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These Limestone Objects Were Made Without Any Pre-Planning

10.12.22 | By
These Limestone Objects Were Made Without Any Pre-Planning

Furniture maker Mike Newins (they/him) of design studio Make Nice primarily works with wood; that is, until they discovered stone-carving and fell in love with the qualities of limestone. “I love limestone for the way it is cool colored, severe, and visually heavy while also conveying buttery warmth – it has an inviting texture that reminds one of its origin in nature,” they share.

limestone object

Newins hails from southern Indiana, a region that produced the limestone used for the Empire State Building and the Pentagon, and found a nearby breakage yard of a cut mill to select his materials. From there, he chips away at the stone with a couple of hand tools and without any formal planning. His mallet and chisel begin to reveal a gestural form underneath the block of limestone. The result is a series of furniture and unique objects. Some pieces look like both! Newins even paid homage to their previous material of choice and added wooden tabletops to limestone bases to create a sculptural side table.

limestone object

limestone and wood side table

limestone and wood side table

limestone and wood side table detail

limestone object

limestone object

limestone bowl

limestone bowl

limestone mirror

limestone mirror

limestone mirror

limestone object

limestone object

limestone mirror

limestone mirror

limestone mirror

limestone bowl

limestone and wood side table

limestone and wood side table

limestone and wood side table

To learn more about Mike Newins, visit Make Nice.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She's probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.