Matt Kalinowski

John S. Coles in his dining room, where the walls and ceiling were painted with his artistic hand.

By Estelle Bond Guralnick

With keen eye and deft hand, artist John S. Coles took a back stairway from dowdy to delightful for the 2012 Junior League of Boston’s Show House last fall. That fanciful notion reminded us of Coles’s many talents and prompted us to profile the Arlington, Massachusetts, artist in our January/February issue of Design New England, now on newsstands or in your mailboxes.

Kitchen designer Claudette Andrew of Westborough Design Center stands in the kitchen she helped architect Derek Bloom of Derek Bloom Architects create in the new house he designed for himself and his family in Marblehead, Massachusetts. Photograph by Trent Bell.

Just as the holiday season winds down and things start getting back to domestic normalcy, our January/February 2012 issue will be landing in your mailbox and hitting the newsstands. In it, you will find a raft of design ideas to inspire your winter home improvement musings. This cover is just the beginning. Our annual Kitchen + Bath issue is full of dazzling spaces that will bring lots of cheer — and a great big wish list — to the New Year.

Speakers at the Venegas and Company Design Salon include (from left): Dan Hisel of Dan Hisel Architect, Donna Venegas of Venegas and Company, Jean Verbridge of Siemasko + Verbridge, and Chris Magliozzi of Bay Point Builders.

By Molly A. Campbell

With the beautiful Venegas and Company kitchen showroom at the Boston Design Center as a backdrop, Design New England’s fall salon series wrapped up with a flourish. “Problems Solved” was the topic and our panel of four distinguished design professionals launched into discussions of creative design ideas, innovative products, and solid building solutions.

Alan Dershowitz is selling this modern house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to move to his native New York.

By Bruce Irving

We don't know if there will be any star residue left in the rooms where celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz (defense attorney for the likes of Patty Hearst, O.J. Simpson, Michael Milken and Claus von Bulow) once mused, but if there is, it won’t be just from the Harvard Law professor. The house he is listing for just under $4 million has quite an illustrious legacy that predates Dershowitz's stewardship, starting with its architect.

Architecture and construction by Luke Mandle of Two Ton.

It's Design New England's Sixth Anniversary, and in our November/December issue (in home and online next week) we celebrate in more ways than one. Our cover story showcases a home in a quiet corner of southeastern Massachusetts that is inspired by simple agrarian sentiments. Designed and built by architect Luke Mandle, we called it Farm Fresh in a story written by William Morgan and photographed by Eric Roth. Throughout the issue, we tweaked our own graphic design, adding a new typeface for headlines and bodytype, all to make the magazine both more attractive and easier to read. In Local Wares, we highlight some of the newest and best Boston-area retail destinations, and our Selections contributors sought out talented artisans throughout New England for a gift guide to regionally made products. Add in a South End holiday entertaining feature with delectable recipes, and we'd say we have a party!

Lynn Karlin

Bunny Williams, shown here in the conservatory of her Connecticut home as seen in the March/April issue of Design New England: Almost Heaven, joined Boston-area designers last week for a talk on design and to introduce pieces from her BeeLine Home collection available through Lee Jofa at the Boston Design Center.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

It's easy to be amazed by Bunny Williams. She's an American design icon with a decorating style that is at once timeless, innovative, and comfortable. Having developed her design aesthetic at New York's Parish-Hadley Associates under the tutelage of renowned designers Sister Parish and Albert Hadley, Williams started Bunny Williams Inc. in 1988, opened Treillage, a garden shop in New York, with husband John Roselli in 1991, and created BeeLine Home, a home furnishings line, in 2008. The introduction of BeeLine Home at Lee Jofa at the Boston Design Center, the line's first foray into a showroom environment, came with a delightful lunch and learn event where Williams spoke passionately and generously about her career and the inspirations for her furniture designs.

Speakers include, from left: Michael Coutu of Sudbury Design Group, Eliza Tan of Eliza Tan Interiors, Michael Collins of D. Michael Collins Architects, and David Dankens of M.F. Reynolds Inc.

By Molly A. Campbell

Nestled in the woods along Old Post Road in Sudbury, Massachusetts, and surrounded by glorious fall color, Sudbury Design Group's headquarters was the perfect setting for Design New England's fifth Design Salon of the fall series. Hors d’ouerves were served and guests mingled amidst the showrooms and drafting tables of the landscape company's offices, and, since the night was warm, the crowd spilled onto the outdoor deck, where the autumn foliage and plantings created a quintessential New England backdrop. It was a lovely segue to the evening's topic, “House and Garden: Where landscape and architecture meet.”

Eric Roth

A nautical bunk room, complete with steel boat ladders, by Andra Birkerts of Andra Birkerts Interior Design (see Design New England's Fun Follows Function March/April 2011) has a light interior with fun accents of blues and greens, reds and yellows.

By Molly A. Campbell

One of the best-known lighting showrooms in the Boston area, Lucia Lighting & Design in Lynn, Massachusetts, was the setting for our fourth fall Design Salon where the focus was on using color and light to enhance space. “Light is the reason color exists,” Andra Birkerts of Andra Birkerts Interior Design in Wellesley, Massachusetts, told the audience. Well-known for her adept and unexpected use of color, she gave a “big picture” approach to the topic. In working with clients, she says, she notices how they relate to color and interprets her observations through her designs, which result in custom, beautiful spaces such as this Rockport, Massachusetts, summer home, which our editors titled “Fun Follows Function." (July/August 2011).

Jim Westphalen

A rustic kitchen project by Cushman Design Group (see Design New England's Northern Light March/April 2011) New England was shown by Milford Cushman to explain how he brings the personal style of his clients to his projects.

By Molly A. Campbell

“Personal Style” is a challenging theme to tackle. Everyone has his or her own idea of what it means. At Design New England’s Design Salon, third of the fall series, at Dover Rug & Home in Natick, Massachusetts, our presenters offered guidance on how to achieve individuality while adhering to the principles of good design.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

We're busily getting the next issue of Design New England ready, but I can't stop
thinking of the cozy window seating areas Marc Hall, Paula Robinson Rossouw,
and Teri Maher so expressively brought to life in Selections in the September/
October issue. As the weather cools down and the air gets crisper, here’s seven
products that inspire my idea of a great spot to gaze out and ponder the world.

By Gail Ravgiala

By popular demand, we have extended the deadline for nominations for our 2nd annual Mentors in Design honors to October 12.

Rich Pomerantz

Landscape designer Laura Kuhn of Laura Kuhn Design Consultation in Arlington, Massachusetts, discussed how in her projects, the house's driveway often makes a lasting first impression to visitors.

By Molly A. Campbell

It was a beautiful night at ARTEFACT Home|Garden in Belmont, Massachusetts, this week, a perfect setting for Design New England’s second Design Salon of the fall series. The one-time Dodge auto dealership showroom, Artefact is now an enchanting space where owners and sisters Maureen and Sue Walsh have curated a beautiful collection of furniture and accessories for the home and garden.

Allan Shope Architects

Allan Shope designed his upstate New York house as an earth-bermed structure featuring recycled glass walls, salvaged stone siding, repurposed copper roof, and photovoltaic panels.

By Jill Connors

Allan Shope's work is laden with quest these days. For 25 years, the noted architect, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, was principal at the Connecticut firm Shope Reno Wharton. There he spent his time designing houses for an extremely wealthy clientele and, he says, "architecture as power, architecture as message" was the mantra defining the often excessively large, shingle-clad houses built on phenomenal pieces of property.

Today, from his farm in upstate New York, he runs Allan Shope Architects, the four person firm he founded in 2006 and his view of the architect's role seems very different. It is an issue he addressed as keynote speaker at the recent American Institute of Architects' CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network) Symposium in Newport, Rhode Island, where architects from around the country gathered to exchange ideas and information on clients (how to educate, nurture, and please them); costs (how to explain them in an era when custom homes range anywhere from $500 to $1,000 or more per square foot); and conscience (what is the architect's role?).

Eric Roth

The living room of Webster & Company’s model unit greets visitors with a soft palette of pastels and strong woodwork, which frames the view of the city bustling below.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

Something magical happens on the 20th floor of the W Boston Hotel & Residences. That’s where seven pristine model units, designed by some of the region’s strongest talents, shimmer and shine. The newest design was conceived and executed by Peter Webster of Webster & Company, a showroom in the Boston Design Center. Assisting with the latest in home technology was Elite Media Solutions, a Wellesley, Massachusetts, company that sells and installs home theater, audio, and other home-tech systems. Elite Media recently welcomed guests to view the units and get a close-up look at some of the dazzling tech products they feature including mirrors that double as televisions and speakers completely invisible to the eye.

Daher Interior Design

An image from designer Paula Daher's presentation shows a recent project with details achieving sleekness and intrigue.

By Molly A. Campbell

“Attention to Detail” was the mantra last night as Design New England presented the first of our fall 2012 Design Salons at Italian Design in Brookline, Massachusetts. Amid the showroom’s beautiful furniture, lighting, and rugs, our panelists demonstrated that the devil and Real Solutions for the Home are indeed in the details.

Peter Ricciardi

The fifteen young winners of the 2012 Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition celebrated with a performance at Symphony Hall in Boston.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

Every spring, Steinway Society of Massachusetts conducts a piano competition for young pianists. Held at Steinert Hall of Boston’s M. Steinert & Sons, a proud sponsor of the event, the competition recognized five winners in three divisions for a total of 15 emerging piano talents. They gathered recently for a celebratory concert and the chance to brandish their musical talents on the big stage at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

Courtesy of Dover Rug & Home

Dover Rug & Home and Dover Squash & Fitness are sponsors for a squash charity event at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

Picture the lovely interior of Boston’s Symphony Hall. Now picture a squash court at the center with players battling it out as enthusiastic spectators watch from balconies. That’s Showdown at Symphony, an annual charity event that benefits SquashBusters, a non-profit youth program that merges the sport with academic enrichment and character development. Dover Rug & Home is one of the sponsors of the event, which takes place Saturday September 15 and matches Team Egypt against Team England. Tickets are available through the box office, 617-523-7393.

It’s sure to get us in the mood to visit Dover Rug & Home for the Design New England Design Salon, "Personal Style,” on Thursday, October 11. Dover owner Mahmud Jafri, a lifelong devotee and promoter of squash, built his 30,000-square-foot showroom in Natick, Massachusetts, to include Dover Squash & Fitness. The facility includes three squash courts and offers private lessons and tournaments as well as a place for Jafri and Dover Squash Academy to play. Sports have never combined with decor so stylishly.

Students in a canning workshop at Appleton Farms, led by educator Becky Fahey, have space to work in the Old House’s updated teaching kitchen.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

In the current issue of Design New England (in stores and online now!), we take a stroll through Appleton Farms, the longest continually operating farm in the United States. The focus of our story is the renovation of its Old House, which dates to the 18th century. Now a farmhouse museum, administrative offices, and education center, the building earned platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Marilyn Humphries

Don Carney (left) and John Ross of Patch NYC in Boston’s South End stand with pieces from the collection they designed for The Shops at Target.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

It all started with hand-crocheted hats. Before they knew it, designers Don Carney and John Ross founded Patch NYC, which soon developed into an alluring curiosity boutique in New York City. Lucky for us, in 2010 New England called to them and they moved lock, stock, and fabulous design portfolio to the courtyard at 46 Waltham Street in Boston’s South End. All was going well, when last year “the best thing ever” happened, says Ross. They were invited by national retail chain Target to participate in its second round of The Shops at Target. The program asks selected brands to design a collection to sell in Target’s brick-and-mortar and online stores — for a limited time at affordable prices. Ross and Carney had no problem dreaming up playful, edgy pieces, most of which are inspired by nature and animated with drawings of owls, deer, foxes, feathers, and leaves. At a preview party held by Target and the blog Design Milk on August 29, the collection, one of four available at Target from September 9 to October 20, spilled out of their store and into the courtyard for invited guests to ogle (but, alas, not buy).

Joel Benjamin

From left, Marc Hall, Paula Robinson, and Teri Maher contribute their design choices for Design New England September/October 2012 Selections.

By Courtney Kasianowicz

Selections, our product-focused design department, is always about new ideas. But as we worked closely with the three talented designers who put together the vignettes for the feature in our September/October issue (in homes the first week of September), we realized all three were not only bringing us fresh ideas, they were each making a professional fresh start.