RonieM

How many of you have had an addition added onto your house for the sole purpose of it being your new sewing room?

What difficulties (if any) did you encounter?

What do you think you did very well?

What do you think you could have done better?

Any tips you'd like to share?

Rhonda K

Are you planning an addition? Our addition wasn't for a sewing room. We added a den 16x 25 across the back of our house. A screen porch of 16 x 16 continues the addition. This has become where we spend most of our time.

I would start a dream notebook with ideas an inspiration. You will want to use a good scale for determining the size. Don't make the room long and skinny. Use a measurement that already comes close to that length to avoid waste of materials.

Plan your room according to your needs or zones. How much space do you need for sewing activities? What machines do you use in your sewing room? Any future plans for specific machines? What are your storage needs?

Put electrical outlets at counter height. I would do a quad outlet or even a tower plug outlet. Consider your lighting requirements and perhaps a lighting planner. There is a formula for lumens for the size of the room.

Think about the window treatments and size of each window. Larger windows costs more to decorate,

Good luck!

QuiltE

No, I have not had the joy of planning an addition, especially for a sewing room.

However ... the secret to your success will be to plan, plan, plan ... and plan some more!
Then when you think you have it ... plan more again!

Take your time ... and do it right, so you don't have your druthers later.

The thing is, what is right for one person, is not necessarily right for you and your life.

What I have done when doing major renos (next thing to a total new build) ...
I start with the dream listing along with a file folder where I put brochures, magazine pics etc. with no true decisions made. Just possibilities that are in the running. You can chuck the no-goes, later!

When you are ready to move forward, get out the graph paper and start drawing out what you want. Check the measurements and space needed with what you already have and what works ... or know what needs to change.

As you get closer ... start mentally living in your new room.
What I mean is that everything you do, you mentally think you are in your new room, and where it is or where it will be put as you put it away. Before long, you will start to find what's not going to work. Or what is missing in your new plans.

That's when you start re-planning.
... and keep doing again and again and again ... til you have it right!
Repeat .... as many times as is necessary!!!

Enjoy planning your dream room!

lots2do

We recently had a small addition added to our little cottage- bumping out seven feet along the width of our house allowed us to add space to the kitchen, main bathroom and our bedroom. We also squeezed a tiny house half bath off of our bedroom. I also gained a good size closet and a sewing nook with a built in counter for sewing and storage for fabric and supplies. Now, I'm sure you are thinking of something on a grander scale but we are thrilled with our extra space. I'm looking forward to having a dedicated space for sewing away from other family business. Good luck.

wesing

We closed in a garage and had it finished by a very good handyman. The shape was already determined and I had an idea where the quilting frame would go. We planned around that, but ended up changing to a different layout after the fact. I had a plug installed in the ceiling that now gets very little use. There are only two things I would change. I would install double or triple the lights we have. We had the foresight to put our lights on dimmers, but what we thought was plenty of light has turned out to be less than ideal. The other change I would make is to the floor. Since it was a garage it has a slope to it so water drains toward the wall where the door was. My handyman offered to use a leveling product on the floor, but it took days to dry and we were already needing to move things into the space (baby was 2 months old and we were tripping over stuff in the house). I'm guessing that won't be an issue for you.

Some of the things we did right: lots of plugs (every 6 feet I think), One wall of upper and lower cabinets with plugs between and a counter top for work/storage of "everyday" tools, made a cutting island out of 4 base cabinets on wheels, plug in the ceiling for Quilter, large windows, LED lights, hard surface floor for easy cleaning, but we do have one large area rug, separate circuit for a small fridge and another separate circuit for the Quilter, a cable outlet for TV, excessive insulation and a hotel-type heat/air unit that serves only that room, cabinetry has door, and also drawers for storing smaller things like blades, needles, pens/pencils, patterns, feet, etc.

I know a lot of people agonize over size, layout, and such, but I really think you cover the big things in planning, then adapt to your space as you use it and fine tune.

Have fun planning your new space!

canmitch1971

Our house had an attic that was totally unfinished. We had a carpenter come in and finish it off for me. It has 3 dormers so one is a small bathroom, one is where my sewing machine is and the last one used to have a small computer desk and computer. One whole wall is shelves and closet.. I love it.

sewnclog

Years ago I added onto my garage; we'd originally had a 6' x the length of the garage added to the side of the garage; with an in wall heater/ac unit; after my husband passed away I had that ac unit removed and a wide doorway put in and a 14x14 foot room built in behind it; first off too many windows so very little wall space; the drawback was i had to go through the garage to get to the room; later I had the deck removed from the back and a 15 x 30 foot room added that adjoined the previously added room. I've since migrated into the bigger room; the original room - too small. I wish now i'd made it 25 x 25; so per others suggestions, yes plan, plan, plan - a lot. If you put in a built-in sewing cabinet/table; have the outlets just above the table tops; easy to get too; all mine are about 36-40 inches above the floor. I have carpet in mine; I think now I'd opt for some sort of wood laminate. But always as my mom said, too soon old, too late smart. I do wish I'd planned better. Good luck and how fun for you!

sewnclog

Also, add plenty of led lighting; fluorescent lighting can fade fabric - I did Not know that when I had my original lighting put in and I wish I'd had more but I can live with it - like I have a choice! I have since changed out All my bulbs in the house to leds. Love them.

lawsonmugs

I for one would love to see some of these renews or rebuilds. Pictures give more ideas.

bearisgray

You might consider getting industrial steel shelving that is adjustable - the kind that does not have screws.

It comes in various sizes and one can change the shelf height - relatively easily. I have the kind that one assembles with a rubber mallet. If you get the 24 x 48 x 84 inch size - it goes together much easier with two people doing it. (I did put that size together when I was much younger and in a stubborn (stupid) mode - but I finally decided to ask for help with the next ones!)

Fabric is heavy. Depending on what brand you get, I think different colors are available. The metal parts of my shelving were painted blue.