Bath interior design company moves, upgrades downtown shop

An interior design company with a combined 25-year history between Brunswick and Bath is moving and upgrading the interior of a historic storefront in the new year.

Maine Street Design Co. is moving out of its 160 Front St. location to 66 Front St., changing its name to Maine Street Mercantile Design and MFG. Co., signifying a focus on Maine-based makers coming together to make a state brand, according to owner Brett Johnson.

Maine Street Mercantile Design will open Feb. 1. The new storefront will house inventory supplies for hardware and items for home kitchen projects, furniture for living rooms and other home decor items. Maine Street Mercantile Design’s newest addition is stocking the United Kingdom–based luxury paint Little Green Paint Company; it’s the first location in Maine to do so, with sales beginning last month.

Inside the design studio space, there will be four working spaces that will have a subscription or daily rate for other small independent design professionals to use with full access to workrooms and stock in the store. However, Johnson hasn’t decided on what the price will be before the store opens.

The space at 66 Front St. used to be the House of Logan before going vacant in March 2025 after a rent increase.

Maine Street Design is leaving the historic Medanick Building at 160 Front St., with developer Sean Ireland taking over the building. Ireland couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.

Maine Street Mercantile Design’s new home is in the Sagadahoc Block at 66 Front St., built in the late 1800s and designed by John Calvin Stevens. Johnson wants visitors and working professionals to see the industrial framing of the building along with educating them on the original design aspects.

The Bath-based interior design company has been renovating the inside of the historic building for the past four months, removing the suspended ceilings along with a bunch of electrical wiring covering the tin ceiling. Contractors repainted the tin ceiling during the renovations and also revealed the original hardwood floor.

The stock at the Maine Street Design store comes from 75 Maine-based businesses, from interior furniture and kitchen supplies to paintings.

Johnson said business has been challenging in the past year under tariffs that affect interior design, with the higher-end designer fabrics and parts for furniture being imported from overseas and held up in customs. Maine Street Design Co. stopped bringing in some items it had previously imported, such as food items from Canada, with prices being elevated throughout the year.

“We are doing well because we are conscientious about it, but it is an added level of unnecessary frustration,” Johnson said.

Johnson said that roughly 90% of Maine Street Design Co.’s upholstered furniture is manufactured in the United States; however, some parts needed to assemble the furniture come from overseas.

Johnson started Maine Street Design Co. about 25 years ago in Brunswick and moved to Bath in 2020. The interior design company consolidated its other locations from Portland into Bath coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson said.