Mike White is the founder of Swell Studio, a contemporary furniture and lighting design studio based in New York’s Hudson Valley. White’s deep connection to nature, shaped by his upbringing in Utah and passion for outdoor activities like snowboarding and surfing, inspires Swell Studio’s collections. The studio’s pieces are handcrafted using exceptional materials and techniques that honor tradition, with artful details that surprise and delight. Swell Studio is committed to creating with respect for the environment and incorporates remnants from the studio into new works. Additionally, the studio partners with One Tree Planted to plant 20 trees for every piece of furniture and lighting sold. Learn more about Mike White in today’s Maker Monday.
Featured here are two new pieces, one stool and one floor lamp, from Swell Studios. Stone, wood and glass are common materials for Mike White as he draws inspiration for his works from his natural surroundings.
Andrew Joseph: What is your favorite aspect of your job?
Mike White: There are so many! To start, I love the process. From concept, to design development and prototyping, to seeing it all come to life in our studio and distributed. We are really lucky to have all the tools and resources we need here at our Saugerties-based workshop. The shop is a place for experimentation, failure, learning, and iteration. With our most recent collection, the Onna Collection, we especially experimented with expanding our lighting pieces, a floor lamp and sconce, all with custom dimmers and one-of-a-kind details we had to engineer from scratch.
The process involves so much trial and error, and when we get it right, that ‘aha’ moment is extremely fulfilling.
I also would not be able to do all of this without an incredible team. The fact that all of this involves more than ‘just me’ also keeps me inspired. Lastly, the entrepreneurial side of this is great. There’s a new challenge or learning every single day, and we are really just beginning to grow in an exciting way.
AJ: What is your favorite place to find inspiration?
MW: I find inspiration from multiple different avenues but the number one source would be spending time in nature, whether that’s out in the ocean surfing, on a trip to the desert landscape of my home state in Utah, or traveling to Italy to visit our stone suppliers quarries. Being outside really allows me to disconnect from daily life and slow down a bit. Nature itself acts really spontaneously, and just being an active observer within it leaves a lot of space for me to gain my own clarity.
I would also say that growing up in Utah and spending a lot of time in the mountains (I used to be a professional skier) has definitely been a key to the inception of Swell Studio altogether.
This chandelier reimagines a simple repeating cylindrical shape into a dynamic lighting fixture, perfect for an entryway.
AJ: How do you balance functionality and aesthetics in your designs?
MW: This one is big for me. When I’m incorporating the functional aspect into the design, they can’t compete with the aesthetics, they really have to complement each other. Swell Studio is led by curiosity and a sense of boundlessness. The ‘what if’s so to speak. When we see a material, reference, or shape we love, we are going to investigate how it can be utilized and iterated to its full capacity.
At the same time, our visual or material curiosity has to be bound by our hand craftsmanship in some respects. And this tension actually ends up creating an inherent balance that reveals itself along the way. We are constantly refining in the sense that we are never going to drive too far away from a piece’s original intention which is to be of use to an individual or group of people, to be beautiful, and to last for a very very long time.
AJ: How do you incorporate sustainability into your designs?
MW: We do our best to be as sustainable as possible by using studio waste and eco-friendly materials to prototype new pieces along with incorporating cut-offs and excess pieces into other product offerings. We also work with the One Tree Planted Foundation to plant 10 trees for every piece of furniture we sell.
Hand-carved wooden credenza in two tones of natural wood create this curvilinear piece that is not only gorgeous but functional and a testament to the craftsmanship of Mike White’s practice.
AJ: Can you tell us about a project where you had to overcome a design challenge?
MW: One of our recent pieces for our show, the Onna Floor Lamp. This piece was by far the most challenging thing to date to execute as we had to custom-make every component of it. It was also really important that the dimming feature was on the fixture and not external, a challenge we’ve executed and are very proud of!
AJ: What is your favorite type of furniture to design?
MW: Credenzas and case pieces are up there along with lighting!
About the Maker | Swell Studio designs and crafts contemporary furniture and lighting, marrying contemporary aesthetics with time-honored techniques. Founded by Mike White in 2017 while residing in NYC, the studio moved to upstate NY’s Hudson Valley in 2019.
White works out of Saugerties, NY, and resides in Germantown with his partner and their two-year-old daughter, Ruby.
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