5 Under 40 2026

5 Under 40 Awards are presented by New England Home magazine and spotlight the hottest emerging talent in New England’s residential design categories: architecture, interiors, specialty design (furniture, textiles, lighting, accessories, and other home products), and landscape design.

Celebrate the creativity and innovation of emerging talent in residential design at a lively cocktail party and awards ceremony, Thursday, September 17th. Don’t miss the chance to bid on five exquisite, one-of-a-kind custom rugs designed by this year’s winners. Proceeds from the auction will benefit SOLA Afghanistan (School of Leadership, Afghanistan), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating Afghan girls and cultivating the next generation of women leaders.

Selected by an exceptional committee of regional design leaders, 5 Under 40 award winners are the people to watch, producing some of the most beautiful and innovative work available today. Enjoy an evening of design, community, and impact while mingling with top talent from across New England.

Thursday, September 17, 2026.

Click here for tickets to the 5 Under 40 Awards Gala!

To place a proxy bid on one of the 5 rugs below, call Ken Gurley at the Boston Landry & Arcari showroom at 617-399-6500 or email kgurley@landryandarcari.com.

Erin Hunter
Studio Hearth Architecture + Design

After learning about the nonprofit that benefits from the rug auction, Erin Hunter was inspired to create a rug design with one of her own daughters. Together they laid out a tonal canvas on the floor and used ink and acrylic paint to build layers of marks, blots, footprints, and splatters. Multiple iterations were compiled, digitally manipulated, yielding a runner format that reinforces the movement within. Colors were selected to establish visual depth and maintain the whimsy of the initial design exercise.

Alexandra MacMillan
Lisa Tharp Design

As a designer and collector, Alex MacMillan draws inspiration from pieces gathered over time—as well as those that come to her, like her grandmother’s vintage silk scarves. Boldly graphic and richly colored, they reflect an appreciation for modern textiles. Her deeply personal rug evokes a strong sense of nostalgia by combining saturated hues with geometric motifs and a deliberate use of negative space. MacMillan signed her rug design in a nod to the tradition of artists and fashion houses.

Sarah Henley
Henley Design

The inspiration for Sarah Henley’s rug was a print by Virginia Lee Burton of the Folly Cove Designers, a collective (of mostly women) active in Massachusetts during the 1940s and ’50s. The print’s charming, graphic appeal led her to incorporate her own two cats into the design. She chose Henley brand colors and border motifs to signal that her design firm seeks to follow in the footsteps of “the inspiring women who came before us.”

Emma Driver
LeBlanc Jones Landcape Architects

Emma Driver’s rug blends tradition with personal expression. Drawing inspiration from art nouveau textiles, the outer border references classic rug patterns. She incorporated a string of meadow violets, Rhode Island’s state flower, as a tribute to her roots and ongoing connection to her home state. At the center, hand-drawn flowers introduce a lively sketch-like feel, inspired by the ever-changing garden at her home in Little Compton. The vibrant core is designed to contrast with the structured border.

Dennis Staton
Design Outside

The seasonality and dynamism of the New England landscape inspired Dennis Staton’s rug. He captured change over time by abstracting shifting colors and textures, as if during the course of a year. Staton balances structure and freedom, combining a loose grid with a more intuitive approach to color and form. It reminds him of the color swatches he makes while sketching landscape designs—as well as the swatches he makes when drawing and painting with his two daughters.