Room for Growth
“People always ask me, ‘How do you make your
style feel synonymous?’ ” Blanchard says. “I’ve
always just told them to get what they love, and
it’ll come together.”
For Blanchard, that often means new furniture
styled with thrifted and vintage accessories. One
of her favorite spots for vintage sourcing is Mike’s
Estate Services, a five-minute drive from her
apartment in West Warwick. A kitchen shelf — the
simple DIY project that convinced her landlord
to give her free design range — holds glassware
from Mike’s and Saver’s and a painting from
Brimfield Antique Show, a piece she found at the
beginning of the day and bought at a steep discount
at the end of it.
Blanchard appreciates a good flea market
haggle, but she’s just as likely to deep-scroll web
merchants such as Wayfair — where she purchased
the wooden side table in the living room — for
unusual and affordable finds. She’s also tending
a green thumb, as evidenced by the tiny pots of
life beside the windows in her sunroom.
She’s all for new growth; she’s been there. And
she’s up for whatever comes her way. Blanchard
and her pink toolbox can handle it. “When you
do it yourself, it’s a bit of an adventure,” she says.
“But I feel so accomplished.” �
PORTRAIT COURTESY OF EMILY BLANCHARD / KIM LYN PHOTOGRAPHY
ABOVE: The sunroom
features plants
sourced from the
Farmer’s Daughter in
South Kingstown and
Briggs Nursery in
North Attleboro,
Mass. The baskets
are from HomeGoods
and the redacted
portrait print is Kate
Marker x Josh Young
Design House.
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l AUGUST 2020 73