Sewing Rooms

I'd go for the basement if it was light (windows, view, lighting, etc.) and dry. I like being off by myself to really get 'deep' into my quilting. Basements tend to be cool and irons and lots of lights produce heat. But available storage would be a consideration, too. A bedroom would have a closet that could have shelves in it for fabric, etc. Carpet is not the best flooring for a sewing area- as you know.

Big decision but it sounds like fun! Good luck!

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

I'd go for the unfinished basement and "finish" it the way you want. It is probably farther away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the house so you are more likely to have uninterrupted time where you can spread out without having anyone mess with your mess.

Trixie

You have to ask yourself how many times a day do you want to go up and down those stairs. If the bedroom was big enough I'd probably pick it. I would rather be upstairs where the kitchen and bathroom are.

Ms P

My goodness! TAKE the bedroom. What difference does it make if there's a carpet in there? It will be kinder to your body. My major alarm here is our friend Susan's sewing area/basement flooding. Twice, I think. Oh. The agony of it all. What if you broke your leg and couldn't do the stairs? That's happened here more than once too. You'll want one of those acrylic things to put beneath your SM chair. Might want one of those nice pads to put where you stand at your cutting table. No problem. Nobody has ever died from vacuuming threads and snips from a carpet. Polly

I've sort of been in both.

First I was in the basement. Ours is pretty huge but also finished. All I had to do was install nice ceiling lights with the help of my Dad and it was ready to go. Big sliding glass door plus a window gave me lots of natural light. Yes, I had carpet over hardwood but I guess I the rare weird quilter who likes carpet :-) Big walls for design wall. Lots of floor space for spreading out or basting or setting up another table and having a friend sew.

Then came the extra bookcases, then the video games then more and then a keyboard and then the stationary bicycle and the rowing machine and finally the elliptical was the last straw. My big basement space had shrunk way, way down to bedroom size.

So, I moved up to a bedroom.

Now I have a walk in closet for everything to store. Yes, I like things out of sight or I get too distracted and never finish anything :-) It's warmer upstairs. The bathroom is next door instead of one flight up. There's a phone jack so I don't have to remember to take a portable down (and back up) with me. I still need to get a better light installed and put a design wall up but it's pretty wonderful to be in a bedroom.

So, my first question to you would be exactly how "unfinished" is it? Do you have light, comfortable floors that you can lay things out on for basting or whatever? Is it warm enough? Do you have budget to finish it off so it is a nice work area? Is there adequate electrical? If you are a quilter who needs TV to listen to or computer connections are there the proper outlets for all of that? Are you going to exhaust yourself running up and down stairs to deal with people at the door, children, dinner making, laundry and all the other sundry things that go on while we are trying to quilt?

While the bigger space is really great. You want it to be comfortable working space so that you actually love to spend time there.

marcella

Cindy,

By all means, pick the HUGE bedroom. I sew in the basement and it's not very comfortable. We would need to have some major work done to make it comfortable for any sort of activity really. There are not enough electrical outlets, not enough light, the floor is always cold, and I feel like I'm being sent down to the dungeon at times. I would love to have a huge bedroom for sewing.

Judie

Cindy, is there a way for you to try sewing in the basement for a week or two to see how it works for you?

Judie

THat was kind of my thought too, Polly. I'd also go for the room with the best light, most comfortable heat/air.

Sherry

I went for the bedroom also. It's closer to the bathroom, has better light, and I don't feel so totally shut off from the rest of the house. A plastic floor protector for your chair should make it slide around easily. Good luck! Donna

my vote goes for the bedroom upstairs where it is probably warmer, already finished, closer to toilet, kitchen, phone, etc. as for downstairs i'd think it might be damper or prone to flooding if that happens around your area. also standing on concrete flooring, even if there was a carpet isnt much fun after a while. yup, my vote is for the bedroom. seems a no-brainer to me. j.

"Cindy Schmidt" wrote... If you were given the chance to have a sewing room all to yourself ~ would you pick an extra "bedroom" that is HUGE or would you go straight for the unfinished basement????

I have that decision to make here shortly and I'm torn as to what I want to do. The extra "bedroom " is carpeted which I swore I would never have in a sewing area again but it's brand new carpet and my DH would kill me if I took it up.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sewing space is the corner of my bedroom and I'm fairly happy with that, we have a big bedroom (like stupid big, we don't have a big house, but our master bedroom is a quarter of it), it's all about light for me, our bedroom is my favourite room of the house, it's south facing and basically functions like a living room that happens to have a bed in it. I need cosy and light, it would be a rare basement that did that. I have several of those plastic thingies you put under chairs, which solves most of the carpet issue. It's a personal thing, you might have to spend some time in the house to get a feel of it before you decide.

Cheers Anne

I converted an extra bedroom for mine. I have too much going on in the basement, to also add quilting to the mix. Bicycles, woodworking, exercise room, laundry washing and drying, ect. If I had the choice, I would love to build a separate building just for Quilting. I would Position it just so, to take advantage of scenic views and natural lighting. That would be my ultimate choice. I built just such a room for my wife, back when we lived in California. It was about 12' x 24' and about 30 steps away from the house, in a patch of trees with a gorgeous view. I originally intended it for myself, but she talked me into giving it to her for her Genealogy research, and that was that. The things one does for Love! John

I would choose the bedroom, because not only would the basement quite probably feel less "personal" and "cosy", but I would be tempted to fill it with fabric... and I already need to use what I have, not buy more. It all comes down to what amount of space you think you need, and will allow for your creativity without 1) stifling you or 2) inviting you to just fill it with more stuff!

-- Jo in Scotland

Roberta ~

Funny you should mention extra bedroom. The new house if you include this room will have 5 bedrooms. Why - hell if I know. I fell in love with the house from the minute I seen it online and we lost it once due to someone putting a contract on it but then they lost it because they were stupid. So I wasn't going to let it go a second time. I thought at our age we would be downsizing, but nooooooooo not in our case - we went way up in size. Oh well. Four extra bedrooms for plenty of visitors.

Wow ... I guess we'll have to plan a quilting retreat for RCTQ at your new place! Good luck with the moving and all. Pat in Virginia

On Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:55:18 -0500, Cindy Schmidt wrote (in article ):

Is the basement possibly going to be finished to your liking, with the lighting you want, for a sewing room?

Maureen

I would pick the bedroom for better light and closet space.

As far as the carpet goes, you could 'accidentally' overturn a can of paint on the floor. You would want to paint your new sewing room your favorite color, right? On the other hand, carpet is easier to stand on for a long period of time.

OMG - my DH would have my head. I actually like the color of the "extra" room....The owner did a good job of rehabbing it.

I'm really leaning towards the bedroom. It's HUGE if I didn't mention that before and I LOVE to be barefoot which is such a no-no and it's all done. I won't have to do anything to it except maybe a couple more shelves. But it has a total of 4 closets. The things I could "hide" in there........the thoughts are endless.