I'm just getting my new quilt studio done and arranged the way I think I need it. My sewing table is 26"x60" with a 26"x60" extension that lifts up to use and you can put it down when not in use. I have 3 drawers on the right side and 1 drawer on the left and a lower shelf. I keep all the tools I need for my sewing machine right handy. I love it!! This is adgacent to a big south facing window, which gives me great light during the day and at nite I have a big flexable arm desk type lamp so the light is always where I need it. Behind my sewing table I have a 29"x61" base cabinet which stores all sorts of things including my batting, there's so much room I haven't gotten it all filled YET. The upper cabinets are 13"x48" in which I store most of my fabric stash. On the end is a 12"x13" slotted storage cabinet, which I use for my paper goods, stencils and stablizers. Then to round out my room, I have a 28"x50" cutting table, with storage cabinets beneath it. I store my extra machines in the one side and all my books are easy to find on the shelf on the other side. Yes, I still have alot of space, but I'm sure that won't last long. LOL. My hubby still has to upgrade the outlets, yes I do need more, you can never have enough of those as far as I'm concerned.
Oh yes, I also have a plastic 4 drawer container, which I use for orphan blocks and fabric scraps sorted according to colors. This whole quilt studio cost us less than $150 since my hubby did all the work! We are kind of pack rats on some things and when our kitchen was remodeled in 1990 we had some cabinets that had flaws in them, that I didn't want in my new kitchen. The cabinet company sent new ones and let us keep the 2 that were bad. The other ones my hubby made. I have friends that really like my new studio and want to know if my hubby rents out. Sorry folks he doesn't.
As soon as I get so batteries for my camera, I'll send in some pictures for all to see.
One thing we will do is get more lighting, this is mainly for my night sewing, I just hate having shadows. So far I think that's the only thing I will change.
Everyone has their own way they like to do things and what might work for me might not work for you, but the general ideas might help set the ground work for you new studio BBGirl. Good Luck!!

The main thing is DON'T listen to the electrician when he says you don't need that many electrical outlets in one room because he will say that.

I did my quilting/craft room over last fall. I have a 10'by20'"texas room" An add on room to a mobile home similar to a three season porch but completely closed in. First thing we did was remove the sliding glass door between "my" room and the front tesas room which serves as an extra living or dining room. We left the vertical blinds up so Icould curtain it off when company comes. My favorite thingi is my 5'by 8' design wall. Plywood we used to block another sliding glass door when we are not here but which never seemed to get removed. I covered the plywood with batting and white flannel. I won't be much help on wall colors because my room is 80% windows. I built a new sewing table that 4'x3' and is covered with vynel (floor tiles) and edged with molding so there is nothing to catch cloth on. I made a cut out with a shelf for my sewing machine. The bed of the sewing machine is the same AS the table top. Underneath the table I have room for storing large pieces of fabric and all my fat qtrs in an organized way Only downside is I teachcrafts in our park and have to have space for them so my table is often covered two tables would be great but not enought room. Hope this is useful information contact me if you want to know morel

Robin thanks so much for sharing your experience with me. I like your color idea for the walls. I was going to go with task lighting since I can't afford to have an electrician come in to rewire things. I will check out Quilt University. Thanks for the tip. Enjoy your new workspace!

We just finished adding on to our house so I could have my own quilt studio (I think I'm in heaven). Here's what I did. Because I wanted some color in the room, we painted a couple of the walls in colors I like (muted teal and sand beige) but left the walls nearest my working and design areas an off-white. That way, there is no inadvertant reflection that might "color" my fabric selections. Any color that is pleasing to you and helps to put you in the right frame of mind for quilting can go on the walls.
Be very attentive to the kind of light bulbs you use. Boy, did we ever learn a lot about lighting during this project. To conserve energy and retain nearly true color at the same time, we went with some compact flourescent bulbs in the working space of the room; we used other kinds of energy-saving bulbs where they would not affect how the qults would look.
Quiilt University has an online course, taught by Myrna Giesbrecht, on making over a sewing/quilting room. I took it in the fall and it was very helpful.

I'm making over a spare/guest bedroom into a quilting studio for myself. I would like some feedback as to what is the best color to paint the walls. Also, any tips or suggestions? What is one thing you wish you had done differently in your quilt space and what is one thing you love the most about your space?