All Fired Up is a paint-your-own pottery studio and coffee shop tucked just off The Square in Bournemouth town centre, a couple of doors along from Tesco on Bourne Avenue. It's less a café you drop into for a quick coffee and more a destination in its own right, a hands-on, unhurried activity that suits a rainy afternoon, a birthday treat or a slow solo visit with a coffee.
How it works
Pick a ceramic piece from the shelves, there's a choice of more than 150 items, from mugs and bowls to plates, piggy banks and ornaments, then settle in at a table with paints, brushes and stencils. A £3 per person studio fee covers all the equipment plus glazing and firing, and it's possible to paint several pieces in one sitting for that same fee. Finished pieces go into the kiln and are usually ready to collect around a week later; posting them on is also an option for a fee. On Tuesday evenings the studio runs potter's wheel taster sessions, which need booking in advance.
Food and drink
Alongside the pottery, All Fired Up doubles as a coffee shop, serving freshly made sandwiches, cakes and Italian coffee, enough to fuel an hour or two of painting without needing to head elsewhere.
Good to know
Walk-ins are welcome when there's space, but booking ahead is sensible for groups, birthday parties and the potter's wheel sessions, use the online contact form for bookings more than 48 hours out, or call for anything sooner. The studio is dog-friendly, uses water-based, non-toxic paints suited to children, and there's disabled parking right outside plus metered parking across the street.
A visit pairs easily with a wander round the town centre gardens or a browse through the rest of our food & drink guide, and it's a solid pick if you're planning a rainy-day itinerary from our things to do guide.