Maya Rumsey’s handmade porcelain planters are imperfect—and that’s just the way she likes them. In fact, her entire collection of bowls, plates, mugs, vases, and tumblers strikes a balance between modern, geometrically inspired design and charming DIY appeal.

“I’ve always gravitated toward clean and simple lines in my forms,” Rumsey says. “But I prefer a little funkiness in them—some flaws here and there so it shows that it’s made by a person’s hand.”

5280 Home Summer 2016
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From her home studio in Lakewood, Rumsey has turned her passion for ceramics into a flourishing made-to-order Etsy business called Melissa Maya Pottery. She throws every piece on a potter’s wheel, decorates them by hand (chevron, hexagon, and triangle patterns are her signatures), and rents space at the Arvada Ceramic Arts Guild for glazing and firing. “Pottery serves a purpose,” she says. “That’s why I love making planters.” Sounds like perfection to us.