Now Seating: Nora
Nora’s that one chair you think you’ve seen before—but with a few surprises up her sleeve: unexpected angles, playful curves and a quietly bold design.
Familiar. That was the word that kicked things off. But Joey Ruiter doesn’t do “familiar” in the predictable sense. With over 25 patents and a portfolio full of designs that toe the line between comfort and curiosity, he knows how to take something recognizable and turn it into something quietly bold. That’s exactly what happened with Nora.
At first glance, Nora looks like a chair you’ve seen before—the kind you’re instinctively drawn to. But look again. There’s something different happening here. An unexpected angle. A shift in proportion. A silhouette that makes you pause and rethink what “simple” really means.
Familiar Shapes, Unfamiliar Angles
He looked to history for inspiration, referencing Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s tall-backed teahouse chairs, which exaggerated form and silhouette in unexpected ways. Nora nods to that kind of drama, but brings it down to earth, reimagined for today’s more flexible, social spaces.
Daring Details
Nora’s most striking feature? The backrest. A sharply inverted angle feels almost daring—like it shouldn’t work. And yet, it does. Paired with soft, rounded corners and an organic curve where wood and tubular steel meet, the chair invites without demanding attention.
At the top, a subtle tube detail offers a quiet functionality—you can slide your fingers beneath it to pull the chair away from the table. It’s not a flashy feature, but it gives the chair natural points of contact. Thoughtful, intuitive, and just a little unexpected.
It’s a design that plays in the idea of "opposites attract"—soft but rigid, formal but friendly, familiar but fresh. And somehow, two sides of the same coin become cohesive. That’s no accident. That negotiation between materials creates a visual tension that’s subtle, but engaging—the kind of detail that keeps revealing itself over time.
“We’re asking two completely different processes to live as one,” said Ruiter. “You’ve got bending, gluing, and layering plywood—and then you’re cold-forming steel. These are natural materials that came from the Earth, but we’ve shaped them, asked them to bend, to stay straight, to meet tolerances. It’s two materials trying to make nice with each other.”
Small in Scale, Big on Personality
Much of today’s commercial furniture feels oversized, indulgent, even clunky. Nora moves in the opposite direction. Ruiter was drawn to the idea of restraint—creating something intentionally light in scale and visually approachable. Paying attention to scale and clean lines, it was designed to avoid the bulk that often crowds hospitality spaces. It’s comfortable without being overstuffed. Scaled just right, without losing personality. Even the legs, kept tight and efficient, speak to that design clarity.
That sense of restraint shows up in the overall height, too. Nora was designed to sit slightly shorter than you might expect—not to disappear, but to step back and let the architecture and surrounding design take the spotlight. It’s a quiet kind of confidence, one that respects the room it’s in.
And yes, it stacks. Up to four high, in fact. For a chair with this much personality, it knows how to play well with others.
Explore our other stacking chairs.
Materiality Made to Mix and Match
As with most Grand Rapids Chair designs, Nora doesn’t box you in. Layer in color or texture with a mixture of material options. Nora offers wood or upholstered seat and back options—pair it with a steel tube frame that bends just enough to make the unexpected angle feel natural. Whether you need dining, counter, or bar height, Nora comes ready to adapt.
Designers will appreciate the flexibility. Guests will just know it feels right.
Learn more about our Standard Finish Options.
A Chair That Feels Like It Belongs
Perhaps the most thoughtful part of Nora is how it supports the experience, rather than distracting from it. That’s where Nora shines. It fades into the background exactly when it should, and catches your eye just enough to make a space feel considered.
“My goal is that people don't remember my pieces. They shouldn't remember the chair for any particular reason. They should remember the conversation they had with the other person. They should remember the food they ate or where they were.” said Ruiter.
In a sea of “just another chair,” Nora is something more—a quiet surprise, shaped by years of design exploration and an eye for opposites. It doesn’t shout. It invites. And once you sit down, it’s the one you’ll keep coming back to.
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