We are so inspired by Heritage grad Dana Griffith who is a successful designer and a truly inspiring entrepreneur. As a naturally creative person, she originally went to school to become a clothing designer. Once she realized clothing design wasn’t really her passion, she decided to enter the interior design field, starting out at Miller Paint in the wallpaper section. This led her to her career at Portland Furniture as the right-hand-girl for the owner at the time. It was originally located on Burnside in a small, industrial space. Because of the limited space, Dana started ordering smaller scale furniture. This is when the need for condo sized and custom furniture in Portland and surrounding areas became apparent. Over time, Dana evolved into a furniture expert but wanted to be able to offer a full-service design experience. This is when she heard about Heritage School of Interior Design and decided to enroll to take her career to the next level. After graduating from the program in 2004, she gained the design skills she needed to be an in-home designer as well as the business and marketing skills she needed to be a business owner. With an enhanced skill set and a boosted confidence, Dana purchased Portland Furniture a year after graduating, when the owner announced his plan to close the store.

Dana has an entrepreneurial spirit and has taken risk to get where she is today. During the recession, she considered closing the store but instead invested in moving to a new location from Burnside to NW 23rd, which has turned out to be very beneficial. She has been at the NW 23rd location for 6 years now which has tripled sales, not to mention how intimate and beautiful the space is! Dana really focused on her niche in providing condo sized and fully custom furniture lines and has gained a wonderful clientele because of it. The lines are not limited to smaller scale furniture, they also offer full sized sectionals and curved sofas. Dana is a very talented designer and strives to meet the needs of her clients whether they need help selecting one piece of furniture or designing an entire room. Her store offers a stunning variety of home decor including lighting, rugs, poufs, artwork, mirrors and more to provide her clients with a unique, custom look.

After meeting with Dana and learning more about her journey, we couldn’t be more impressed. She has worked extremely hard to get where she is at today. We are looking forward to her continued success and encourage all designers to stop by and meet Dana! Portland Furniture is a fabulous resource for fast, custom upholstery that is locally made by reliable, established vendors with a quick turnaround time. Visit her at 908 NW 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97210.