For those of you who have shops, how did you design your layout? Did you have someone help you?

I had a long, narrow kitchen, so I went my work "flow". I set up a couple of "work stations": For prep/scaling, I had my s.s. worktable with ingredient bins underneath, hanging measuring utensils and other ingredients above on slat wall shelves. Directly behind me were 2-20 Qt. mixers. Next to and to the right of, the mixer station were sinks with undercounter dishwasher. Oven at end of kitchen with cooling racks next to it. Decorating worktables to the left of the "prep" station.

I used the slat wall for so many things: above the decorating station were sprinkles and garnishes, fondant accents galore. the higher shelves for pans used only occasionally.

The way I designed mine was by studying my flow in my kitchen, and how it could be improved. And I knew where the sinks had to go in order for it to be the cheapest. I also wanted the ovens far from the fridges and freezers to save energy.

What we did was to make "dummy" fixtures out of 1X1's and cardboard.Then put them where we thought they should go.We then walked around the space for several days moving the "fixtures" until we came up with the layout we liked that worked best. I can tell you moving those 1X1's was a WHOLE lot easier the moving the real things !!

Anyone willing to post pictures of their setup!??

That would be amazing if anyone could post pics! I am in the middle of trying to set everything up and having more of an issue in regards to how to set up my storage area, what to put up above the triple sink to let stuff dry, etc.

Since I am in a kitchen that was previously used as take out, I don't have too much say in where the appliances go

Earlene Moore has great pictures of her kitchen set up on her website. I think it's under home renovation pictures.
http://www.earlenescakes.com/business05.htm

Fedra

Hi All,
I am in the process of opening my shop and designed the layer out on paper after careful thought of my working process. I want to add that gliches come up and not to panic. I carefully planned my finances and purchases AND STILL I had gliches!!! My loan was based on equipment prices, fees, construction cost etc. After receiving my loan things fell apart, the equipment didn't go as scheduled, the Plumber ran off with my deposit, (now I have to take legal action, which is more cost). The good thing about this situation is - it forced me to solict orders which resulted in me getting orders from a restaurant, obtaining a contract with two Colleges, and orders galore. The landlord was deserate to rent the space so I got a lease with rent postponed until Oct., thank God, but the lights are screwed up, so until they straighten it out I don't have a bill. I'm still excited about opening when I do. I love the Sugar artist Industry, it is very relaxing when I decorate cakes. My previous occupation was Carpentry, which I love very much but couldn't find work so here I am making cakes.
Sorry to run on but just wanted to share info on opening your own shop, go for it just keep going if the gliches come! and they will!

Plan double the cost and double the time quoted. My best advice. And make sure you are dealing with licensed, insured contractors. Check the license with the building inspector and call the number that the building inspector gives you. We are required to have a copy of our contractor's license and insurance in each vehicle. Almost every employee has tried to use our license and insurance to moonlight. They eventually get caught. But our insurance will not pay for unauthorized use.

I used a commercial kitchen designer. I paid zero for her design because I bought my (new and used) equipment from her. So she had expertise in commercial kitchen layouts. You might also touch base with your health dept. There are some things ... layout wise .... that they may or may not approve and it has to do with "food flow". One example is that food prep shouldn't be done next to clean/dirty dish areas. Having the sink in between your prep area (mixer, work tables) and your oven is not really the best setup ... for convenience nor for sanitary reasons.

One thing my HD inspector pointed out was "At home, we keep our cleaning supplies on the upper shelves above the sink to keep our children out of them ... but in a comm'l kitchen we (a) don't have children and (b) dont' want chemicals on an upper shelf where they can fall and contaminate foods and surfaces."

I forgot to mention that all the Plumbers paperwork was in order and he came recommended, something huh? I see this on the news how licensed contractors take off after getting the money. I did my due diligence and it still didn't work, but it will all work out and everything will be.

I've posted this before. My husband and I are both contractors. I'm a general contractor and his also covers commercial. We did not want to do the work ourselves, so we got bids on the job. In 100% of the quotes, the contractors overpriced both the materials and labor. They thought they could take advantage of the homeowner. For the $25K we actually spent, the bids came in at $50K. The scam that stands out the most in my memory was the amount of wiring to move the 220. He had almost 100 extra feet built in. The cost of that material is $8.00 per linear foot. I'm sure he, like many others, was stockpiling stolen materials to use on other jobs where he would get paid again.

Anna, I did not get one honest bid. So for anyone getting a bid on any home or business construction, even three bids is not enough. Take the bid to someone you trust that can analyze it. And I could go on all day about the no-good employees who passed themselves off as contractors with our license and insurance. One conned someone into getting $35,000 in HVAC equipment (an apartment building). The invoice (paid) came to us because we had an address on file. We turned him in, but who knows if the person had given him more money or if he had started the work correctly. I think this could be a problem anywhere that the licenses are not locked up. But everywhere I have worked, the license must be in the vehicle.

I had 4 bids for the plumbing. The first guy said $1,500. Second $5, 800. Third $1,800. Fourth, $2,800.

The first was a good friend of a general contractor my mom has dated for 8 years, but he never returned calls, I REALLY wanted to go with him, but he never called me back.

The second guy was WAY too much.

The third guy turned out to not be licensed!

I went with the fourth. He quoted the cost of having to drill through the 8" concrete knee wall 11 times, but the guys who came went over the knee wall, through drywall and I was still charged the same. Plus, we had to replace our own drywall. I would think a reputable company would do that as part of cleaning up.

Whatever. It is done! It works! But I am a little bitter about it, but I try not to think about it. I'll get over it.

Anna, we had to rip out work done by licensed contractors , redo it, clean up, and deal with them not showing up. My ex-fiance is a true professional. He owns the company, but he said his fee for his employees to come in would be $179.00/hr (2 men). That's how mush the ones get that show up, do it right, and clean up.

WOW! My husband and I talked to the apprentice by himself one day, (we hit it off because he heard me yelling at the baby to not go up the ladder into the attic, and he and my son have the same first and middle name, lol!) He made $25 an hour. The plumber made $40.

Makes me remember the times i underpriced a cake and made about $3 an hour, lol!

We did an AWFUL job with the drywall seams, so I put a huge laminate backsplash to just hide and cover it. I like the idea of a huge backsplash, too. I took my time and did a great job with the seams for the vent. Invisible, and perfect, very proud, lol.

Hope your mother is doing well. I know it has to be quite hard, but you will be blessed for your efforts. Or you can call it "Karma", if you prefer.