Post #761503 by bobtiki on Sat, Mar 26, 2016 8:26 PM

The nook area isn't done, by any means, but I think I'm going to call it useable again.

Let's start with the good picture:

Some cables need to be hidden, but I think it's starting to look rather decent. :)

Since last we met, I've been busy, so this will be a photo-heavy post.

Got the rest of the new wood shelves cut and stained and urethane'd. I found it handy to screw loosely into the back of the shelves that were going to be against the wall, so I could stand them off a bit and get to all of the surfaces:

Set them outside for about three days under the porch awning, so the urethane could outgas for a while, and then brought them inside and mounted them:

Next up was getting the faerie light-style LEDs re-mounted to the bottom of the duct. Some big strapping zip-ties (24" “Duct Fastener” model) provided the framework, and up they went:

Only, I want to hide all of that, so I took the scrap wood that had been temporarily holding the shelves, and put together a little structure that would friction-fit over the face of the duct, and provide a little decor. Needs some finishing touches, but seems to fit ok:

The glass shelves for the mugs had gone back up, but I want to hide those a bit as well. I built three shelf-edge facades out of thinner bamboo, which serves to:

A) Hide the fact that the shelves are glass
B) While still allowing light to pass through the levels, and
C) Shielding the LEDs on the shelves from direct view, so you only see the effects.

Next I put some reed above the LEDs, basically a friction fit by pushing the fat little LEDs through the reed. The bamboo facade also holds up the front edge of the reed a bit.

After that, I put the little rattan balls back on the LEDs, and sprayed all of this kindling with fire retardant spray — which kinda leaves a bit of crusty white residue on everything, so I'm not super thrilled about that, but it's not too noticeable, and better than burning down my house, I guess.

After that, I got the Raspberry Pi back in place, and power going to the LEDs in a safer way then running it through the breadboard, and the result is as you see above! You can see the code I'm using on the RPi on my Github page for this project, if you want the technical nitty gritty.

Here's a rough panoramic view so far, with a crappy work light standing in for where I'd like to place an amber fish float lamp. I also put a woven hat over the ugly bare bulb on the right, until I can get together a proper lamp shade for that spot:

Lots of little touches yet to come, not to mention hooking up a smoke machine and programming some lighting events with the volcano and such.

ALSO, I am not sticking with the “Lava Lounge” name for the overall space (including the screening room) since it has some unpleasant connotations that I had forgotten about. That said, I would like to stick with something volcano-themed. Suggestions welcome! JenTiki came up with Kapu Kilauea, which is a strong contender so far, but I'd love to hear some more ideas. :D