Aully

Hey LongArmer Quilters,

I was wondering what you studio or room look's like set up?

We are building a house next summer and I am debating building my studio in the basement or in it's own seperate building behind our home.

Do you use use your studio for personal use or just buisness? I am wanting to use mine for both if possible. But would that interfear with writting off my buisness costs?

Thanks for the help!

Glassquilt

It would in the US. Research your tax info.
Taxes aside. Would it be cost effective to heat/cool a separate building.

feline fanatic

I don't have a studio. My LA took over a spare bedroom in my house. If I was building a home to accomodate a LA I would definitely make the studio big enough to accomodate a 12 to 14' frame. I could only fit a 10' frame in my room. As you can tell it fills the whole room. I have very little in this room other than the LA

quilttiludrop

My Long Arm Quilting Studio is the attached 2 car garage area. My cutting table, storage, and the 12 foot quilting frame fill the whole area nicely. We converted the inside of the garage doors to be a design wall.

caspharm

How big is your basement and how big a frame do you plan to get? Definitely do as Glassquilt suggests by researching taxes issues regarding business vs personal use. There is a difference.

Also, agree with figuring out cost of construction vs remodeling the basement as well as heating and cooling costs before doing anything.

We just moved from a condo(1200 sq ft) to a house(2475+ sq ft). The house has a formal DR/LR that we will never use, so DH had me move in there to use as my studio, and I was finally able to get a LA w/12 ft frame (yeah, no longer have to rent one). We do have a family room and eating area.

susie-susie-susie

If I were building a studio and had anything to choose from, I would put it in the basement. A separate building would be hard to heat in winter and cool in the summer. I would make the basement a walk-out with daylight windows. It would be less humid and wouldn't feel so much like a basement. I would also have a separate entrance if I had a business. Just dreaming.
Sue

Rose L

I have my LA in an alcove off the living room that could be used as a dining room. Since I have a huge eat-in style country kitchen I have my dining furniture in my kitchen. The space was basically useless for us. It's the perfect size for my LA! Adjoining the alcove is a small bedroom that serves as my sewing studio/office/guest room. I've finally gotten it arranged so it flows well and is a pleasure to work in.

If I had a choice I would put my studio on the main level, unless you have an easy to access ground level entrance to the basement, some of your customers may be handicapped or disabled in some way and not be able to go up and down the stairs. I have had the opportunity for a separate studio and have passed simply because I did not want to heat that much additional space.

Sewfine

Don't have one. My sewing stuff is in three different parts of the house. Which I had a room big enough too put everything in the same room.

amandasgramma

My studio is an old wood lean-to off the back of the garage! It is easy walking distance and DH (bless his heart) gutted it and re-walled, put flooring in, etc. It's only 2 feet wider than my longarm table - it's 16 feet long and 8 feet wide. If I had my wish -- I'd have a larger room!!!! I definately need more walking around space. Part of the studio (another 8 feet length is storage) - I'm hoping next summer we can build a shed for the storage and add more space for me!!! :D BTW -- be sure to put in laminate flooring!! I had carpet in there before and it was a pain!!!! I do quilts for a business. I don't know how any place that you put it would interfer with your taxes, etc. You write off a percentage on tax papers. Talk to an accountant to see what your state allows. In our area, you can have an initial meeting for free!

Here's a pic of the studio ---- I've since added two 5 shelf shelves on the left to store customer quilts.

QuiltingGrannie

Here is a pic of my quilt studio aka "Quilter's Pantry" which is my LA/quilting business.
It is set up in our basement with a separate entrance and a separate bathroom for my customers.

The pic was taken before I got quilts hung on the walls.

The other end of the room is my office area and where my fabrics are on wall racks.

I have a Nolting Fun Quilter on a 12' frame with hydraulics so I can mover the LA closer to the wall and fit folding tables in there if/when I teach a quilting class which is what I also hope to do.

My tips:
Check your local and federal rules and regs for running a business. I know each state, and even some towns have separate rules here in the US. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes. Some places require separate entrance/bathroom for customers. Also handicap accessible rules. Parking. etc

If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

Good luck.

Phyllis
QuiltingGrannie
Quilter's Pantry
www.quilterspantry.com