By Rebecca Falzano, Leanne Ouimet, and Susan Grisanti

Photography C.A. Smith Photography

From the eighth floor of One Canal Plaza, Portland stretches out below us, drenched in morning sunlight. We are only blocks away from our own offices on Market Street, and yet this is an entirely new perspective for the three of us. Maybe it’s the height, but we find ourselves zooming out a bit, thinking about the bigger picture.
Maine is the kind of place where you feel connected, and much like our design community, it is small, full of talent, and accessible. Because of the close-knit nature of this community, every story seems to have no more than two degrees of separation from the next. People know what their colleagues and competitors are working on, and the opportunity for collaboration is almost always within reach.

When it comes time for the AIA Maine Design Awards every two years (page 36), we are always incredibly proud to feature the winners. We know these projects and those who created them—and we are delighted to share them with you.

For this same reason, we are excited to invite you to this year’s Maine Home+Design Show: a real-life reflection of the beautiful projects we feature each month. For two days in charming midcoast Maine, you will have the chance to meet the people on our pages in person and start a dialogue. To experience the same connections that we, and they, share. To step into this ever-expanding circle.

We invite you to read more about this year’s Home Show on page 145, and of course, we look forward to meeting you there in person.