More Space

For years, I've been wondering if I could convert our garage into a studio for me and then build a new garage for our cars, bicycles, tools, etc. But I didn't dare suggest it to my husband because it would really only benefit me and would be costly. So I've been using our dining room table to do all my work and its surface is usually hardly visible due to all the fabrics, fibers, boxes, sewing machine, etc. on it. I only clean it off when we have guests for dinner. Usually the mess extends into the living room, family room, and kitchen, too.
So imagine my surprise when he suggested that idea to me! I actually jumped up and down screaming for joy. We thought it would be a simple construction job. Well, we found out that building a new garage is actually very, very expensive. So that idea got scrapped. But then we thought we could take one of our spare bedrooms (where I store most of my stuff) and knock out an exterior wall and make the room larger.
We talked to two building contractors and got estimates and yesterday we signed a contract with one of them to do the job. The surveyor was out here today already and did his part. Next comes the permits.

 Here are some photos of the walls of room now. It will be the south wall that gets knocked down.

north wall

east wall

south wall

west wall

I've been making list of things to put into the room. I want to get rid of the futon and instead have a large, comfy chair that converts into a twin bed and also have an ottoman that converts into a twin bed. The two windows you see on the east wall will remain and the window you see on the south wall will be preserved and added next to them on the new part of the east wall. The new south wall will have a very large window and the new part of the west wall will have a window, too. The closet on the west wall will get knocked down to give the room more space. The north wall will be for my design wall (it is presently stored behind the futon and is a pain to use now). 

If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I'm planning on building a cutting table, a painting table (there won't be any plumbing in there, though...too expensive since our drainage field is way on the other side of the house), and a sewing table. If any of you are planning something similar, I'll let you know how it's going periodically.