Self Taught Decorators Club

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Comment by art deco cakes by galidink on June 4, 2013 at 4:02pm

awesome I would love to get a few  !!

Comment by Danielle Dyskin on June 4, 2013 at 3:55pm

We worked as a home base business for 5 years and have just opened a shop with a great commercial kitchen.  At home we were always short of space and covered the kitchen benches, dining table etc when we worked.  One of the best improvements in having the new kitchen is the bakers racks we bought - they fit about 30 trays so all the cooling cakes, cookies waiting to be iced, sugar flowers drying, cupcakes etc have somewhere to sit. What would have covered the house now fits into a small space. We bought them through a Chinese importer on eBay so they weren't expensive.  If you have anywhere that you could keep one (they don't look nice) I think it would be a great investment and save you heaps of space.

Comment by June Kowalczyk on June 4, 2013 at 9:21am

My husband retired 3 1/2 yrs ago Mandy. With his pay out, & what we had been saving, we paid off our mortgage. Was pretty low as once our son was finished university,  the $$$ we were helping him with, we put towards the mortgage.  I had a large Ikea island in my old kitchen,  which is now downstairs.  It has 80% of my cake stuff in the large drawers & 2 big cupboards.  I have a old bedroom dresser that holds all my odds & sods.....  ribbon, moulding trays, etc, etc. But my cake pans & books are in my guest bedroom closet.  Waiting patiently for hubby to put up shelving.  I have shelves,  sitting.... but as yet, they lay there. My only complaint is my basement isn't finished & it is cold in the fall/winter to work down there. Also no working sink, which means I have to troop up & down the stairs.  We do have a rough in for a bathroom, so I would like a sink there. Also a heater for the cold. In 2 yrs  it is my turn for Polish Christmas Eve dinner again & we know we will have to have the dinner downstairs as we just don't have room upstairs anymore to accommodate 25 people at one large table. So hubby says we will finish the basement....  Yeah!!!!  He says he will help finish the area where my caking is.  Close it off from main area.... have a real floor instead of just a old carpet on concrete,  real walls, shelves, perhaps even a working bathroom with a large laundry style sink for me to use.  So until then, I do some of my prep work, making flowers,  etc., downstairs & the rest upstairs on my kitchen island.  When hubby isn't around,  I sneak up a lot of my stuff & do my fun in the kitchen.  But he HATES the mess I make.. I make sure all is clean & tidy before he comes home!! Since it is only a hobby, not too much conflict.  So for now, this is how it goes.

Comment by Katy Nott on June 4, 2013 at 9:21am

Melanie -that cake is fabulous!

Comment by Karie Collins on June 4, 2013 at 9:02am

My husband does mostly all the baking and I do mostly all the decorating. I should take before and after pics when we both work to show you the reference. Takes me about an hour to clean up after he is done. Takes about 10 minutes after me. I like to clean as I go. So while the second batch of cake is in the oven, I'm cleaning up the pans, etc from the first and getting the 3rd batch ready. He uses every last measuring cup, spoon, etc we have (6 sets of each) plus 3 kitchen Sid mixers. I use 2...one for cake batters, one for icings. Occasionally I'll use a 3rd if I have 2 different buyer cream icings needed, or if I need royal icing or pastillage too.

Comment by Mandy Nel on June 4, 2013 at 8:55am

Oh wonderful - I do believe that each and every one of us has a similar story to tell - it just goes with the territory and believe you me, you NEVER have enough space - even if you have tons of rooms and tables, they will all get taken up with caking paraphernalia :-) True story :-)

Comment by Karie Collins on June 4, 2013 at 8:48am

That sounds like us. when I'm in decorating mode, it's the counters, dining room (using that term lightly) table and two folding tables in the living room. We have a spare room that has all my buckets and when it's time to decorate, the entire house including dining room chairs gets used. Our house is only 900 square feet and it's bedroom/2 bathroom.

Comment by Mandy Nel on June 4, 2013 at 8:40am

Welcome Kristie - we are here whenever you need us - if we can help we do, and if we can't we try and find you the help you need :-)

Comment by Mandy Nel on June 4, 2013 at 8:38am

@ June - we have nearly finished paying for our house, and then hopefully we can look at doing our dream kitchen - and for sure having decent tops and lots of storage is number one on the priority list. 

In our house we built in a cupboard in our dining room that accommodates all my baking ingredients, sprinkles, colours, fruit cake mixes, filling mixes etc. as well as chocolate molds (another little sideline that I do); In our "study" we fitted another built in cupboard that takes all my packaging stuff and our old linen cupboard accommodates all my pans and cupcake wrappers and extra cookie cutters etc; and finally in our spare bedroom I have my working area with all my gadgets neatly stored in the bakels 14kg boxes, properly marked, and a pull our shelving area under my table with all the smaller things in their boxes.  But I use the term neatly very lightly - because although everything is neatly stowed, when I am in full caking mode its mayhem from the spare bedroom all the way to the kitchen - but in two ticks after finishing a project I can quickly pack the clutter away.  Ah, I really don't think I lived before starting this most wonderful craft :-)

Comment by June Kowalczyk on June 4, 2013 at 8:30am

I agree with Mandy, Karie. 2 yrs ago we put in my dream kitchen. Long wait.... house is now 25 yrs old. Kitchen was tiny, tiny..... 2 people couldn't work at the same time. Now it is a large spacious galley kitchen.  I have granite counters,  but the best is the angled island, 52" x 36". We have a overhang, and 2 stools so we eat breakfast here. This is where I roll out my fondant, ice my cakes, prep work...etc. if I could have made it bigger, with some storage on the side or underneath,  I would have, but there wasn't space.  I would be lost without this island now.  :o)

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