Lance, that is far to similar to the story of my man cave. Mine's in the attic, with very poor natural light. I worked on my models up there in a completely unfinished, un-insulated, un-acclimated space for about 4 years (and I live in Chattanooga TN. Temperatures varied between 30 degrees in winter and 120 in the summer, with about 3 weeks each in spring and fall that were comfortable).
I finally decided enough was enough, and finished out a 15' x 15' portion of the attic for my man cave. After I had the space framed, rocked and taped, THEN she tells me she'd like a corner to store some fabric. Had she told me that from the start, the framing stage, or even as I was rocking, I could have bumped out a few more feet into the attic and easily accommodated her fabric without chewing into my space.
Oh well, at least I don't have to dodge the ironing board! She just turned our dining room into her quilt studio. Good thing we were never big on dinner parties!
Mike