So, after thinking about it for a few weeks, I've decided to splurge and get all-matching furniture for my side of the room. (Wife is content with the furniture on her side.) I'll need to wait until my desk arrives before placing the second order because I won't know until then whether I can modify the tackboard I bought or if a different one will need to be ordered (save on freight costs if a replacement is ordered with the additional furniture). I've changed my mind about a 72" tackboard with a 72" desk - it's just way more tackboard space than I'll ever need and covering it with replica Trek fabric will be costly, so I've decided on a smaller size which will be more reminiscent of the TOS wall panels and then can be resurfaced from only 1 yard of fabric.
In the same spirit of showing "before pics" as in the first post, here is how the old furniture looked (old desk barely visible on the left, 3D printing workbench in the middle, cheap bookcase slightly visible on the right). The smaller 3D printer on the right has already sold to make room for a resin printer.
What a mess! The new workbench will have full doors on its front and look much "cleaner", and being in the same gray color and style as the desk will have better continuity and theming on that side of the room.
I am open to opinions on what color to make the new 3D printer workbench top. The gray desk's top is wood-grained in the same color as Kirk's desk in his quarters. On one hand I'm leaning towards a gray countertop in keeping with the style of Kirk's quarters where all his non-desk cabinetry has gray tops. On the other hand I'm leaning towards a charcoal-color countertop in keeping with the style of TOS science labs:
Although the charcoal countertop would be appropriate for the type of work (play?) being done on that workbench, I'm a little concerned about "color mashup" because the workbench will flush up against the desk (same height, probably same depth) so introducing a 3rd color could be a little much.
Wood-grain desktop beside gray workbench top (color samples from manufacturer brochure, bottom half represents furniture front face):
Wood-grain desktop beside charcoal workbench top (color samples from manufacturer brochure, bottom half represents furniture front face):
I don't fancy a wood-grain top for the workbench because the grain would run perpendicular to the desk's return surface (which I don't think would look so great) and doesn't align with its function:
Which do you think would look better and why? I'm leaning toward charcoal despite becoming a 3-color scheme because there would then be functionality distinction on the same-plane work surfaces - oak woodgrain for the "administrative" area (computers, laser printer, Alps printer), charcoal for the "making" area (3D printers), and gray for the "storage" areas (desk drawers and hutch, workbench cabinets, bookcase).
