THE MODERN MINT BLOG

Jul06

Why we Love the Nordeck Chair

Looking for products for our shop is a fascinating job – the important questions are:

What is it made of?

Where has it come from?

How long will it last?

We don’t ask about cost or who is going to buy it – tastes change, so if you believe a product or producer is suitable – why not support them loudly? The world turns and the greatest and most useful products find their places…

When we first saw the Nordeck chair we were stunned – several different lengths of wood, three bits of rope – and that is it. Everything you need for a comfy chair.

Nordeck Chair OakGallery Image

Classed as a deckchair, it has a contemporary feel (who wants a deckchair with fabric? Not us, not anymore…) and looks equally at home on your patio in summer, in your conservatory in the winter, or at the end of your garden when friends come over for a glass of wine.

Sitting on a Nordeck chair by the sea is just a wonderful bonus…

Nordeck Chair Lifestyle Gallery Image 2

It wasn’t just the look we loved though – the wood comes from managed woodland in Finland. This is an important point – in Finland, you can stop illegal logging, while in the rainforests of the world you can’t.

By buying a Nordeck chair you are supporting the use of European wood – birch, pine, oak, alder, larch – and helping to stop the promotion and transportation of exotic woods from the Southern Hemisphere. We have wonderful woods that we can use in our products in Europe, that last a long time with just the minimum care (a little bit of oil from time to time is all the treatment they need.)

It was this that thrilled us and made the offering of Nordeck chairs a must-have on the Modern Mint shop.

We have been at a number of markets this year with the Nordeck chair, and had lots of feedback.

One lady in Cambridge, a yoga teacher for 35 years, tried out the chair and told us it was the perfect position for your body – it sits you straight, the core of the body in line, which in turn helps ease pressure on your back (compare this to the way you twist and turn your spine when sat in the car…)

Nordeck Chair Lifestyle Gallery Image

Another lady told us how easy it was to put together. Of course! It is simple design, for maximum effect!

At Modern Mint we have fallen in love with this chair – it has become our ‘go to’ present for friends as a wedding gift, for birthdays, for ‘moving in to first homes with a garden’ – and we have seen nothing else on the garden furniture market that looks this cool and is such great value.

Allay all of this positivity and class to the fact the Nordeck Chair supports the use of European wood, that it supports a woodland that is growing (they have the space to plant in Finland!) and it makes the Nordeck chair the perfect partner for Modern Mint.

Take a closer look at the Nordeck chair here.

Nordeck Chair Lifestyle Gallery Image 1

(If you have a product you think would suit Modern Mint, we would love to hear from you. Contact us with details here.)

Nov06

Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue

With Chris Poole of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society we visited Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue in Rutland. Do you know it? Amazing place! Chris and I were teaching a topiary workshop in order to give local people the skills and technique, and tenacity! to help with the pruning of the avenue and elevate it to something even more special than it already is. Read more about the workshops here. We hope to run a further workshop in September 2026, as well as teach an advanced course too. Check the teaching page through the year as it will be updated …

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Nov06

Aesthetic Pruners Association – New Talk In December

An organisation I love and have been learning lots from in the last two years is the Aesthetic Pruners Association based in the USA. Sharing knowledge with them about clipping and the overlap – and differences! – in style is something worth exploring, so I recommend a visit to their website and to join onto their events and talks, which are all on Zoom meaning you can access them from anywhere in the world. No excuse not to learn! The next event will be led by Jocelyn Cohen and be about ancient trees in the British Landscape. This is such …

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Oct29

The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus

Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …

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