We thought about that also. Went so far as to draw up plans. Then we got contractors to give us estimates, it was very cost prohibitive. Long arm is in the Master bedroom.

Don't know where you live and the weather, but a friend of mine added a large room to her house for her sewing studio. The front wall was all glass windows and a sliding door she could exit from onto the patio. I loved to visit and go in there - you could sit, sew or quilt, and it was almost like you were outdoors!

Thank you for all of the replies. DH and I live in a rural subdivision, with no covenants, just 20 minutes north of Indianapolis.

I found a house that I would love to live in, that is just north of where we are now, 35 minutes north of Indianapolis, we go to Indpls for Dr. appointments, groceries, dinner out, etc. This house was built in 1921, 4 bed, 2.5 bath remodeling but not to the point of removing the charm of the hardwood floors and tall baseboards. It has a unfinished half basement, I am unaware of the condition. DH is 65 and still working full time, I am 61, not working, am a Retired realtor.

We have considered permits, codes, double hung or casement, is my furnace large enough to cover the addition?

We are still in the think about stages, but I can not leave this long arm in my living room.

Thanks again for the good advice,

JulieM

Maybe this doesn't apply to where you live, but when we added on we could only add one more bedroom. Why? The septic tank size was only big enough for 3, not 4.
Who knew the number of bedrooms determined that??!??

I am in a similar situation. We have decided to add a room over our garage which will need a shed dormer and Windows as well as insulation, heat, etc. It will be approximately 22 x 26 but I don't have any other place in our late 1700's home for a LA. I have rented an APQS over the past couple of years but it has become inconvenient and the drive is about 40 minutes to the longarmer's home. Good luck on your decision.

This is off the subject a tad, but I think I am as excited as you are and I have solved my problem. I took out two or three shrubs yesterday (from the front of the house under the two windows) and for a 78 year old broad, not too easy, especially since I still have the roots and lilies and violets to get out yet. I just wanted something different to look out the window too, so I called my handy-dandy (my jack of all trades) and he is going to build me a window box 70" long to fit under the window and then for Christmas I will put in greens and lit "icicles" and in the summer (being that it is facing east), I will put in either Impatiens or Vincas and then put in a whole garden of the same flowers underneath it. One project is expensive and requires a lot of planning, like yours, and one is inexpensive and requires little planning, but is just as exciting as the other. I would like more room too, but I can't push out the front because on our block all houses are the same distance back from the sidewalk! Good luck to you.
Edie

We did this about 8 years ago and have not regretted it for one second. But we had other things to consider as we still had many children still living at home. But, we built a huge exercise room on the first floor that has a large bathroom, (built handicap accessible, in case any of our parents or relatives needed to come live with us), a washer/dryer combo closet, and a refrigerator closet. My long arm machine lives in this room along with all the thread and rolls of batting.

Above that we added 3 bedrooms, one of which is my sewing room. At one point it had a queen size guest bed in there, but as the children have married off we moved it out to the unoccupied room. I would give up my sewing room if I had to, but so far it has not been needed (it is the largest of the 3 new rooms). We did need to replace the heat pump/AC unit to accommodate the addition, but the new ones are so energy efficient that our electric bill has gone down 50% and the house is much cooler because of it.

We were cautioned about resale value, but decided that we wanted it for our needs now and would let the future worry about itself. We have enjoyed our home and there can not be a price on that for me. My daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons just spent the summer with us and 3 days after they left my daughter came with her family to recooperate after having their 5th child. My husband and I have no regrets on our addition. I think in the long run it was cheaper than therapy as I very easily could have lost my mind on any given day.

Hope that helps ~ Pat