We Are Nairobi’s First Craft Café

And Yes, We Are in Athi River 👀

Someone will first find our page, and they’ll call or text to book a session. They are a little unsure, you can hear it. After we walk them through how it works, what the Craft Café is, what the crafts are, the menu, the setup, their response is almost always the same: “I am not really a creative person. I’ve never done this before. What is the easiest thing I can do?”

And we never answer that question the same way twice, because the honest answer depends on the person and how they answer these two questions:

– How much time do you have? An hour, three hours, a full day?
– What are you drawn to? Working with your hands on something structural, or something more detailed and quiet?

We will then suggest a craft based on all of that. Not because some crafts are easier than others but because the right craft for you depends on… you. (P.S: every single build and craft on our menu is designed for someone who has never done it before, guided by instructors, who have seen *every* level of first-timer walk through that door)

And then there is the second type of person. The one who has already looked at our craft menu, figured out how it works, seen that the Leso Tray workshop (for instance) takes three hours, books the workshop even. They then call to ask, “Do I have to stay the whole time? Can I just come for an hour? If I finish earlier, can I just leave?”

The answer is always yes, you can leave whenever you want.

What actually ends up happening (kwa ground)

On workshop day, everyone comes in. The first hour is quiet. Not awkward exactly, but careful. People are still reading the room, figuring out the tools, figuring out whether they can actually do this. There is a guardedness that you can see, even in the way someone holds a tool for the first time.

And then, somewhere in the second hour, something shifts.

The tools start to feel familiar. The hands start to move with more confidence. People who arrived in silence start talking to each other. The person who asked if they could leave by one o’clock looks up, and it’s now 4 p.m, IN THE EVENING??!! , surprised by where the time went. The person that was not sure they were creative, is now the one advising their new friend across the table about a sanding technique 🙂

That is flow state. And once you are in it, nobody wants to leave.

Both of these people, the uncertain one on the phone and the one who planned to stay just an hour, end up in the same place by the end of the session.

Holding something they made with their hands, almost not believing they made it exist.

That moment is why we exist. It’s why The Craft Cafe exists. And also lowkey why we’re still in Athi River.

How we got here. The accidental origin story

The Craft Cafe started in September 2020. Not as a craft cafe. Not even as a workshop. We started as Studio Facelift, a home decor, furniture and interior design business, selling flat-packable storage solutions and small home decor items, including a flat-pack shelf we designed called the Tazi Shelf (The OGs know this one) and doing facelifts for residential homes.

For a while, that was the business. Small items, clean design, practical solutions for the home. Everyone involved lived between Athi River and Kitengela and so we’d work from any of our houses at any point. We’d have the items made in other workshops then package and have everything delivered from any one of the houses. If there was an interior design project, we’d source all the items from other sellers and makers and have them delivered to the client’s home. We did that for 6 months.

Then we grew into custom furniture: bigger builds, longer timelines, more complex briefs. It was frustrating working with external workshops because we had no control over the space, the quality of the builds and also timelines because we had to work with their timelines and procedures.


Now we needed an actual workshop. Being that we all lived these sides, Athi River felt like an obvious option for our little workshop. So we set up half of a shipping container and got all the necessary papers and Studio Facelift, the workshop, was born.

One time in 2023, we’re having game night with friends (as you normally do) and we’re talking about our space and how they should visit the workshop and (a few drinks after 😅), a decision was made to host said friends at the workshop for a day of woodworking.

I personally had been to a few creative workshops in Nairobi, but never woodworking. It seemed so strange! How will we even do this? But all of us involved in SF Duka are DIY enthusiasts (DIYers) at heart. We love making things, trying new things, experimenting. Sharing that felt like the most obvious thing in the world.

The next week, everyone sent pictures of what they wanted to make, they sent dimensions, we got to work.The first workshop happened. And it was…. a success?😅 Is this what we’re about to pivot to, yet again? That first workshop allowed us to workshop (haha pun intended 😅) a few ideas we had about how to run a woodworking workshop.

2 months later, in July of 2023, we opened SF Duka’s workshop experiences to the public. Not only because it was a calculated business pivot, but also because it felt completely natural.

Why Athi River?

Honestly? Athi River was an accident.

We were already here. This is where we built things, where we had our space, where the work happened. When the business grew from home decor to furniture to experiences, we didn’t move. We just kept going, right here in Athi River.

And then what started as an accident started making sense.

Athi River sits on the edge of Nairobi, right at the beginning of Machakos County (well, after Syokimau). And both Machakos and Kajiado County are growing fast. People are moving here from Nairobi to Syokimau, to Athi River, to Kitengela, to the surrounding towns. These are people who left Nairobi for more space, more quiet, more room to breathe. But the drawback is most creative and “third spaces” are still firmly inside Nairobi’s borders.

We filled a gap that nobody had noticed yet.

For people coming from Nairobi, the drive to Athi River became part of the experience. (Most of you tell us how much you enjoy the morning drive on the Nairobi Expressway on the way to the workshop on Saturdays.)A deliberate decision to leave the city and go somewhere with intention. For people already in Machakos and Kajiado Counties, we became the creative space their neighbourhood never had.

A happy accident, all around.

What can you make at The Craft Café?

Our Craft Menu has over 30 crafts and it keeps growing. Here is what is currently available:

Woodworking – our most popular offering. Half day sessions include 12 different build options, from cutting boards and leso trays to shelves and wall art. Full day sessions include 12 more ambitious builds; dowel stools, foldable picnic chairs, larger furniture pieces.

Weaving – wall hangings and decorative pieces. Slower, more meditative, incredibly satisfying.

Kinusaiga – a Japanese craft where you push fabric into a carved surface to create textured art. New to our menu and already deeply loved.

Textured art and painting on canvas – no art background required. Every piece comes out looking like something you would actually hang on your wall.

Plaster of paris, hot glue gun crafts, yarn on canvas, string art, coloring and more added regularly.

Who is The Craft Café for?

Everyone. We mean that.

Adults who want to try something new. Couples looking for a date that is memorable.

Friends who want to do something different on a Saturday. Kids who need a creative outlet. Corporate teams who are done with ropes courses and bowling alleys.

Anyone celebrating a birthday, a bachelorette, a work anniversary, or just a Friday.

If you have hands and curiosity, The Craft Cafe by SF Duka is for you.

How does it work?

At the moment, all sessions require pre-booking. (We are currently building out the full walk-in craft cafe experience, the space is being renovated and transformed and walk-ins will be available soon.) For now though, book in advance through our website.

Saturday is our main workshop day. We have workshops every Saturday. We also accommodate team buildings, birthdays, and private group sessions on other days of the week, depending on availability. Bookings are also confirmed in advance.

We also have take-home craft kits, plaster of paris paint kits and kinusaiga kits available for delivery. So if you cannot make it to the workshop yet, the workshop comes to you 😊

Come find us

We are in Athi River, Machakos County. Visit our shop to browse the full craft menu, book your session, or order a kit.

Hopefully see you soon at the workshop!🙂