Our Story

A Paintbrush, a Grandfather & the Beginning of Sawyer’s Painting

Every painting company has a story.

Ours started in 1995 with a paintbrush, a 17-year-old kid, and a grandfather who knew a thing or two about hard work.

That year, Ryan Sawyer’s grandfather taught him how to paint. While his grandfather was enjoying retirement, Ryan began helping him paint homes for neighbors in his retirement community.

One neighbor became another. Then another.

Before long, Ryan had caught the painting bug.

What started as an opportunity to learn a trade would eventually become something much bigger.

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From Painting Houses to the Football Field

Ryan continued painting throughout college at Central Washington University, earning extra money while pursuing another passion: football.

By the time he graduated, Ryan had painted more than 25 homes. At the same time, his experiences as a college football player—and later as a coach—taught him lessons that would eventually shape Sawyer’s culture.

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Building a Painting Business—and a Championship Team

In 2003, Ryan opened the original Sawyer’s Painting, a residential painting company in the Seattle area.

From 2003–2007, he continued developing his craft, building the business, and gaining valuable experience serving homeowners.

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Then another opportunity came calling...

In 2008, Ryan joined the football coaching staff at Eastern Washington University, where he coached the defensive line through 2015. During that time, Ryan was part of the Eastern Washington football program that won the 2010 NCAA Division I Football Championship. Coaching at the collegiate level reinforced many of the lessons his grandfather had introduced years earlier: preparation, accountability, teamwork, leadership, attention to detail, and pride in doing a job the right way.

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With a young family at home, he stepped away from college coaching—and found his way back to the paintbrush.

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Sawyer’s Painting Comes to Spokane

In the fall of 2016, Ryan opened Sawyer’s Painting in Spokane. What began more than 30 years ago with a teenager learning to paint alongside his grandfather has grown into a professional residential painting company serving homeowners throughout Spokane, Spokane Valley, Coeur d’Alene, and surrounding Eastern Washington and North Idaho communities.

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Today, our team brings together 100+ years of combined painting experience and specializes in professional interior painting, exterior house painting, and cabinet painting.

But our goal has never been simply to paint houses.

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We Want to Change the Way You Experience a Painting Contractor

Home improvement projects shouldn't leave homeowners wondering:

Are they going to show up? Will they communicate with me? Who is actually going to be working in my home? Will they properly prepare the surfaces? Will they stand behind their work?

 

We believe homeowners should expect more.

That's why Sawyer’s Painting has built an experienced in-house painting team rather than subcontracting our painting crews.

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It's why we emphasize preparation, communication, professionalism, craftsmanship, and accountability throughout the entire project. And it's why the values behind our company are simple:

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Quality. Integrity. Value.

Quality in the work we perform.

Integrity in the way we treat people.

Value in the experience and finished product we provide.

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Our goal is to deliver more than a beautifully painted home. We want homeowners to finish their project thinking:

“That’s how working with a contractor should feel.”

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Still a Family Story

Today, Sawyer’s Painting is locally owned and operated by Ryan and Heidi Sawyer.

Our shop is located in Spokane, while our family has deep roots in the Spokane Valley community. We’re proud to serve homeowners throughout the same communities where we live, work, raise our family, and build relationships.

Ryan now brings three decades of painting experience together with lessons learned from his grandfather, college athletics, championship-level coaching, business ownership, and raising a family.

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The company has grown. The team has grown. The number of homes we've painted has certainly grown.

But many of the principles haven't changed since that first summer...

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Work hard. Prepare well. Communicate clearly. Take pride in your craft. Treat people the right way.

And to think, it all started in 1995 with a grandfather, a paintbrush, and a few neighbors who needed their homes painted.

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Thirty years, hundreds of homes, and a whole lot of paint later, the Sawyer’s story continues.