wash of Farrow & Ball’ s Tailor Tack. Clay Cottingham of Studio Cotty crafted a maple boomerang-shaped conference table that hugs the angular Victorian walls and a matching low-profile desk for Kashdan’ s computer.
An adjoining room is separated by American chestnut double doors, making it a perfect space for meeting one-on-one with nutritional counseling clients. They color-drenched the room in more Tailor Tack— even on the ceiling— and added coziness with reupholstered, low-slung Scandinavian chairs, a funky chartreuse rug and a cocoon-like Lovesac( Kashdan’ s must-have item for the office, which clients adore and which he has used several times himself for recharging naps). Dietician, heal thyself!
Nothing in the therapeutic space is over twenty-eight inches high, a deliberate move to make it comforting and safe for clients, but which necessitated custom-designed furniture. Studio Cotty made an eleven-foot-long modular table that houses fidget toys and a digital sound bath system. Three smaller tables crafted from reclaimed wood can be removed and used as side tables, stools or desk surfaces.
Double drapes in a fun geometric pattern can either let in the light or create a softer, darkened atmosphere, resulting in a customized setting for each individual client.
Potted plants from Jordan’ s Jungle in Pawtucket, looseleaf tea blends and glazed mugs from Stock Culinary Goods in Providence welcome visitors to Alimente.
The project was completed in August 2025. For her work in designing the multipurpose space, Machado took first place for Commercial Interior Design in this year’ s Rhode Island Monthly Design Awards.
“ The overall color palette, locally made furniture and prioritizing sustainability set this project apart from the pack,” says judge Janice Randall Rohlf, the editor of New Hampshire Home and a longtime publishing professional who specializes in architecture and design.
From step one, the pair set out to create a healing, supportive space that would make clients feel comfortable, completely rejecting the sterile waiting rooms and patient spaces so often found in health care settings. Kashdan loves nothing more than to be on a Zoom call with a client who’ s seeing the office for the first time in the background.
“ Sometimes they’ re like,‘ Is this your office or your home?’” he says.“ That’ s the best reaction to get. This is a commercial space and it’ s designed to feel so comfortable.” 🆁
38 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I JULY 2026