I've spent 25 years doing hobby woodworking in whatever space was available, to include several apartment balconies. I've never had a dedicated space for the hobby, and still don't. Share the garage with my wife, hence everything is on wheels. While I would love to have the ability to set up my equipment and run DC piping and power through the floors and ceilings, I have learned to make do. My first order of preference for any garage I have ever been in has always been lighting. Lots and lots of lighting. I am currently running (4) 4-bulb T8 high output light fixtures in my garage, and wish I had three more fixtures. When the balasts go, I will swap them out with LEDs.

Next after lighting, having a dedicated sub panel and surface mounted EMT wired outlets is a must for me. I like to have at least two separate 120v 20amp circuits, two 240v 20amp circuits, and one 240v 50 amp circuit in my shop. Lets me run two of anything (shop vac & miter saw, dust collector and planer) at the same time without any concerns over tripping breakers. I also really like shop heat.

About the only thing I don't have that I would like is a high-lift garage door. I have 12' ceilings, which are awesome, but the garage door tracks make it a pain in the butt to swing a long board, and I really want a gantry crane I can pull close to the garage door. Otherwise, for a space I have to share with my wife's mini-van, I am about as happy as I could be with it.

Dedicated shop space and being able to save 50% on shoes are the two things I envy most about my friend Jim.