ABOUT

Don McEwen, founder of Nordic Chair Company has been designing and building furniture for over 30 years and now works at his small atelier in Hemmingford, Quebec, a region known for apple orchards, agro-tourism as well as beautiful forested areas.

As a former stage designer, scenic painter and carpenter in the film industry, he begins his designs with storytelling in mind.

“Giving chairs characters and a history lets me explore them. Each one breaks the mold of the last. Each one is created from memories or stories of women I hold dear. Some are female characters from theatre, and some I have known; all women with characters that I love.”

Nordic Chair Company has recently launched a line of Tyrolean chairs, hand built from sustainably harvested local wood.

“We bought this property in Southern Quebec largely because of the beautiful statuesque white pine trees that surround us. They escaped the axe, then the chain saw, but in the last few years, not the strange wind storms. I harvest only those that have fallen. To stand at the bottom of an eighty foot pine tree and think of cutting it down, is beyond me. Greed has done enough damage to the planet. Trees are our life source, our oxygen, the earths’ lungs, our hope for the planet. Working with fallen trees means they have aged a bit before milled into planks. This gives each chair a character.”

Choose from six designs with names such as La Princesse and La Duchesse, or contact Don to discuss your custom order and have him create a one of a kind piece or set to match your living space.