It was a“ landlord’ s special,” she jokes, with spackled white walls everywhere, groaning appliances and odd fix-it jobs taking the place of regular maintenance.
“ Walking through, I thought,‘ Man, this needs a lot of work,’” she says.“ But I also saw the potential to fix it up and bring it back to life.”
With the help of her contractor, Fred Bagley of Bagley & Son Carpentry, Daniels set about creating a modern-day kitchen. The previous space was divided into two rooms, with the cabinets strangely situated in a former breezeway with bland linoleum flooring. They tore down a wall to create a seamless kitchen and dining area and replaced one of the breezeway doors with a double window, adding natural light throughout. The white cabinets and quartz countertops are from Ikea and serve as a chic, gleaming counterpart to the mossy green backsplash and Terrazzo tile floor, both of which Daniels installed herself.
“ From a distance, [ the Terrazzo ] reads nice and neutral, but when you see it up close it has nice chunks of color,” she says.
An orange vinyl banquette( a Facebook Marketplace find) serves as dining area seating, along with two chrome and cane chairs, all reupholstered by Daniels’ mother. The sunny corner is anchored by a bubble-shaped lighting fixture by Ukrainian artist Artem Ronsky she found on Etsy.
“ I saw it and was like,“ Yep, that looks like a spaceship or something,” Daniels says.
THIS SPREAD, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Daniels and Ellie, a ten-year-old border collie, relax in the dining area; the dressing room is done in rich burgundy tones, midcentury pieces and wallpaper from Spoonflower; a disco ball sets the scene in the outdoor patio area, featuring Facebook Marketplace patio furniture reupholstered by Daniels’ mother; Daniels, an art school grad, designed and painted the mural on the shed; the main bedroom features a swirling rug plucked from Facebook Marketplace and a rosewood headboard sourced from Etsy.
Retro artwork— think Warhol, Bowie and old concert prints— is peppered throughout the home. Daniels, an art school grad who majored in printmaking, has a mat cutter in the basement to precisely hone her prints to size. Most of her furnishings and decor are retro finds from Esten Ave Vintage in Pawtucket, Rocket to Mars in Providence, Facebook Marketplace and Etsy, coupled with contemporary items— think shag rugs and modern runners
34 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2025