling is? There's a skylight and vents up there.

There are a few things left to upgrade:
- Decoration. I'm using my old booth decoration - photos of my work mounted on a scarf, hanging dress form, etc. These will be replaced with large professional photos.
- Lighting. A few years ago I bought super-cheap clip lights for a dark indoor show. They look terrible in such a beautiful booth and will be replaced with nice track lights when I can afford it.
- Podium. My podium weighs a ton and does not collapse when I pack the van. This needs to change when I can afford it.

We have a real threat of rain this weekend so I used the back wall to create a sheltered room for back stock and booth parts. This was only possible because the new drapes are opaque so they serve as an effective back wall.

And then I slid one of the drapes over so I could watch for customers while cutting the last set of shawls. Better late than never!