Paint the Town

My friends and I went here so I could paint a mug for my grandma. I was surprised because they make the process unbelievably easy to understand. The process is explained thoroughly by one of the staff, all of the materials and such are included in the price of the end product so there’s no complicated calculations. It’s a little noisy because there are often children and many people crowded into a small space, but you honestly get so absorbed into your own project that you’ll block it out. If you follow their tips and focus on doing your best, your product will come out looking lovely and it’s just fun. It’s a great place to go with others because you’ll be comfortable with silence, but you can also look at each other’s work and such!

My five year old and I typically love this place and have been frequenting it for a few years. That being said, I was less than impressed with the staff last time we visited. They all hung out at a table near the door and gossiped about their love lives. I’m not even sure if they were all employees. One of the girls was extremely shallow and loud, using mild profanity at one point in the conversation. As my daughter did not seem to be paying attention at that particular moment I chose not to say anything. I did leave thinking that it was a shame the owners had hired these immature girls to represent them and that if it were my shop, I would be embarrassed at the level of customer service.

I come here often to paint mugs — for myself, as gifts, and to sell. I’m always happy with the results! And to make this easy on everyone:
PROS:
— There is a wide selection of mugs (many shapes and sizes). I used to work at a studio like this in Texas, and it didn’t have the huge selection of items like this one does.
— There are also tons of colors with the paints, and squeeze bottles too for intricate line work or writing.
— The staff is incredibly nice.
CONS:
— It can get chaotic in there. You pick out your piece, get your own brushes and paints, and so on. Because of this, there is a lot of constant traffic.
— There is almost always a wait on the weekends. They’ll put your name on a list and call you when a table is available, though.
— You may have to share a table with others. This isn’t a big deal for me, but it may be for some?
There is a one-​week turnaround time, and always expect to need more time to paint than you think you would!

This place is definitely suitable for all ages! Me and my boyfriend went here for a date night and we both had so much fun.
We went on a Wednesday and it happened to be buy one get one 50% off. I got a mug and saucer which was $ 20 and my boyfriend got a mini penguin for $ 13. The price includes paint and the firing.
There are a lot of colors, stencils, and stamps to help with your design. There are a lot of samples and displays for you to visualize as well.
The people were very friendly and helpful. They came around and checked in as well as put our supplies away when we’re done.
I definitely recommend coming at least 2 hours before the closing time at 9pm to give yourself an ample of time to finish your project. It takes time to figure out what you would like to do and choosing all the colors and paints. However, you can always come back another day and finish your project within two weeks.

This was a pretty fun experience! We came on Monday night because they do 15% off drinkware and my Little and I picked some mugs to paint and decorate.
I’m not an artistic person at all, but painting is therapeutic and relaxing. There are lots of different pieces to choose from and the staff is helpful. They remind you to wash your hands before touching anything. There are lots of colors to choose from and stencils also. They have a before and after paint display to show you what it’ll look like because the colors will be drastically different after it’s baked in the oven or whatever.
We spent a few hours here so be prepared to spend the time and paint three coats if you want the color to be really solid.
They only take reservations for groups of 6 and they require a $ 120 minimum which isn’t too bad. Might be fun for a birthday party or girls night out.

We had a private party here and I have walked by this place so many times and it has always been on my list to do. I’m glad I got a chance to go here with a group of my friends. There’s a large private area in the back where they keep crafts to dry. Ben helped us out by explaining the process of how it worked since most of us were first timers.
It was a fun experience but most of us were rather slow with our projects and had to quicken the pace to finish up by the end of our time. We started at 6:30p and the store closes at 9. They said we could always come back but most of us wanted to finish. Staff was great. There is a variety of colors and projects to choose from ranging from little caricatures like Hello Kitty and different animals to vases, plates, and mugs. It was pretty hard to decide what I wanted to do because there was just sooo many to choose from!
Overall, a great experience for the young and old. :) I went on Friday and they had 15% off for college students!

To those of you who don’t consider yourselves «artsy» or good at design-​related activities: First of all, I am one of you. Secondly, I was pleasantly surprised with how fun and therapeutic this place is.
From the low tables and chairs to the endless variety of cleverly named paint colors, Paint the Town does a fantastic job of creating that elementary school, «art class» atmosphere, which I found to be both endearing and nostalgic.
The workers do a nice job of guiding you through the process, which isn’t very complicated in the first place; You wash your hands, pick your already-​made pottery (there’s a huge selection of mugs, bowls, cups, animal shapes, cartoon characters, blank square slabs, etc.), gather your colors/​brushes, sit down, and go to work. I didn’t expect myself to be so into painting my mug, but I was, as it had my complete focus, and the experience was very satisfying. You have to wait exactly a week to pick up whatever you worked on that day so they can glaze it, and it is very rewarding to hold and see your final product.
This is a great place to go to for a date or even a hangout, so don’t be afraid to try it!

Worst customer service ever. Not helpful and arrogant. Never mentioned having to have a liquor license. That came up after we arrived for a work outing because we were told we could bring alcohol as long as we were over 21.
Worst response to where is a specific stencil? «I don’t know. Just look over there.»
Will never return.

My 3 young adult children and I had time well spent there. The selection of pottery and paint color was decent. My only complaint was the staff, they were socially awkward, they were completely unhelpful and not friendly at all. I would give them a low 3 out of 10 for customer service. It’s not just one or two employees that are not good it’s the whole crew (minus the 2 gals with long dark hair they would get a 5 out of 10). How do you happen to hire person after person who resemble the same ability to give bad service as the employees before them… Smile people! there are others out there who would love to have your job and do it well.

Fun but the assembled crew of employees are not very helful or friendly. They mostly hang out at the cash register and eat. Several of us were struggling with some process and the crew just ignored us.
Do your homework about how the process works because you will only get short phrases or furrowed brows if you ask.
It is fun especially if you go with a friend. The two 5 year olds I saw were bored and confused. The prices are reseaonable. You could get a cute product if you go in knowing exactly how to do it.

I used to think that this place was just for kids but I was so wrong. This is an amazing place for a date amongst adults or for a relaxing afternoon. First off, the service is warm and inviting. The staff seems very knowledgeable about the craft and they are approachable to newcomers and veterans alike.
The pricing is really good in my opinion. Painting a plate or cup can cost $ 15 – 20 and includes all the paint and everything you need. Overall you can spend $ 15 on a piece and spend 3 – 4 hours there; a great value and a use of the money. There are so many different options to choose from (plates, cups, vases, miniature statues, mugs, etc.) and probably 50+ different paint colors.
In the end you also get the joy and satisfaction of getting to keep something cool that you made yourself. I highly recommend this place.

My son made my husband an amazing mug here. Pricing is exactly what I would expect. My son feels like such a pro getting to select his pottery and his own paint colors, etc. I like that you pay all in one vs. a studio fee, pottery fee, usage fee, etc. We will be back many times over the years I’m sure =)

Great spot to decompress and get creative for a few hours! You choose a piece of pottery for a set price and you have access to all of their paint, instructions, paint brushes, sponges and aprons so you can sit down, get creative and make your own little masterpiece. Everything is inclusive in the pottery piece price.

Went here last weekend and would definitely
Come back. This place is really fun.

Saw this place a couple weeks ago and decided to come back. There’s so many things to paint and it took me forever to figure out what to paint.
I decided to paint a whale jar. It was so cute and only $ 25. Probably spent a couple hours painting.
The worker was great at explaining things to us. It was very helpful.
I hope to go again sometime! Can’t wait to get my jar back next week. It takes them a week to bake it and have it ready for pickup.

I’ve been here 3 times in my life. 1) I was in middle school. 2) I was in college. 3) I recently went as an adult adult (ugh). With a groupon. I think this place is appropriate for all ages!
I do a lot less arts and craft type of things now that I’m older, so it was fun coming here with a couple girl friends. We took about 2 hours, but that included planning what to paint, what colors, etc. The staff were really helpful. Def ask them to do a walk thru of dos and donts. The prices are pretty reasonable too. You just buy the ceramic pieces. Everything was either in high teens or low 20s. I made a spoon rest for $ 20. Yay! Needed one anyway! Grown up stuff. In the past, I made a cup and a valentines day tile as a gift.
Tip: it is pretty hard to write words on a painted surface because you can’t drag the tip along the surface or else it etches out the paint already on there. Sigh. See my pics for my practice cursive on a piece of paper (so much better!) and the actual end product.

I have been dying to go here ever since I started school at UW! This place looked like so much fun. I love to paint and be creative. I think it would be a great date location as well!
Although, I never went while in college I’m happy I found a friend who was just as excited as me about this place and we planned a date to go together! :) The experience was very fun yet relaxing at the same time. First, you pick out your pottery piece. You can pick bowls, cups, vases, plates or little figurines. Then you pick your paint and brushes. They teach you how to paint your pottery so that the color shows up the best. They have stencils you can use and they also have a printer that prints onto carbon paper. So you can pick drawings online, print them, then trace it onto your piece. Unfortunately when I was there the printer wasn’t working so I had to freehand my drawing. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so it look a lot of concentration and patience to draw it exactly the way I wanted.
I sat and chatted with my friend while we both dove into our artwork. It took probably 1.5−2 hours to paint our mugs. You have to paint multiple coats so that it shows up after glazing and baking in the kiln. Time flies by though. We both left satisfied and hungry! haha luckily U-​Vill has lots of restaurants nearby.
This place doesn’t take reservations unless you have a big group of 6+. You can call in and put your name on a waiting list because it gets packed on the weekends. My friend and I went in pretty early so we had no issues getting a table.
Fun place to go with your friends or a cute date! I also highly recommend it for kids!

We held my daughters birthday party here and had a more than wonderful experience. Since we had such a big party we had our own large table in the back. The staff was more than helpful and very pleasant to deal with especially on a super busy Saturday afternoon. They have a great selection of items to paint — small figures for children, bowls, plates mugs and other staples you would expect to find at paint your own stores. A bonus is that you are only charged for what you paint. A lot of stores now charge sitting fees or «supply fees» on top of the price of the item you are painting. Not here. This location is almost a 2 hr drive or a 1 hr ferry away from home– but whenever my kids are in the mood to paint we head right over to this spot. Great place for mamas to catch up with girlfriends over coffee and painting, birthday parties or that rainy day activity :)

Did I ever tell you about my play date with a rock star?
No lie, I came to Paint the Town recently and saw one of the most successful touring rock stars painting with his kids here. Not gonna put him on blast and he lives in Seattle, so you’ll have to guess who this is, but being inches away from a guy I had previously only seen on a Jumbotron in front of thousands at a concert in San Francisco, wow. Flash forward to literally knocking elbows with the guy in Seattle doing cool-​dad crafty stuff, well it was most excellent!
On the other hand, a recent kids birthday party here (as in today) was a real mixed bag. Not only were there no rock stars (okay, I really don’t know any personally) but there was hardly a helper in the backroom with my party, despite many assurances that I’d get help. Luckily, I’ve been here before and can channel a crafty school-​marm, because there is nothing harder than fourteen seven and eight year olds looking for guidance on painting pottery that will turn a non-​crafty mom like myself to jello. I had booked this place hoping for an assist. An amen pass. Some support.
Needless to say, the help consisted mainly of my party person vanishing to the front desk to ring for half the party, and walking back for the check the box and ask a couple of kids, «Can I help with anything?: and then running away. If you’ve ever worked with kids on a project, you know exactly how non-​helpful this type of approach is.
Needless to say, I ended up hosting the party and the craft and setting up and breaking down the party props, cupcakes, balloons, etc. in a short 10 – 15 minute window.
This sounds awful, right? So why the four stars? Well importantly, this party of eight year olds was not at my house. Can I get an amen, on that? This is as good as it gets. I also like that the kids who come to the party are being given a gift, not just expected to bring one. Making something cool they can take away means there is something in it for them besides a sugar high. Having hosted many kids parties now though, I can say this one ranks as the most self-​service party of all times. Don’t expect too much help and bring a few extra crafty adults to make it a less hairy experience.
Oh, and maybe four stars for the rock star. Really, he should get five. Yeah, that was pretty cool.

I love, love, love, love Paint the Town. And now that I am a resident of Seattle, I think I will probably come here on a regular basis. It’s so… much…FUN!
It’s essentially Color Me Mine (for my fellow California folks). Everything is done pretty much the same way, although I found there to be more autonomy with the paints (you pick them out yourself and bring them to your table), as well as choices of how to apply the paint (brush vs. squeeze-​tip applicators for fine print writing). The prices of the pottery pieces, as well as the painting time, is pretty comparable to Color Me Mine.
But unlike at Color Me Mine, I never once felt rushed to get out of there. I went on a Sunday in the middle of the day (aka, family hour), and even though it was busy, I never felt like I was being watched to the finish line. My friend brought me here to «relive» some memories of pottery painting that we had in college together, and we had a blast! We were rocking out to the terribly bad 80s/​90s music (Rick Astley was the BEST) while we painted: I did a garden gnome (Hank), and she did a bowl with Morrissey lyrics. It was a super relaxing experience, even with the screaming children in the background.
I would definitely recommend this for parties or to come during the holidays. They had some pretty interesting Halloween pieces that I would love to go back and paint.
Paint the Town, I will see you soon. Until then, take care of Hank for me. :)