Boston-based Daher Interior Design expands to Kennebunk with chic studio, retail spot
KENNEBUNK, Maine — A Boston-based interior design firm is expanding into Kennebunk with a new studio and retail shop slated to open within a few months.
“We have decided to expand into the area we love,” said Paula Daher, who bought a house in Kennebunk with her husband, John, three years ago.
Daher and her son, Clayton, own and operate Daher Interior Design, a studio on Clarendon Street in Boston. In June, they expect to open a second studio under the same name at 135 Port Road in Kennebunk. They also plan to open a retail shop, Melange Du Monde, at the site in early July.
Daher is the firm’s principal creative director and a 2023 inductee into the New England Design Hall of Fame. The firm has been written about in numerous magazines, including Boston, Rise, Interiors, and New England Home.
Like the Boston business, the local studio will specialize in interior decorating for its clients, from gutting renovations to ground-up work, from coastal getaways to high-rise condos. The Maine assignments will join the ones the Dahers currently have lined up.
“We have projects all over the East Coast,” Daher said.
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Melange Du Monde offers international and local treasures
Melange Du Monde, named in honor of the family’s blended French and Lebanese heritage, will offer international and local treasures.
Daher said she travels the world in search of “things not found here,” items that she and her son can incorporate into their work and soon offer at their Maine-based shop. Daher said she has traveled to Paris, Morocco, Poland, and beyond.
“We have a global influence in our work,” she added.
Melange will offer local and international rugs, furniture, tableware, garden décor, and more. All items will be showcased in the shop “with our design lens,” according to Daher.
“We’re going to have a large selection of lighting, as well,” Daher said. “We’re thrilled to meet local artisans and work with them.”
For the Dahers, the studio and shop will be the second family enterprise in the community. John Daher owns and operates Shoebox and Co. on Ocean Avenue in Kennebunkport.
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Market Day complex a 'great location' for new business
Once known as the Market Day office complex, the building at 135 Port Road almost became a restaurant last year. Matthew Dyer, the owner of Wandby Landing, also in Kennebunk, had applied to the town to open an eatery there, but he ultimately decided against it after his application got conditional approval from the local Site Plan Review Board.
Daher and her son considered the building a “great location” — with high visibility, plenty of parking, and nice proximity to other businesses — when they discovered it was on the market.
“We purchased a downtrodden building that had been empty for three years, and we are under a full reconstruction,” Daher said.
Clayton has designed the renovation, which already passersby can see taking shape. When it’s complete, 135 Port Road will be “quite modern, very different from what it is currently,” Daher said.
“It’ll be a modern-rustic building that we’re very excited about,” she added.
Greg Lombardi Design of Massachusetts is handling the exterior landscape of the property, according to Daher.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Daher Interior Design of Boston expands to Kennebunk with chic studio
