Spaces: A New Flex

The therapeutic space inside Alimente, a nutritional counseling and consulting firm on Broadway in Providence, features reupholstered vintage Scandinavian chairs, a comfy Lovesac and original fireplace. Photography by Angel Tucker

Jason Kashdan wanted clients of Alimente, his nutritional counseling and consulting firm, to feel safe and supported during sessions, so finding and designing the perfect space was paramount.

But the offices he toured — mostly in refurbished mill buildings — were cold and clinical, devoid of any warmth.

Until Britt Machado of JohnnyCakes Design showed him a space inside her building on Providence’s West End. It had soaring ceilings, plenty of natural light, wooden floors and all the other beautiful accoutrements that come with a pristinely preserved 1880s Victorian, along with an attribute that’s a bit harder to measure: soul.

The second-floor waiting area outside Alimente. Photography by Angel Tucker

“I showed some photos to friends who really felt the energy of this place,” Kashdan says. “‘It would be exactly what you described,’ they said. ‘It would feel like home.’”

But first, they had to imagine a less aggressive color scheme — the walls were painted a deep shade of aubergine — and configure the two rooms into a multipurpose space where Kashdan could host meetings and workshops, have office space and meet privately with nutritional counseling clients.

“We needed to take this 500-square-foot space and do a lot with it,” Machado says.

It had to be comforting and customizable for clients of all sensibilities, body types and cultural identities, but playful and approachable with a touch of sophistication. They settled on a calming palette of pink, green, cream, black and chrome accents to tie all the spaces together.

Owner Jason Kashdan meets with a client. Photography by Angel Tucker

They decided to turn the first room into an office and meeting area, done in a soft 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.

A quartz lamp Kashdan’s grandmother thrifted fifty-five years ago shares space with a recycled plastic Bit stool by Normann Copenhagen and a playful chartreuse rug by Cold Picnic. Photography by Angel Tucker

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.

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.

Potted plants from Jordan’s Jungle in Pawtucket, looseleaf tea blends and glazed mugs from Stock Culinary Goods in Providence welcome visitors to Alimente. A boomerang-shaped conference table and desk made by Providence-based Studio Cotty in the office and meeting area. Photography by Angel Tucker

“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.”