Yes, Still in Maine

I'm back and honestly have no good excuses for my long absence.  But I do still love Maine and have several more homes to look at here before moving to my next topic (which may still be Maine).  Without further ado...

the first lovely Maine home as seen in Veranda.

Don't you wish you could be sitting here right now?  Despite today's chill, I'd still love it.

Inside would be beautiful also.

Blue is not a favorite color of mine, but the pale touches of it here are so lovely.  And who doesn't love a blue hydrangea?

Even though I love winter, the sea, the pale blues and the sandy linens make me long for summer and Maine.  Or even now and Maine.

Iced tea on the veranda anyone?

Or, nearer the ocean, cocktails?

The image above is not from the previousVeranda article.  Forgive my digression,  but thought I'd include it here because I stumbled upon this image and the garden looks so summery.  The great pot is from Lunaform, a company in Ellsworth, Maine.  Doesn't it look like a stalwart guardian in this Maine garden?  Owning four Lunaform  products, I can attest to their beauty and strength.  Our cold winters are no problem for my pots and spheres.

Now onward to the next home from...

Love, love, love this kitchen from its copper pot to its open shelving - a spring project for me.

Also love the stools and lighting - a bit of an industrial look appeals to me.

Many of the living room/dining room furnishings are from Restoration Hardware which also had an industrial look before they went so contemporary.  Again, like the touch of pale blue here.  (Maybe I do like blue.)

Guest quarters.

Master bedroom and bath.

The indoor/outdoor porch...

has its own fireplace for cool Maine evenings.

The family who owns this home has their main residence in California.  The exterior of their Maine home echoes California ones.

Another Veranda, another Maine home, this one from one of my favorite designers, John Saladino.

It has all the glamour of a Saladino design with all of Maine's strength and rusticity.

How much do I love this kitchen...let me count the ways - the woodwork, the lighting, the stools, the Dutch door, the stove - just all of it.

The bedroom, so Saladino and so Maine.

Note that bathtub "with a view" and its near a fireplace.  Perfection.

The foliage and ferns embrace the so-Maine exterior.

Perfection.

Guest quarters with a most solid and beautiful staircase.

OK, so I've gushed, but don't you think these have been some of the most "gush-able" homes?  They combine so much of what I love - Maine, wonderful kitchens, strength with design, even blue maybe.

I always hope you like what I cover as much as I do myself.  Someday, instead of rifling through all my magazines, I would like to make a book of these images "that I love"- not to publish, just to  have for my own joy, to have all in one place - sort of like Bunny Williams' book - Scrapbook.  Perhaps I should go to an Apple class or a library class to discover just how to do this.  Any ideas?

Till next time (which I really hope will not be so long in coming - but I do have a kitchen project in the offing and some grandsons' babysitting duty.  So who knows.)  Be well.  Be warm.  And be in Maine.
b