I would take more room in a heartbeat. I've never had a basement, but I think that you've gotten good suggestions. As for flooring, personally I would go for a laminate over carpet.

There are great phone systems that need only one phone line coming into your house. The base phone goes there and you can have 4 or 5 more phones that only need an electrical outlet and you can put them in any room. I got one of these systems and put one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom and one in my sewing room. My husband swears that if he is the only one home and goes into the bathroom the phone always rings. Solved his problem and mine in the sewing room.

I have my sewing studio in the basement and love it. I don't have to have it spotless all the time, and I have room to stretch out. Lighting is fixed with track lighting or whatever. My spot is toasty in the winter, the wood stove is right behind my machine. I do keep a dehumidifier going in the summer and a humidifier going all winter. I am just planning on painting the paneling that is down there. It isn't dark, I'm just tired of it.
I say, go for it. For more space, you can work through the rest as you come across it.

There's a phone in the family room, just a few steps from the 'exercise room'. AND, there is a gas stove (fireplace thingy) in the family room, too, in case heat becomes an issue.

This might just be the way to go! Keep sharing, I need all the ideas I can get! :)

we bought a home with an unfinished basement and DH built me a sewing room. I have a large window which is great, and now that the rest of the basement has been finished, there's a fridge in the Billiards Room and a bathroom, so I never really need to go upstairs. He even got a thing for our doorbell, so I can hear it now downstairs. I live in Minnesota, so it does get cold on my feet sometimes, but I keep a small space heater in my room, because I don't like to wear shoes when I sew (or in the house at all). Keeps my tootsies toasty warm. I also have a nice large island style cutting table with tons of storage and great cabinets I got off Craigslist for a steal. Love my space!! Have fun with yours!

I sew in my basement It is a totally unfinished space with cinder brick walls and a concrete floor. I painted the walls cheery colours and bought 4 nice utility lights from COSTCO and they are hanging about my cutting table and my mid-arm. I love it down there! I don't have to keep it tidy! I have my laundry down there too, so I get the laundry done while sewing. I have a dehumidifier running all the time to keep the moisture down and it does help to keep it warmer in the winter. I bought a set of rubber mats that connect together like a puzzle and use that to stand on at my cutting table and at my mid-arm. They keep the floor cushioned and warm. I don't have to worry about spray basting down there or using my starch.

My sewing room is in the basement. Move your computer down there too!! I hate overhead lighting so I have task lighting in several places in the room. I have an Ott light over the cutting table and one on my machine desk. I even have a clip on lamp on my fabric shelves. It is quite a bit colder down here during the winter so I have one of those oil radiator space heaters in here and it keeps it nice and toasty even on low. But being cooler in the summer is a bit advantage! I painted the room a sunny yellow to help brighten it up overall since there's just one small window in this room. I really love having the space I need instead of being crammed into a small bedroom. This room is the biggest of the bedrooms in the house. The family room is down here too so my hubby is downstairs when he's home too.

My sewing room is in the basement. If I leave the door open, I can see out the back door (walk out basement), but my feeling is "who cares?" I turn on my music and rarely look up. I have a door to the main part of the basement, french doors to a bedroom, door to the bathroom and two bi-fold closet doors and still have room for a design board. I also have a tv, phone, BIG cutting table, two ironing boards and my sewing machine and small desk.
The walls are light grey so as not to show fabric colors wrongly and I have eight lights in the ceiling and one ott lamp. The basement is dry but yes, my feet are a little cold in winter. I don't feel isolated, I feel great that I now have my own space!

I was just wondering about the humidity. My needles rusted on my sewing machine UPSTAIRS in the summer. Can you beat that? I wonder what it did to my sewing machines.

I don't like carpet in a sewing area because of all the snips of thread and fabric which can be more easily cleaned up on tile. I've found the thick foam puzzle pieces, like for kids rooms, are great to stand on and are also easy to clean. You can sometimes find them at resale shops at very cheap pricing.