Clayroom — Attraction in Brookline

I am a big fan of painting pottery and was searching for a spot in Brookline to visit for my birthday. I figured a few hours of painting some pottery would be a relaxing way to spend my birthday.

After doing my research, I settled on “The Clayroom”. We headed over in the early afternoon on a Wednesday and the place was PACKED.

I won’t lie, it wasn’t as relaxing as I had hoped. This was due to the total disorganization in the way the place is run. They literally had a high school / college kid responsible to run the entire place. To be fair, it wasn’t the kid’s fault. He did his best.

However, the process is totally broken compared to other places I have been to paint pottery. Typically, they will get you the paint, brushes, and anything you need.

Here, you have to scan a QR code to watch a video. Then, you have to go pick out the colors and fill a color palate/tray. Once you do that, you’ll have to sift thru the pile of brushes that are clearly past their prime and should be replaced. It’s hard to get crisp lines with brushes that are worn.

The quality of the paint isn’t up to snuff, in my view. In their video, they’ll instruct you to paint it three times. (three coats) They instruct you to use a provided hairdryer between each coat. In my view, it’s inferior paint. I have never had to apply multiple coats or use a hair dryer on pottery.

I had come in hoping to paint a set of bowls for my German Shepherd. Sadly, they were out of anything that really interested me. I have plenty of plates, cups, and bowls from past pottery projects.

The only thing that really caught my eye was the water pipes. They had a few styles to pick from and I settled on that. I typically like pottery that I can use. It comes with the down-stem and glass bowl.

I paid around $50 for the unpainted water pipe. Studio time is offered in two-hour increments and you can pay ahead of time to secure your reservation. You will need a reservation.

The entire process needs to be thought through and instituted in a better manner. The studio was just crowded, hot, and they were out of A LOT of different pottery pieces. You’ll notice this when you look at the racks of finished projects.

They also lacked any stamps or stencils, which is standard at most pottery studios. I will say they do allow you to come back to finish a project WITHOUT charging studio time. Also, the cost of the unpainted pottery includes the cost of being fired in the kiln.

The studio was just way too crowded and the paint station was a total disorganized mess. I’m not surprised, one person cannot run the entire place on their own. It was also incredibly hot inside.

If they could revamp their process, use higher quality paints, and staff up they’d have earned a higher rating. It was only relaxing once the place cleared out a bit.

For full disclosure, many of the unpainted pieces have a stamp of “China” on the bottom. To me, that shows a lack of attention to quality. For the price, the quality of the pottery and materials should be much better.

I will certainly come back to finish my piece and see if things go differently. I was just blown away by how disorganized and broken the entire process and...

If you are looking for a fun date idea or just something to do with your friends, then this is the place to visit.

To start things off right, this place offers a nice array of choices when it comes to picking your project. You paint mugs, pie/quiche pans, figurines, plates, nacho bowls; the list goes on. Since each item has its own individual price outside of the craft fee, you can decide just how expensive you want to go. Once you have selected what you want, the staff (all very friendly and helpful) will show you the different color options on hand as well as supply advice on how to ensure that the color(s) you selected will be visible piece is finished. There are also boxes filled with stencils just in case you are feeling creative and/or ambitious. Once you have everything you need, just grab a table and start painting. Since this place is BYOB, you can drink wine, beer, or whatever else you brought along while you go. Once you are done, you are given a slip of paper to bring back in a few days to collect your work after it has been fired.

I've been to craft studios like this before but have never been to one so laid back and relaxing. Rather than feeling self-conscious about our lack of art skills, my friend and and I had fun making a mess, drinking our wine, and chatting with the studio attendant working that night. She even let us stay a bit longer after closing just so we could finish up in one session without having to come back (although that is an option if you need it).

If you are thinking about checking this place out, my only suggestion would be to make sure you have at least four hours, especially if you won't have time to come back and finish later in the week. We only had about two and a half hours and while we did finish, we were...

Respectfully they need to upgrade there conair mini blow dryers it’s a cheap option and clearly over heating ever second .

Secondly to the owner , learn how to talk to your paying customers ! I didn’t pick your pottery store to be talked to like a child and disrespected / embarrassed in front of a whole studio of people ! Let’s start there when you want to REDIRECT a customer and give them some instructions on how to use your products in your studio you discreetly come to there painting table or come to there side and offer a resolution !

You don’t belligerently stand in the front of the entrance of the door and say “ Hey the reason why the blow dryer is not working is because you put it all the way in the cup , it’s over heating . 😂 sir you do know an electrician is standing in front of you I’m not a child ! When you could have came to my table where I was painting and simply said “ hey I think the reason the blow dryer is not working for you is because your putting it too close try to push it back a lil “ .

You were so aggressive that everyone in the area of the studio I was in stopped and was watching you and me and everything you said . 2 tables came up to me and asked if I was ok and that it wasn’t necessary for him to do all of that especially his tone of voice .

I left directly after that and paid for me my mother’s pottery, because no one wants to stay in a place that makes anyone this uncomfortable and if you would have asked me why I had my dryer so close you would have realized the employee working there told me to do that for the inside corner that wasn’t drying in my mug. My booking was from 4-6 pm the inside of my cup was the only thing colored and was out at 5 pm ridiculous never again . 70$ to be talked to like that is definitely one...