i am in the process of opening a cake shop in my 2 car garage and i dont have a clue where to start. how should i lay it out? how should i decorate it? does anyone have any suggestions? if you have pics of your cake studio or room please upload them!!! HELP PLEASE!!! 
You should probably contact you health department. They have regs as to what you should have and how the design should lay out.
Congrats! 
I am so jealous! I wish I had a garage so I could make my own space. I live in a single wide in a trailer park, so I can't even add a room or a shed to work in. We are planning on buying land soon, so there is hope in the future.
ANYWAY! I think you should probably get an idea of how you want to lay it all out. I would go and measure the appliances you're buying, so you know how much space they will take up. Put your personality into it.
Good luck! And keep us updated on your progress.
I agree 100% that you should contact your local DHHR. They have so many regulations. That will give you a head start. I did that myself and wow, I was so surprised. The three basin sink was something I just never thought of. Good luck to you! Post pics and let us know how things are going.
You should probably contact you health department. They have regs as to what you should have and how the design should lay out.
Congrats!
Agree. Our health dept requires that you bring your floor plans to them for their approval. This has to do with the flow of the kitchen to help ensure, for example, the foods that need refrigerated are not sitting out longer than necessary.....if the refrigerator is ALL THE WAY OVER THERE, you are more likely to get more out of the frig in one trip than you are to just get what you need for now and then go back and get more. Also the sink area needs to be set up in a "dirty to clean" flow.... it's pretty logical, but they need to approve it. They also want to know what kind of volume you will be doing so they can see that you have sufficient refrigeration and work space allocated. Stuff like that.
Measuring your appliances is a good idea. Also finding out for sure what appliances your health dept will approve. Most will not permit household appliances.
And speaking of household appliances, also check with your insurance agent when you set up your commercial insurance ..... someone is the food industry told me a story about a fire in a kitchen. The insurance company denied the claim because there was a household microwave in the kitchen, not a commercial microwave ..... even tho' the microwave had NOTHING to do with the fire! In any regard, most homeowners policies will not cover your commercial kitchen ... the equipment, the property coverage, the liability.
If you plan on delivering your cakes, you will also need a commercial auto policy. You personal auto policy will not cover you if you are involved in an accident during a delivery, while you're picking up supplies or performing and kind of business travel. These are pretty expensive! I have 2 vehicles on mine and it's $2000 a year. My personal policy for 2 vehicles was under $700 a year. Also check on who is covered. On most personal auto policies, as long as you give permission to (for example) your sister to drive your car, then you/she is covered in an accident. On my commercial policy, I have to specifically list each person who will be driving the company cars ..... I can't let my son drive one because he's not a listed driver. He can drive my personal car, ok ..... but not my company car. And the reason I won't add him is because as a 22-year old single male, the rates are outrageous and I dont' want to pay that. (gosh, this paragraph was pretty long! Can you tell I also spent 15 years in the personal and commercial auto insurance business?)
I had to have a three bay sink and a separate hand washing sink AND an employee bathroom, located close to the kitchen....even though I am the only one working in my kitchen, still had to have an employee bathroom. but is kinda nice since I have to pee often when making cakes because of all the caffeine that I consume during the late night hours of cake decorating. haha
good luck
melody
do you mind me asking hat part of GA you are in? I'm in Middle GA myself. I am opening my shop soon and it has been an adventure. I am not sure how to help, but I'd start with the department of Agriculture. They regulate bakeries instead of the heath dept. well, here they do anyway. They'll let you know what you need to do to get started.
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