Probably a stupid question.....

Just look at the "footprint" of the lathe under consideration. You turn from one side, the side that suits your hand and perhaps only one, as some lathes do not reverse, making it safer for the user of chucks and such to turn without pre-planning.

I'm turning up to 400 mm in diameter and 600 long in a space roughly 1.3 meters by 1.5, and that includes space for my girth to snuggle up to my Nova

3000. The "mini" lathes have smaller footprints.

You want to get as close as you can to the "front" of the lathe, and have only as much space as you need to swing the piece or turn the head if your lathe is one like that. Makes cleanup easier, too, because you can catch the majority of shavings without sweeping. Just extend the legs of your stand to the swing of your lathe plus perhaps 20% out front for stability, and then hang a cabinet under and behind to store the things you displace.

Modest, and I _do_ mean modest example here :

Proof of concept in progress, as I never seem to get to the polished cabinetry part. Sturdy and functional, though.

Mine's up against a post in my basement. If you have a 12" swing, you need only 6" clearance from the centerline back. Most lathes need more than that just for the legs. In this respect, it's much like a jointer - it can be up against a wall because you can't use "that side" anyway.

The other side of the pole has my bandsaw; the saw's upright blocks wood there anyway. The drill press and scroll saw are up against walls. The router table and table saw are out on the open.

If the side you want is farthest away from you, just wait. it'll come around soon enough.

My lathe stays against the wall about 60% of the time. When hollowing vases and similar objects where hollowing needs to be done through a hole smaller than the cavity inside, I pull the tail end of the lathe out about two feet so that I have more room for the chisel handles. It goes back in place when I'm through. In any case, I've never found a real benefit to going behind the lathe for much but cleaning. And if you get a Delta midi or Jet mini lathe, they're small and light enough (about 70 punds) that you could reasonably store one under a benchtop, and still do a lot of fun stuff with them- despite thier small size, they're both serious tools that are bult well, and worth the investment- especially as a first lathe, until you decide what you enjoy turning. After you figure out what you like to do, then you can upgrade to a larger and/or more specialized lathe with a little more information at your disposal- they're expensive tools, so it really pays to know what you want and need before you go all out.

the first thing to do is too see if you really enjoy doing it, take a course in it and see if you enjoy it, if you do go from there, get a lath and move it until you are happy with its location, make sure you have good lighting, and go to it, turn out some nice pieces, I make alot of stuff for Christmas gifts, it makes them more special for the ppl that you give them to....