COFFEE DATE #3: HAPPY MEDIUM WITH TAYLER | HOLIDAY 2025
Gifting creatively, why nobody should ever be embarrassed about their passions, and chatting with one of the brains behind a cherished third space of mine.
My third Coffee Date this holiday season is with Tayler, the co-founder of Happy Medium, an Art Cafe and studio with locations in Chinatown, Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and a pop-up in Bloomingdales. Happy Medium is a cherished place for me, I’m a member of their pottery studio and have been a customer since 2022. The warmth, community, and affordability that their activities provide are unmatched in the city, and it’s growing at a rapid pace.
Tayler has over sixty part and full time employees, has expanded into three permanent locations, and has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and now, Coffee Order. I am so grateful that she took the time to speak to me, she is someone I look up to both entrepreneurially and creatively, and you all should take the time to visit one of her spaces.
Happy Medium
Chinatown: 49 Market St.
Greenpoint: 224 Franklin St.
Williamsburg Workshop: 112 North 12th St.
Bloomingdales Pop-Up: 1000 Third Avenue
You can make Art Cafe and workshop reservations at this link.
I became aware of this space in 2022 when I moved to the city after graduating from art school. I’m sure people ask you this a lot, but I’d love to know the story behind the concept here.
My husband is my co-founder and we were creative as kids. We wanted to loop that back into our lives in this new era for us (post-traveling, post-partying), and we wanted to create a space for adults to make art. Specifically for the Art Cafe, that took a little longer, we wouldn’t feel comfortable at a “studio”, but we do love food, and we thought that parallel would be approachable and something people already know. You can just show up.
This model has worked really well so we’re applying that to other things now like our new Gift Shop, the wall of pastels mimics a candy shop, the pottery studio is becoming a bakery in a way where you can make a base and then buy little finishes like a mug handle to attach.
My friends got me a gift certificate to Happy Medium for my most recent birthday which I used to go to the pottery workshop. Now I’m a member, and I love being a member because it’s much more affordable than other options in the city.
That’s another thing—when we were working professionals who dabbled as casual artists, we couldn’t afford a $300-400 membership to go not go that often. That’s why we start ours at $150/month to come twice a week, which is perfect for people who aren’t looking for something so intense (me).
This whole space feels very accessible compared to other studios in the city. I don’t know what type of clay I’m using, I don’t know what tools I need and I don’t want to invest in them, you guys provide all of that. Your staff is also great, if they see me struggling they’ll subtly place a tool on my workspace or send me a YouTube video to watch.
I’m so glad to hear that. We truly think of ourselves as more of a hospitality company than anything else. How can we remove every barrier from what you want to do is the question we’re always trying to answer.
I love your content where you speak to not being embarrassed about starting something. Since you have that mindset and you have a great partner in your husband, how do you brainstorm new ideas or expand the current business?
We’re super blessed that business is working well. There’s a myth that once you have success, things come easy. It’s much harder now that we have a large audience that’s watching us, and we’ve set a certain standard. I published a book, which I had never done before, co-published by a house that gave me editors and people asking me about sales, and I was like—this is scary. I felt the same feeling on publishing day that I did on the day of our Art Cafe opening. In that, you’re not unique which we all tend to think we are, so when we’re designing a space or a product, we tend to drive from our own needs and wants since people will most-likely share those.
Tell me about your new gift shop.
I come from a fashion background as a buyer, so I had some of those principles that apply to opening my own shop. We also listen to what our customers and pick up on things they want, for example someone in the studio mentioned they wanted to buy stationary, so we created some cards to put out the next weekend. People ask us about our travel mugs all the time that you can paint in the Art Cafe, so we developed those to sell also. I’ve been working here for the last three weekends so I can observe and report back to the team on what’s working and what’s not working. There’s nothing better than live customer feedback.
Do you prefer to give or receive?
Ugh—receive. I love getting gifts. I do love giving them, but I usually give what I think you would want versus what you think you would want, so I’m trying to get better at that.
What is the best gift you’ve ever been given?
Last year, my husband got me an hot water bottle with an alpaca wool cover, one of those insane luxuries you would never get yourself but I’m so happy to have.
Tayler’s Happy Medium Gift Guide
All of these are available to purchase at the Happy Medium Gift Shop at 49 Market Street. They also have a gift shop at their Greenpoint location. Commentary by yours truly.
Happy Medium: A Guided Creativity Journal by Tayler Carraway ($20)
If you’re a fan of those journals that offer quick prompts for you to do on a daily basis, this is a great option to stretch the brain muscle and work your creativity. It also looks adorable on your shelf or coffee table.
Wrapping Paper ($8)
This is not a gift but gifting supplies. The HM assortment of wrapping paper is so detailed and beautiful, the person receiving your gift will want to open it with extreme caution and save it forever.
Happy Medium Travel Mug ($55)
The most popular paint-a-pot option in the Art Cafe, Happy Medium is now offering their travel mugs as ready-to-purchase in a range of glazes and patterns.
Memo cards & greeting cards ($5-$12)
I’ve made it clear over the past three Coffee Dates now that people should be writing notes all holiday season long. Nothing is sexier to give or receive than a little note! It doesn’t have to be sexy if that’s creepy.
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