Houzz Tours
My Houzz: Salvage Finds and DIY Love in Rhode Island
A Providence couple layers on meaningful mementos and hands-on style for a personalized interior palette
“It really is night and day,” says novelist Emily Danforth of the home in Providence, Rhode Island, that she shares with Erica Edsell, an insurance professional. The couple gutted and remodeled their 1,900-square-foot house in about 14 months, reconfiguring the rooms to create an open-concept layout.
“We removed walls; put in a steel beam on the main floor; exposed the brick chimney; cut flooring on the third floor, which was unusable attic space, to vault our master bedroom ceiling; built a new kitchen in a new location on the main floor; put in all new plumbing, electric and a new HVAC unit; refinished all the floors; added a master bath; and built a lofted office on the third floor,” Danforth says. The result of this massive overhaul is a colorful interior filled with meaningful mementos and personalized style.
“We removed walls; put in a steel beam on the main floor; exposed the brick chimney; cut flooring on the third floor, which was unusable attic space, to vault our master bedroom ceiling; built a new kitchen in a new location on the main floor; put in all new plumbing, electric and a new HVAC unit; refinished all the floors; added a master bath; and built a lofted office on the third floor,” Danforth says. The result of this massive overhaul is a colorful interior filled with meaningful mementos and personalized style.
“The couch is super comfy and fits a crowd, which is nice for entertaining and lounging with our dogs, who each take up more room than is ever reasonable,” Danforth says. The coffee table is an original factory cart from a factory in Burlington; the couple lightly refinished it by cleaning, sanding and applying a coat of polyurethane to its top. “There are plenty of old factories and carts in this area, so it probably did not make sense to haul this one from an antiques place in Vermont a couple of years ago, but we got a good deal on two of them,” Danforth says.
The 1930s wooden file cabinet to the right of the sofa was a gift from Edsell’s mother. “It used to be quite tall — the cabinets themselves were built into wooden legs, but those legs broke, so now the cabinets themselves make for a good end table,” Edsell says.
The 1930s wooden file cabinet to the right of the sofa was a gift from Edsell’s mother. “It used to be quite tall — the cabinets themselves were built into wooden legs, but those legs broke, so now the cabinets themselves make for a good end table,” Edsell says.
The couple bought the large painting to the right of the window at an estate sale in Massachusetts. The work, by Russian-American artist Irwin D. Hoffman, is titled Seated Man in Interior. The piece hanging above the window is an antique whaling harpoon. Edsell’s mother found it at Antiques at the Cove, in New Bedford, Massachutsetts, and gave it to Danforth as a birthday present.
Light fixture: Restoration Hardware outlet in Wrentham, Massachusetts; sofa: Smith Brothers, Nebraska Furniture Mart
Light fixture: Restoration Hardware outlet in Wrentham, Massachusetts; sofa: Smith Brothers, Nebraska Furniture Mart
Next to the sofa is a bar cart that Edsell and Danforth made using another old cart. “A few years ago, we found that cart on Craigslist as one in a pair. They came out of an area factory and were used for tools, parts,” Danforth says. “To make the bar cart, we added a vintage street sign we had and propped up a mirror from the Victorian dresser that is now in our master bedroom.” The other cart is now a supply station in the third-floor office.
In this room, the couple removed walls where the steel beam now sits and then boxed in the beam with salvaged wood from the demo done in the house. “We exposed the ceiling joists and added new plumbing pipes, which we also exposed,” Danforth says. The couple then spray-painted the PVC pipes by hand.
“We both really love the oar railing because it was a labor of love. We hauled those oars around for a while, never sure if we would be able to use them as part of a staircase or not,” Danforth says of the collection she had amassed over the years. “We thought they fit the eclectic, coastal vibe going on in other parts of this house. The base of those oars is made of reclaimed wood taken from various demos done in the house,” she adds. Danforth used shellac to finish the base wood for the best match to the patina on the oars. The vintage Moroccan lamp hanging off the end is from an antiques store in Washington, D.C.
Vintage Exit sign: antiques shop in Cranston, Rhode Island; dining table: Rhode Island Antiques Mall
“We both really love the oar railing because it was a labor of love. We hauled those oars around for a while, never sure if we would be able to use them as part of a staircase or not,” Danforth says of the collection she had amassed over the years. “We thought they fit the eclectic, coastal vibe going on in other parts of this house. The base of those oars is made of reclaimed wood taken from various demos done in the house,” she adds. Danforth used shellac to finish the base wood for the best match to the patina on the oars. The vintage Moroccan lamp hanging off the end is from an antiques store in Washington, D.C.
Vintage Exit sign: antiques shop in Cranston, Rhode Island; dining table: Rhode Island Antiques Mall
The wine rack in the dining area is made from an antique set of post office boxes from the Burlington Northern railroad in Nebraska; they were once used as mail collection boxes for people who worked on the train lines. “We found it at a farm auction our first year living in Lincoln, Nebraska,” Danforth says. “None of the farmers could figure out why we were bidding on this thing,” and a bunch of them inquired afterward. It is intended to be placed lengthwise, but giving it a quarter turn allowed it to fit into this space.
The eyewash station came from the prop department section of New England Demolition & Salvage. “We briefly considered making it part of our shower,” Danforth says. The metal tacks on the dining chairs mimic those used on top of the table.
Dining chairs: Overstock.com; carpet: NuLoom
The eyewash station came from the prop department section of New England Demolition & Salvage. “We briefly considered making it part of our shower,” Danforth says. The metal tacks on the dining chairs mimic those used on top of the table.
Dining chairs: Overstock.com; carpet: NuLoom
The kitchen was originally in a different area of the house, so Danforth and Edsell started with a blank slate. “Every part of it is new, from the cabinets to the countertops, the sink to the appliances,” Danforth says. “We really built the whole thing around making the factory cart work in the space.” The couple loves the open layout, and how easy it is to be cooking and still hang out with guests. Danforth says, “I am the cook and really love the appliances too, especially the range and range hood.”
Carpets: Urban Outfitters; range, range hood, dishwasher, refrigerator, washer and dryer: Kitchen Guys in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Kitchen Recipes: Factory Cart Inspires a Dream Cooking Space
Carpets: Urban Outfitters; range, range hood, dishwasher, refrigerator, washer and dryer: Kitchen Guys in Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Kitchen Recipes: Factory Cart Inspires a Dream Cooking Space
The couple couldn’t decide on their countertop and installed butcher block as a temporary fix, but they’ve come to really love the warmth it adds. “I love the industrial faucet and three-bowl sink — it makes food prep and cleanup much faster,” Danforth says.
The couple have always loved the look and ease of open shelving. “We ordered these stainless steel shelves from an online restaurant-supply store. They are sturdy and easy to clean and basically blank slates for whatever we want to do with them,” she says. “Same goes with the subway tile — really easy to clean, a kind of classic blank slate that provides just enough visual interest. Because the factory cart is such a vibrant green, its original color, we wanted it to pop against the whites, grays and stainless steel surroundings.”
The couple have always loved the look and ease of open shelving. “We ordered these stainless steel shelves from an online restaurant-supply store. They are sturdy and easy to clean and basically blank slates for whatever we want to do with them,” she says. “Same goes with the subway tile — really easy to clean, a kind of classic blank slate that provides just enough visual interest. Because the factory cart is such a vibrant green, its original color, we wanted it to pop against the whites, grays and stainless steel surroundings.”
The cart was one of a pair the couple bought at New England Demolition & Salvage. “We had hopes for it as the kitchen island but were not sure exactly how we would make it work,” Danforth says. “The same day we found the cart, we actually found the slab of marble that now tops it. It was buried beneath several layers of dirt and bric-a-brac at Antiques at the Cove.”
The green paint color is original, and Danforth sealed it with shellac. “We also had custom paint tinted to match it to paint the frame for the marble top. It originally had push handles on either end, but we cut them down to make an island counter height good for stools. We only replaced one of the handles to give us more counter space,” she says. The couple love that it is multifunctional and ideal for entertaining or quickly moving around the space depending on their needs.
The green paint color is original, and Danforth sealed it with shellac. “We also had custom paint tinted to match it to paint the frame for the marble top. It originally had push handles on either end, but we cut them down to make an island counter height good for stools. We only replaced one of the handles to give us more counter space,” she says. The couple love that it is multifunctional and ideal for entertaining or quickly moving around the space depending on their needs.
The exposed backs of the lower cabinets are paneled with cost-friendly corrugated metal, which also complements the textures and other industrial-style design elements, such as the sink, shelving and exposed plumbing. “We had seen corrugated metal used in other applications, like showers. We liked the look, and it was easy to do and more visually interesting than just buying a premade backing panel from Ikea to match the lacquer cabinets,” Danforth says.
Across from the kitchen is a workspace for relaxing and watching television. “We love the couch and Nelson, the taxidermied longhorn sheep. He came from Acushnet River Antiques in New Bedford,” Danforth says. “The coffee table is a vintage trunk that Edsell’s mom found at a garage sale in Pennsylvania.”
The TV was mounted on the brick with a bracket that allows it to be tilted toward the kitchen when Danforth is cooking. “It is one of our favorite random luxuries — watching TV while food prepping,” she says. The fireplace isn’t functional, so the couple have filled it with various things like plants, candles and driftwood. The books that are now there are stacked to resemble a fire. “We playfully call it ‘book burning.’ My first novel was banned by a school board in Delaware a few summers ago, so it is kind of an homage to that, I guess,” Danforth says.
Chesterfield sofa: Restoration Hardware outlet, Wrentham; light fixture: Overstock.com
The TV was mounted on the brick with a bracket that allows it to be tilted toward the kitchen when Danforth is cooking. “It is one of our favorite random luxuries — watching TV while food prepping,” she says. The fireplace isn’t functional, so the couple have filled it with various things like plants, candles and driftwood. The books that are now there are stacked to resemble a fire. “We playfully call it ‘book burning.’ My first novel was banned by a school board in Delaware a few summers ago, so it is kind of an homage to that, I guess,” Danforth says.
Chesterfield sofa: Restoration Hardware outlet, Wrentham; light fixture: Overstock.com
The parking meter, still functional, was mounted on a pipe and placed outside the half bath on the main floor as a joke. “As in, you have to pay to park there. Our nephews like to mine it for change when they come,” Danforth says.
The large white cabinet serves as the couple’s pantry and matches the white lacquer kitchen cabinetry. “The painted bench near the back door is wooden, a roughed-up handmade piece sourced on Craigslist,” Danforth says. “We waited and waited to find a bench for that space, considered all kinds of options, and luckily just stumbled onto one that fits perfectly.”
The large white cabinet serves as the couple’s pantry and matches the white lacquer kitchen cabinetry. “The painted bench near the back door is wooden, a roughed-up handmade piece sourced on Craigslist,” Danforth says. “We waited and waited to find a bench for that space, considered all kinds of options, and luckily just stumbled onto one that fits perfectly.”
Danforth has collected large linen postcards since college, and part of the collection is displayed in the half bath. “At our wedding, people wrote well wishes to us on the backs of a bunch from locations that have resonances for us, so several of them are really meaningful beyond the collection itself,” she says.
Nothing on the third floor looks as it did when they bought the house. Everything was gutted, all the interior walls removed, the windows replaced and part of the flooring cut away to allow for the raised ceiling in the master bedroom. The couple cleaned and sanded the wide-plank floors and sealed them with a Sherwin-Williams paint for a lacquered look.
“The factory cart is the other from the main-floor bar cart pair — sourced on Craigslist from a Rhode Island factory,” Danforth says. The desk once belonged to Edsell’s grandfather. A vintage wicker planter bought on Craigslist is planted with lavender. “The color-bar painting I made; it is an imitation of a few like it that I have seen before,” Danforth says.
Hiking sign: Golden Girls Antiques Mall
“The factory cart is the other from the main-floor bar cart pair — sourced on Craigslist from a Rhode Island factory,” Danforth says. The desk once belonged to Edsell’s grandfather. A vintage wicker planter bought on Craigslist is planted with lavender. “The color-bar painting I made; it is an imitation of a few like it that I have seen before,” Danforth says.
Hiking sign: Golden Girls Antiques Mall
The couple added the skylight during their renovations. “We really love the light and the white wide-planked floors. It is a cozy, quiet place to work and to read — up in the eaves, almost like being in a treehouse,” Danforth says. The daybed was a gift from Edsell’s mom that the homeowners repainted a vivid green. “The coffee table we have had since college. We got it from the courtyard of our dorms, and it has twice traveled with us across country,” she says. The coffee table was cerulean for many years before they painted it white for this space. The refinished cabinet at the end of the bed was salvaged from a barn in Connecticut.
Vintage flower quilt: eBay
Vintage flower quilt: eBay
As a writer, novelist, and professor of English and creative writing at Rhode Island College, Danforth has built much of her life around literature. “Many of these books, most of them novels, are pretty central to who we are. I don’t even think of them as a collection,” Danforth says. “To me, they are just our books, which we will always have, and therefore always have to put somewhere. We are reminded about how many we have every time we move.” Stacking the books and color-coding the spines help organize this space without bookcases.
The narrow staircase leading up to the third floor is painted in shades of blue-green. “We had seen a few gradient staircases on design blogs and liked them,” Danforth says. “We bought 4 pints of paint from the same color strip, one shade darker than the next. Then we used some of the metallic silver paint used for painting metal — actually, we used it on the steel beam on the main floor — to highlight the gouges and imperfections in the wood.” The streaks of silver catch the light during the day.
On display in the hallway between the guest bedroom and bathroom is an eclectic assortment of art. “That’s an antique printers tray with a random collection of small items: seashells and vintage movie tickets and small jars and bottle caps,” Danforth says. “The deer image is glow-in-the-dark, and accompanying it is a poem from Portland-area poet, Zachary Schomburg, titled Terrible Deer. Sometimes guests tell us the deer frightens them when they go to the bathroom at night because they did not expect it to glow, and there it is green and hovering on the wall.”
A shadow box holds a small collection of vintage ribbons from the 1930s and ’40s that were given out at the Women of the Moose conference in New York. The large yellow-and-blue map is from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. “My dad worked and lived there for two years, guarding the gold on the Montana portion of a railroad exhibit, and when the fair was ending, he pulled that map from a telephone booth and brought it home to Montana,” Danforth says.
A shadow box holds a small collection of vintage ribbons from the 1930s and ’40s that were given out at the Women of the Moose conference in New York. The large yellow-and-blue map is from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. “My dad worked and lived there for two years, guarding the gold on the Montana portion of a railroad exhibit, and when the fair was ending, he pulled that map from a telephone booth and brought it home to Montana,” Danforth says.
In the guest bedroom, the floorboards boxing in the ductwork add character.
The vintage travel trunk at the foot of the sleigh bed is Italian and a garage sale find. The map belonged to Danforth’s parents, and she rescued it from the garage several years ago.
The vintage felt pennants were collected over the years. “We want to sew a bunch of them onto a blanket as a bedspread, but have not actually accomplished that project yet,” Danforth says.
Buoys: Antiques on the Cove
Flea Market Find: Steamer Trunks
The vintage travel trunk at the foot of the sleigh bed is Italian and a garage sale find. The map belonged to Danforth’s parents, and she rescued it from the garage several years ago.
The vintage felt pennants were collected over the years. “We want to sew a bunch of them onto a blanket as a bedspread, but have not actually accomplished that project yet,” Danforth says.
Buoys: Antiques on the Cove
Flea Market Find: Steamer Trunks
The second-floor guest bathroom was rebuilt entirely from scratch. It originally had the same layout as the main-floor bathroom, which was tub, sink and toilet all in the same tiny space. “We opened it up to allow for the sink space of the guest bath to be separate from the showering and toilet space,” Danforth says. “We also exposed the ceiling joists, and added new plumbing, electric and tile flooring.” The sink base is a repurposed antique vegetable storage bin. Its slate countertop is a piece of salvage.
Vessel sink, faucet and rug: Overstock.com
Vessel sink, faucet and rug: Overstock.com
The house had no master bath, so this space is entirely new. “We wanted it to be a space open to our master bedroom and master closet. We opted for very cost-effective wide-plank pine flooring that we stained gray and sealed, and a prefab shower enclosure with tile,” Danforth says.
The couple bought the vintage lockers now used for storage before beginning the remodel. They soon found that there was no way to get them up the narrow staircases, front or back, and worried the lockers would not actually make it into the house. Their movers removed the bathroom window and hoisted the lockers up the side of the house and through the window. The lockers were an industrial gray-green, so they spray-painted them indoors. “In hindsight, that was really, really stupid indoors. We knew it was stupid when we were doing it, but we tried to tape off a tent of plastic as best we could. Still, pink spray paint floated everywhere — like a layer of dust, it got on everything. We were finding unexpected pink dust weeks later,” Danforth says. They admit that if they ever end up moving again, they doubt the lockers are coming with them.
The couple bought the vintage lockers now used for storage before beginning the remodel. They soon found that there was no way to get them up the narrow staircases, front or back, and worried the lockers would not actually make it into the house. Their movers removed the bathroom window and hoisted the lockers up the side of the house and through the window. The lockers were an industrial gray-green, so they spray-painted them indoors. “In hindsight, that was really, really stupid indoors. We knew it was stupid when we were doing it, but we tried to tape off a tent of plastic as best we could. Still, pink spray paint floated everywhere — like a layer of dust, it got on everything. We were finding unexpected pink dust weeks later,” Danforth says. They admit that if they ever end up moving again, they doubt the lockers are coming with them.
“The sink area is a source of special pride because it is so completely our own design,” Danforth says. They found the vintage metal workbench frame at New England Demolition & Salvage and stripped rust from it before coating it in dark gray Rustoleum metal paint. Edsell’s father built the wood countertop and shelf below it. The couple coated the wood pieces with varnish several times to help seal against water damage. They also installed a wall socket just above the bottom shelf for their electric toothbrushes.
The art by the showers is a vintage map of a section of Providence and an enlarged photo of the store window of a bodega a few blocks away. Danforth took a picture while passing by one day to capture its vibrant colors.
Vessel sinks and faucets: Overstock.com; medicine cabinets: Builders Surplus
The art by the showers is a vintage map of a section of Providence and an enlarged photo of the store window of a bodega a few blocks away. Danforth took a picture while passing by one day to capture its vibrant colors.
Vessel sinks and faucets: Overstock.com; medicine cabinets: Builders Surplus
The master bedroom was completely renovated. “This space was actually the living room for the second-floor apartment. We vaulted the ceiling by removing the third floor floorboards in that section and then railing off the office space so it feels lofted and is not walled in,” Danforth says. They exposed the brick chimney; refinished the wood floors, which had been covered in peel-and-stick tile; and used the exposed spiral ducting for the vents. “We just love the light and openness in this space,” she says.
In this room, an oar from their collection became a base for bedside lights. “We … wanted pendants but weren’t sure where to hang them from, and the oar was something we already had,” Danforth says. They added a single pendant light from Hangout Lighting. The books appear to float on vertical shelves, and they work as nightstands for phones and eyeglasses and cups of coffee on weekend mornings.
The photos on the chimney are prints made from Danforth’s Instagram account. One is of an abandoned factory building covered in bright graffiti. “I took it from an Amtrak train passing by in winter,” she says. “The other is the exterior of an abandoned filling station and mechanics garage near to where Erica grew up in rural Pennsylvania.”
The photos on the chimney are prints made from Danforth’s Instagram account. One is of an abandoned factory building covered in bright graffiti. “I took it from an Amtrak train passing by in winter,” she says. “The other is the exterior of an abandoned filling station and mechanics garage near to where Erica grew up in rural Pennsylvania.”
An oversize light fixture bought at a discount because of a broken bulb became a wonderful statement piece in the front stairwell. “It just fits in that stairwell, and we are so glad. It feels very nautical and/or like a vintage flashlight made for a giant,” Danforth says.
A vintage flag makes for a colorful headboard.
Light fixture: Restoration Hardware outlet, Wrentham
A vintage flag makes for a colorful headboard.
Light fixture: Restoration Hardware outlet, Wrentham
Edsell, left, and Danforth, right, love that their home is within walking distance of their favorite breakfast restaurant, Nicks on Broadway, and that their neighborhood has beautiful architecture and a good mix of professionals and students.
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See more photos of this home
My Houzz is a series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more projects.
Browse more homes by style:
Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
Who lives here: Emily M. Danforth and Erica Edsell
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Size: 1,900 square feet (177 square meters); two bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms
The downstairs living space was completely renovated. “We changed everything about this space — removing walls, exposing the ceiling joists and painting them, rewiring and adding the new light,” Danforth says. The couple also exposed the brick chimney, refinished the wood floors, and added new trim and plaster walls.
Danforth and Edsell love having the wide brick chimney for displaying art. “The quote about women and cocaine is attributed to the actress Tallulah Bankhead. We made that piece ourselves a few years ago by putting peel-and-stick letters over a cheap landscape painting, and then painting white over the whole thing and peeling the stickers,” Edsell says.
The grid painting by artist M. Novack that’s below the Bankhead quote was done on an antique metal ceiling tile. “This was the first painting we ever bought together at an art fair in Georgetown when we had both just graduated from college,” Danforth says.
Vintage multicolor abstract painting: home decor store on Westminster Street in Providence; photograph of dolls: “Trash Talking” by Providence artist Molly Galafaro