If the concrete is in good shape, I'd acid stain in a light color and seal. Inexpensive, durable and beautiful. A few area rugs for color and warmth and to keep your chair from traveling too quickly.

Interesting question. My sewing space is in a walkout basement space. It has carpet-very low loft and I really like it. It is easy on the legs when I am standing for cutting and pressing (and doing my ironing). I have an office mat under my sewing machine area and my office style chair rolls around easily. Most of the pins I drop are on the office mat and I use a hand held magnet wand to pick them up. It is easy to vacuum and we use a hand held brush to pick up threads.

I would use a fairly flat carpet. I have laminate in my sewing room & find my chair rolls around when I am quilting.

I'm in an apt. with low pile carpeting in my sewing room. I hate the carpeting! Back problems make it difficult to roll the chair and stool without a lot of effort. I've tried putting larger casters on both and it hasn't worked. I would not put carpeting in there.

Maybe carpet where you'll be standing a lot like a thick area rug that you can easily remove if it gets wet. Sit in your chair and see how easily you can move. not very or too easy like if you cough you're sailing across the room.

The chair floor mats used in offices are a must for any type flooring. Repetitious movement of the chair will scar the floor over time.

We re-did our basement last year and that's where my sewing room is now. We went with epoxy floors. They painted the floors and then added sprinkles. It's really easy to keep clean with a swiffer. I'd be afraid carpet would hold onto a lot of threads and snippets. I do need a clear plastic floor protector under my chair though, as the rolling chair was starting to make marks on the floor.

I would avoid shag or high loft carpeting.

We bought a carpet remnant that was meant for high traffic commercial areas - it has held up well for over 20 years.

Getting a bit tired of it, but it shows no traffic or chair wear at all.

We had a short napped carpet and it was impossible to keep clean. We went to laminate flooring and we love it! It's from Lowe's. We have 2 office chairs and three 8 foot tables and 2 recliners and nothing has left a mark. (including cat accidents). I'm sure other big chain stores also carry good quality.

My thoughts exactly. And if it happens to flood down there, cement is easiest and cheapest to clean. We had laminate in our kitchen for 10 years and it was durable and easy to clean, but to drop something on it is so loud! A penny, a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, a ruler, and let's not get me started on the dog's nails. And laminate can be slippery. Cement has a bit more traction.