Milo Newman, Custom Furniture and Millwork
Milo Newman is a Brooklyn-based designer and woodworker specializing in custom hardwood furniture and commercial and residential millwork. With a background in engineering and years of hands-on shop experience, Milo brings a thoughtful, problem-solving mindset to every project – from intricate one-off commissions to full retail buildouts.
His portfolio spans a wide range of work, including a technically complex mirror for artist Rafael Prieto, custom millwork installations for Kartik Research in New York City, a solid ash chandelier of his own design, and custom stairs built for photographer Jessup Deane’s live/work studio. Guided by an appreciation for domestic woods, clever joinery, and collaborative design, Milo is drawn to projects that challenge both creativity and craftsmanship.
Milo answers our questions about how he got started, what inspires his work, and why he chooses finishes that preserve the natural look and feel of wood while offering long-term durability.
Who are you and what do you specialize in?
I’m Milo Newman and I specialize in custom hardwood furniture as well as commercial/residential millwork. My projects range from prototypes for designers to full retail buildouts and residential built-ins. If it starts with wood, I can make it.
How long have you been practicing? How did you get started?
This is a loaded multi-dimensional answer but in short, I renovated apartments in high school, got a degree in engineering and did that for a few years out of university then found wood shops in around 2015. I started my own business in 2016 and then took a break during the pandemic to do interiors photo styling, as well as work in some other shops. I picked back up my own practice in 2022 and I guess it was the right move because we’ve been slammed since. 1. How did you get started? I got tired of the day to day engineering working for the NYC drinking water department and had a couple friends that worked in a set shop. I got a job with them and learned how to make fake things very quickly for photoshoots and the like and eventually started making not fake things out of the back of the shop. They didn’t exactly love me doing that so I quit and went off on my own in a friend’s studio.
What inspires your designs and choice of materials?
Usually the spec from the client in my inbox haha. Other than that I love Calvin and Hobbes, domestic woods, and a mix of MCM and memphis.
How do you choose your finishes?
Again spec, but if it’s a natural wood finish I only ask what sheen because it has always been Osmo.
What’s your biggest frustration when finishing wood?
How much finishers charge to do what I can do by hand with Osmo. I also like how the wood still looks and feels like wood with Osmo. It feels like the most honest finish to me.
What do you value most in a wood finish?
Consistency, repeatability, repairability, and not feeling like the wood has become plastic.
What’s your favourite type of project to work on?
I really love a hardwood puzzle in which I need to figure out how different parts will come together or how things will fit in a logical manner. I also really love a collaborative retail buildout where the client/designer and I can exchange ideas that culminates in a smart, beautiful outcome. Kartik Research on Orchard St downtown NYC is my favorite buildout to date.
We’ve asked you to share some of your favourite pieces finished with Osmo, can you tell us what makes them special to you?
More than any other project, I really enjoyed working on this fish mirror for the artist Rafael Prieto. It was the trickiest puzzle I had come across yet and forced me to use a culmination of everything I’ve learned so far. Pattern routing that wanted to blow out around curves, cheeky joinery in strange tight angled connections, aesthetic router details, hand carved gouge fins, and keeping everything tight to the drawings so my glass for the mirror actually fit in the end and all my threaded inserts lined up without much fuss.
How do you feel about maintaining Osmo-finished pieces?
With Osmo, I never worry about longevity and if someone ends up gouging or scratching a surface it’s so easy to repair sometimes I just give them some product to do it themselves.
Favourite Osmo product?
3043 Clear Satin all day forever and always.
Do you have any advice for someone entering woodworking?
I’ve made the comparison in the past that being a woodworker is a lot like being a chef. As I was reading Kitchen Confidential I felt that a lot of same stories of surly, obsessive, misfits in the trenches of their craft would easily apply to a woodshop. We know what we have to do and what to look for and repeat tasks religiously while navigating our own thoughts (even better when the thoughts are silent and “the zone” is achieved). We both also will walk miles in a day and never leave the same room. If you think that might feel right for you .. welcome home.
What tool can you not live without?
Domino joiner. Overheads are high in NY and like you’ve heard, time is money.
What is something you wish you knew sooner in your career?
What other people were charging for comparable work! Now I have many friends in the industry and we all have very transparent conversations around pricing to make sure we stay winning.
Where do you shop for finishes and materials?
Shop your local suppliers. We go to Abbot Paint and Varnish in Greenpoint.
What are you most excited about this year?
I’m excited to present my own designs on a line I’ve been working on. I’m also looking forward to more interesting retail buildouts like the ones for Venspace, Extreme Cashmere, and Kartik Research.
Anything else you would like to add?
I’m happy to share any and all info I have if you want to reach out. Open source market is the only way forward.
Where can people find you?
I’m currently located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Building 5.
Instagram: @milo__newman on ig.
DM Milo on instagram for his email to make inquiries.
✌️+❤️ – Milo
