Welcome! My name is Joe Griffith. I am the furniture maker here at Blue Dog Modern.
While my furniture building started as an adult, the inspiration began as a child.
Growing up, I was fortunate. I lived next door to an architect who lived in a mid-century modern home that he designed and built.
The house was filled with outrageously cool, modern furniture. It was a distinct departure from the "traditional" furniture I found everywhere else.
The pieces were futuristic. They looked like someone’s wildest imagination of what furniture might someday become.
Yet, their organic curves and textures made them familiar and comfortable. The designs felt like extensions of the natural world. Some pieces went by names like "Tulip" and "Grasshopper".
The first piece of furniture that I built, for myself, was a simple cabinet with a countertop and two doors. Nothing outrageous but you must start somewhere.
Even so, I felt a great sense of opportunity. I had a chance to make something that had never existed before. Something that just might turn out to be both beautiful and useful.
That was almost 20 years ago. One piece was not enough. I just kept building.
I absorbed everything that I could from designers, craftsmen, and pieces that I liked.
I wanted to produce "organic curves", "extensions of the natural world", like those I had seen in the modern furniture next door. These shapes and curves provided the perfect format for sharing the beauty and richness of our local hardwoods. That is what I strive to do.
I design and build every piece myself, from start to finish. I take every advantage afforded to the small shop.
I seek out the best wood that I can find. Each piece of furniture is an effort to capture the wood's natural beauty.
Blue Dog Modern furniture was featured by Garth Andrew Interior Design, a long-time champion of modern design.
