illustrator allison cole and her husband rent a great renovated loft building in downtown pawtucket, rhode island. pawtucket is one town over from providence (allison is a risd alumn). they live down the street from slater mill, the first water powered cotton spinning mill in north america, but their particular building was built in 1870 and was most recently used to manufacture tinsel and holiday decorations. don’t miss more images of allison’s place here, and you can check out her illustration work here, and i love her fun handmade work – bang bang you’re thread too (what a great name!). {thanks, allison!} -anne
[above: This is a view of my computer desk area. The little white shelves are lined with little toys and trinkets ( a mixture of artist toys - Gary Baseman, Nathan Jurevicius - and Decole japanese stuff).]
This is my husband Eric’s desk – above he has two framed Fort Thunder silkscreened posters from shows his band played in. He is a musician – he was the singer for Arab on Radar (well known among noise music fans ) and is now the singer for The Chinese Stars. He also runs a record label called Anchor Brain that releases Providence-based bands.
Our dining area.
Our giant bookshelf – the first two rows contain my indie comic book collection, the bottom two rows are our vinyl record collection. Above the shelf are some more rock posters and a Nathan Jurevicius silkscreened print.
CLICK HERE for the rest of allison’s sneak peek after the jump!
The view from the main living area space. The doorway is the door to the studio. Pillows I made using a stamping method from Lena Corwin’s Printing by Hand book.
All of the tiny art I have been collecting over the years – in this photo you can see an Esther Pearl Watson drawing, Matt Leines drawings, Apak prints, Susie Ghahremani prints, and a letterpress Tiny Showcase print by Andreas Samuelsson.
My drawing desk…my inspiration magnetic board is right above and the two shelves to the right house all of my supplies.
This is a view of our stairs that lead up to a lofted space where we sleep. I couldn’t get a very good photo due to the low light up there, but it is pretty cozy. It’s like sleeping in a big treehouse.
Here’s a shot from the loft looking down onto the living and dining area.
29 Comments
wow! reminds me so much of the unit i used to own (and was forced to sell!) in a renovated building in wallingford, ct. i have attached a link for d*s readers. worth reading if you own a condo or co-op! as far as i know, the law in connecticut still hasn’t been changed. it still makes me sad whenever i think about it; i’ll probably never own a place this cool again.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/realestate/28wczo.html
i would live there. love those rugs. kidrobot shopper? xx
yay for little rhody — i love this space, too! all the geometric prints/patterns are pretty perfect.
Hi, love your layout. Where did you find the adorable coo-coo clock?
Wow, so much IKEA here! But it works well with the industrial atmosphere of the space.
I love all that brick–and I love the giant bookshelf even more. No matter how much bookshelf we stick on our apartment, there are always too many books. If our apartment fell into the basement one day, I would be completely unsurprised.
Nice artwork, I’m jealous of the Ft Thunder prints.
I love what you did with this space: clean, simple but still colorful. Tiny Showcase is my favorite place to get prints.
Are your bookcases IKEA?
I love that Allison and Eric have been able to incorporate so much color and so many patterns into this space without it looking cluttered. I think the slate colored walls were a great choice! I love the rug in the main living area. Where’d you find it?
What kind of cloth is used for the makeshift wall along the railing in the loft? How were the loops attached? I have a diy project in mind that would use a similar concept. Thanks! :)
love the space! would you tell me where you got your dining table and chairs from? love, love, love those chairs!
thanks much.
I’m in love.
It looks great! Nice and spacious but doesn’t look bare. I keep seeing this coffee table everywhere. Where’d it come from?
What a great space! And such a kick to realize it’s less than a mile from my house…!
What a funky place! Love the bits of color from the artwork placed throughout the place, cheery but not overwhelming. I like Allison’s illustration style. Thank you for sharing!
Beautiful, Allison!
the little sleeping nook is amazing! I’m envious of your brick walls.
Yay! I live in Pawtucket too! So nice to read this today!
I love the exposed brick and your whole dinning room! Beautiful space you have!
looks very cool. i dont see it mentioned but katekelleyphoto.com did the photography.
Yeay Allison! I’ve been watching out for your sneak peek! Tres Cool, Tres Cool! :)
Love it!!!!!!
Where did you find your shelving unit? My fiance and I are moving soon and combining record collections…
@ AMY-
Anthropologie used to sell them, as well as it’s sister co., Urban Outfitters, which still had them up until recently, although I don’t see it on their site right now..
Great place!! I, too, would love to know more about the shelving unit. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!
Hello and thank you so much for all the nice comments on our space! And thanks to photographer Kate Kelley for taking the photos.
The rugs were from Urban Outfitters a little while back. Most of our furniture is Ikea or vintage or (haha) vintage Ikea off Craig’s List (hey, we’re on a budget!)
The large shelving unit in our living room is two of the Expedit bookcases placed next to each other.
@Houston – For the railing curtain I used a remnant from Lorraine Fabrics (one of my favorite RI stores) and attached to the railing using metal shower curtain rings. It is hiding our super messy storage area!
Thanks again!
creepy- wearing an arab on radar shirt as I read this. love the house though- nice to see all the bright colors used but still tied together. It’s fun and airy. I like when you can gather a couples personality from their house, and I think you guys pull that off!
@Lindsay: the coffee table is Ikea Magiker but was discontinued a couple years ago, I think. I found one off of craigslist last year though so that’s probably worth a shot.
I was sad when there were no more pictures to look at! BEAUTIFUL!
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