Seems like setting up a personal studio’s all the rage now. If you’re trying this from scratch you might want to check out this DIY version that is designed around the concept of a single-operator vocal booth. You don’t need a garage for this, just a small room in an apartment.

First question to ask is simply what are you going to be recording: Vocals or Instruments? If the latter, Acoustic (e.g. Folk Guitar) or Electronic (e.g. Keyboard)?

If you’re doing Vocals and Acoustic instruments, you need to seriously look at the acoustic space and budget some money to treat the room. Sound dampening and isolation are the key problems in getting a nice clean recording. For midi work and electronic stuff that can be piped directly to your onboard sound processor/virtual studio, the requirements are relatively simpler. However it’s not to say that all you need is a table and keyboard. Chances are you’d want to do some mixing so that means you’d need to consider acoustic issues too. So the first tip really is to head here to get a good sense of what acoustic spaces demand. 

http://www.acoustics101.com/

Taylor 614 CE. Unmistakably Folk.