IMHO——The key to owning a longarm is to get what you want. As for recommended space..............I have a 12’ frame and I have about 3 feet to work on each side. One end of the frame is against the wall with a 3.5” clearance on the other end because of heating ducts. I have casters on my frame so I can move one end to angle the frame in my space so I can work on the back of the machine. It is not a huge home but I make it work!!!! I love having my own machine. (I rented before I purchased. I Quilted charity quilts to get a feel/control of the machine). If you are able to do that in your area .............it was a great plan for me.

I'm absolutely certain that my cats would love a big hammock like that. We have one guest room that we always keep closed so that a visitor won't have to sleep with cat hair. I think Lizzie the calico knows the sound of that particular door latch because although I can usually be vigilant and keep her from going in with me, as I come out, there she is waiting for the opportunity to dash around my feet and hide under the bed where I can't reach her. There's nothing in there that would attract her, but it's territory she wants to establish as her own. I could put a longarm in that room and give up the guest bed, but I don't think it would completely solve the cat problem.

Buy the largest throat space you can afford. Not only will a 16” throat size have to be rolled many more times than a larger throat space would, the designs you’re able to use will have to be very small. And as you reach the end of the quilt, you’ll find very little room left to quilt as the rolled finished quilt will take up a massaive amount of the throat space.

I agree with this. I have an 18-8 and a larger reach than that simply made my freehand stitching too difficult to control. Need my arms to be relaxed. I always work from the front of my machine though.