I sew in a corner of our basement family room. We have a walkout and my machine sits so that I look into the back yard. When we finished our basement a few years ago we painted the concrete walls with some sort of water blocker (check Lowes and Home Depot) before the framing and insulation went in so I feel quite secure about no water, esp in our drought this summer. If you don't have space for a family room maybe you can have an extra chair and a TV for "visitors" to keep you company while you sew.