LETTER FROM THE EDITOR – February 2013
By Rebecca Falzano, Heidi Kirn, and Susan Grisanti

If architecture is said to be the bones of a house, then interior design might very well be the heart—a creative expression of homeowner personality, a marriage of function and aesthetics, a collection of pieces that have meaning. The spaces we live in say as much about us as they do about how and where we live, and the best designers are those who can weed through the proverbial (and literal) clutter to get to the very essence of that.

With every project, interior designers take on a great challenge. A home, after all, holds the physical things people carry with them in life: furniture new and inherited, artwork, cherished mementos. Designers meld these with new items, a color palette, and function to create interiors that not only match the homeowners’ style, but the way they want to live in the space.

In our annual Interior Design issue we highlight real Maine spaces by interior designers whose roles go beyond that of designer and decorator and extend into curators, editors, collectors, stylists, translators. Each of these designers has their own distinct approach and philosophy, but common themes emerge: Get to know the homeowner’s hobbies and passions, find out how they live, highlight the pieces that are most important, let go of the things that aren’t. James Light, the designer of the Gilman home (“A New Twist on an Old Classic,” page 47), looks to his clients’ closets for clues into their style. Jan Robinson approaches a space the way she approaches a painting, as a composition. Christine Maclin considers the surrounding environment to reinforce a sense of place—is it a cabin on a lake or a city apartment? Jeanne Handy asks her clients where they find tranquility and what brings them joy.

This issue is a celebration of personal style—both outward and inward—and the people who bring it to life.