I need some more information on the type of hobby/craft. Scrapbooking, quilting, painting? Do items needs to be left out between work times or can everything be easily put away? What is your tolerance level for looking at the stuff left out? How well will the craft co-exist with the work space needed for jobs? Not knowing the activity makes it hard to suggest storage options. That said, I found once the kids started crawling, my hobby did not work well for the open space of my dining room. I quilt and was interrupted too frequently. Had to make sure all of the pins, threads, scissors, etc. were put away. As soon as they were toddlers, someone was always messing with my machine tension. You have a year until you might have someone crawling around. Do you want the baby in the dining room space or could you easily close it off with a door or gate? If not, then I would vote for the craft space to be up in the extra bedroom for now until you need that room. While you may use it more frequently close to the kitchen for next few months, it could be short-term use anyway. Depending upon the temperment of the baby, you may not have much time or energy. How would you feel about moving everything upstairs later, or would you prefer everything in place now? Gloria

I have a large office type desk for my sewing machine.it has 5 drawers in it,then across the room i have a conference table that DH made leg extensions for so it would be counter height.I do a lot of sewing and quilting as well. If money and space was no object,i'd like to have one of the larger size kitchen islands in the center of my floor for cutting,and i'd like it to have lots of drawers underneath for storage.I would keep my machine as is,as it is in front of a large window that looks out over my gardens. When i want to do other work at my desk,i just shove my machine to the back of the desk.I also have my serger set up on my cutting table at one end,and i did this so that i would have to get up to use it,and that way i'm not continually sitting.I always stand up to serge.Of course my iron board is at the other end of the room. I plan to redo my room in the next few months,and have already started weeding it out.But unfortunately i still won't be able to afford the counter.Oh well,i'll survive,at least i have a designated room for my sewing and crafts. kathi

It's the darn mudding and sanding that is holding everything up!!! Decided today that my craft table will be 4ftx6ftx35"h! 4x4legs, 3/4inch plywood top and shelf,2x4 construction, wheels and a 2" lip all around to add my magnifying lights. Plus I am going to make specialty shelves for mosaic supplies: 4ft tall x 2ft wide x 6" deep. Table and shelves are not included in the craft room conversion budget...Bad Jane...Scheming out loud... Oh! And I just got a cool idea for a coffee table! I want to have two comfy chairs and a book shelf coffee table so I bought these 2ftx2ft bookshelves, will screw them back to back, put plywood on bottom and top, add wheels for turning and TADA! A cool coffee table/bookshelf! Now that's gotta be mosaiced!!! Tonight I gotta do a bit of sanding, prime the walls, clean up the floor(very messy drywall!!) Tomorrow and next day paint baseboard and walls(DH has abandoned me for work!) Long handled paint roller is my friend now!!! Did I mention I'm wheel obsessed? I seem to want wheels on Everything! I've been looking for just the right(right priced)chair to sit up to the craft table. Like Gretch's!

I'm with those who've suggested creating a dual-purpose room. It sounds like you would use the crafting/project space, so why not set up half the room (or at least a corner) with a work space for yourself, and find some (gently used) fitness equipment your husband wants? Then you could see how you end up using the room before devoting more space than necessary to one purpose or the other. When I'm ready for another area to have to clean and maintain (which won't be for at least a couple of years), we'll finish our basement. We have the floor plan roughly worked out, and one room will be a combined fitness and project room. Right now the fitness stuff is set up in a corner of the unfinished basement and only sees use on the coldest mornings of the year, or occasionally when the kids are playing down there and it's too hot to run outside. I'm not sure it will get much more use even when finished as I'd much rather be outside moving around, but it's nice to have during periods of extreme weather. My sewing machine is now in a corner of our bedroom that's not ideal, but better than having it shut up somewhere. Projects end up all over the house, spread out in the living room or dining room. There's a kids craft table spackled and ready to be sanded sitting in the middle of the living room as I type. I know I would use a project space if I had a designated one, but the thought of having to clean (and decorate!) the basement when I'm still working on the main floors is too much for me at the moment.