What are good locations to set up a new one.

Goodsprings, novac, etc.. somewhere with vendors nearby or an out of the way spot

What ammenties

Planed : workstations (workbench, reloading table, hotplate/stove/campfire)

Inside/outside:

in a house, or a converted trailer/camp

Storage, can't have enough. Even if you just put a set of racks with a bunch of containers on them in a small room, storage and lots of it. Look at the Mini Armory mod for an idea of an efficient storage system that does not take up a bunch of space. Have a container or two near the crafting stations so that all one has to do is swivel to go from container to station. I frequently just grab everything in the container no matter what I am going to make, as sometimes I putter making new things.

If you put it underground, then you can provide a tool that lets people put the entrance anywhere. Otherwise, the exterior does not matter much to me unless it is one of those compound type homes. Just give me a way to get in, and I am good to go. Take over a stock house in a town even, if fits your design ideas, or better, add an exterior basemant door to a home somewhere, that way your not changing an original cell. There are some basemant doors already in the game resources. If you do take over a building, check with the Nevada Interiors mod and others that add things to existing buildings, so there is no conflict.

Nice atmosphere, does not have to be elaborate or showy, but gives me a reason to come home. And, it looks like I care, at least somewhat, about where I live.

Well you can check my old fallout 3 house mods, I tend to go for simple designs that function and fit the basic idea of the house (same with my oblivion ones)

Was already sketching out layouts and thinking of a shotgun house/small ranch house (something cozy but usuable, leaving the basemant option for expansion), but a couple trailers/barriers set up as a camp out in the middle of nowhere is the other option.

Kinda like the idea of adding it to an area you don't have reason to visit too much (primm is an option that I canned, as is novac/strip due to ingame houseing options), convering one of the goodsprings unused houses is an option that I like (even if it is a common one) due to services (

Main idea is a little retreat for the courier to call home, with all the ammenties for survial...even if it's a long trailer or two around a campfire