We met and became friends while working at Tuft & Needle, a home goods retailer. After years of working together, we decided to combine our skills to create a company that reflected our shared values of craftsmanship, sustainability, and connection. We hope our outdoor furniture and goods can help you create space for connecting with family, friends and neighbors.
Here’s to a long life outside!
Nick’s exposure to the furniture industry began at a young age, watching, and later helping, his mom build a furniture business. He sold furniture and promoted sales before leaving home to begin a career in accounting and management consulting. He joined Tuft & Needle in 2016, eventually becoming the COO and later Interim CEO. He channels his lifetime of experience into Neighbor, ensuring the company is founded on the same entrepreneurial and community-minded spirit he saw growing up.
Chris was introduced to furniture building while managing a team of carpenters on a factory floor. This path eventually lead to his becoming the Head of Supply Chain for Tuft & Needle. While there, he helped the business scale from selling a few hundred goods to more than 10,000 a week. A builder at heart, Chris combines his love of creating and his knowledge of supply chain optimization to make sure Neighbor’s products are exquisitely executed while arriving on time.
Mike brings a creative perspective to everything he does. Just after college, he used retail design to start a non-profit helping those in need before working as a design consultant for many well-established brands. As Head of Product Experience for Tuft & Needle, Mike conceptualized and created a wide range of products, touching everything from the product packaging to the digital experience. His passion for thoughtful, sustainable, and human-centered design is evident in every piece Neighbor offers.
When designing Neighbor’s outdoor furniture, it was essential that we found durable, weather-resistant materials that didn’t sacrifice beauty or feel. While there was a world of potential materials to choose from, finding something that wouldn’t harm the environment was our priority. After hours of researching, designing, and testing, we decided on materials that would ensure sustainability, durability, and of course comfort.
For centuries, teak was the wood of choice for shipbuilders because of its unique water resistant qualities. Teak wood’s natural oils repel water, making it resistant to most forms of wood rot, fungi, and pests. It also happens to be a beautiful wood that only looks better with age.
While teak is ideal for outdoor furniture, irresponsible harvesting of the wood has had a negative environmental and social impact. For this reason, we committed to using teak that is harvested from FSC certified forests. This means our outdoor furniture is sustainably sourced and responsibly harvested — something we can all feel good about. Find out more about FSC Certification.
Most cloth is dyed on the outside while the core remains the color of the original material. When exposed to the sun, the fabric will eventually fade to its core color. We chose Sunbrella® fabric for our cushion covers because it uses a resilient solution dyed acrylic. This dyeing process allows color to seep through the entire thread, creating fade and mildew resistant fabric.
Outdoor cushions that stay wet become prone to mildew and rot. When we were designing our cushions, we needed something that would feel comfortable but also dry quickly. Since we couldn’t find exactly what we wanted, we created Quick Drying foam. It’s porous so water flows through the cushion without becoming trapped. This means our cushions are less susceptible to rot or mildew while still being extremely comfortable.
Just like it sounds, all our hardware is made to withstand exposure to the open ocean. Whether our furniture is exposed to endless rain or sun, our hardware is up for the challenge.
