Rachel Ashwell

This isn't a bad book. I love all the color photographs and seeing the styles created by Rachel Ashwell. The only problem I have is that there are very few totally awesome flea markets available to me living in Florida.

Also, this book is geared more to the posh $$ kind of flea market attender and not just someone trying to find fun and funky things/thrifter kind of person. It's not about thrifting for Rachel Ashwell, it's all about furnishing her business. Which is not a bad thing at all. I personally love her current furniture collection all based on the Shabby Chic trend.

It is an enjoyable picture book more than anything to me. It does have it's inspirations, like teaming up a 1950s sweater from a sweater set with a pair of jeans, or turning an old doctor's office medicine cabinet into a bedroom wardrobe.… (meer)

I love Shabby Chic with a minimalist slant, and it looks like Rachel Ashwell has evolved to that point too. A semi-autobiographical work, Ashwell shares her roots and her journey as a business owner in the interior design world, and how she has matured. Although she softens some of what reads between-the-lines as commercial strife and conflict, she evolves her aesthetic and business savvy to a more refined look and a smarter business sensibility. As with all her books, the photos are lush, yet restrained here as she has moved beyond clutter and filling up space with unnecessary, albeit beautiful, things. Several people share their homes with the reader, including Ashwell and her daughter Lily. It's Shabby Chic for adults.… (meer)

I know this book is a soft sell for Rachel Ashwell's The Prairie in Round Top, Texas, but I am glad it is. I have been wanting to see more photos, besides those on her website and in a previous book. The sumptuous scenes not only draw one into to this gentle, humbly genteel world, but they also give me many ideas for my own desert/prairie home. As a shabby little cowgirl, this book inspires me to stay true to expressing my love of the faded and rusty, spare and clean, worn and well-loved - in creamy whites, grays, and dusty pastels. It helps to balance my mucky boots, calloused hands, hay-strewn hair, and sun-kissed skin, while staying true to my own aesthetic. This is an ecologically sustainable design style that honors and recycles the beautiful, experienced object, and gracefully counters the disposable society.… (meer)

Shabby Chic Interiors by Rachel Ashwell-I found Ashwell's book, one of many on this subject, to be charming. The photography, encompassing her favorite pieces, is simply beautiful. It is, in fact, the simplicity of the items that makes the photography so enchanting. Her style is unadorned, the furniture she selects for her own home and the homes of her clients is usually untouched, remaining lovingly used, retaining its scratches, bumps and dents. The fabrics used throughout the house can be cloths not doing what they were originally intended for, curtains become tablecloths, clothing is cut up for napkins, doilies are used to decorate a table setting for a dinner party. I particularly enjoy Ashwell's vision of how a kitchen should function. She deplores clutter and so prefers open shelving rather than cabinets. She stores next to nothing in plain sight and very little out of sight. I admire her ability to survive with so little and want to emulate it. As far as decorating my home, I want to change my color scheme from the earthy palette of deep orange,rust and brick red and the jewel tones in my bedroom and office to the softer shades of cream,dusty pink, washed out turquoise and green and distressed red and blue. I will also try to include some big comfy furniture, second-hand probably, since my dogs tend to appropriate everything eventually, anyway. This is a great primer for someone wanting to change their current decorating theme, or interested in building on what they have created in their home already. Even for somebody simply interested in browsing through a book filled with beautiful photography, this book has it all. Highly recommended.… (meer)