Before and after: Phatso’s Bakery ‘resort whimsy’ on Save My Bakery

Phatso’s Bakery inspired what I call ‘Resort Whimsy’ design for the Food Network show ‘Save My Bakery.’

After talking with the owner for a while on the first day I met him, I learned that the word vacation is taboo to him. Don’t get him started on why. He has many good reasons to not like vacations.

And he works incredibly hard, running his bakery, raising his grandchildren, and providing for his family in a neighborhood where most of the businesses have closed. He has been able to keep his business, and I wanted to make sure everyone who passed through town would know about Phatso’s Bakery.

So, we created a little oasis for Phatso’s Bakery with a giant new 20-foot long sign trimmed in custom dentil molding above the facade in fun, bold letters. We used a donut for the ‘o’ in Phatso for a little bit of whimsy. We painted the facade a butter yellow and brought in a little bit of nature with planter boxes made of Western Red Cedar. We also added a rustic roof with DaVinci Roofscapes Bellaforte shake roof tiles.

For the interior, I wanted to keep a bit of the resort feel with touches of whimsy. So we got rid of the burgundy and forest green and replaced it with Sherwin-Williams butter yellow, lilac and cream. I rearranged the bakery cases and we built a new customer counter to replace the deteriorating bedside table that had been used as a cash register stand.

My favorite part of the makeover is the oversized donut wall and the bird cages we used to display some of the donuts, to bring in a little extra fun and whimsy.

For functionality, I wanted to create more space for the customers by moving the cases into a new orientation. And I wanted to define the space between the prep area and the showroom by building a new wall to section off part of a large hallway.

I think the oversized donut wall, bird cages, and other fun touches helped to create a brighter and lighter atmosphere for the donut shop. I hope you agree.

Check out the schedule for more episodes of Food Network’s ‘Save My Bakery.’