book review: rachel ashwell couture prairie and flea market treasures

Sigh. Finally an evening that finds me awake enough to sit at the keyboard and compose a blog post! I had intended to write about my book party, a festive event that exceeded my expectations, but will save that for another time. Tonight I must share about a recent acquisition ...

Upon my request, I received a review copy of Rachel Ashwell's hot-off-the-presses book Couture Prairie and Flea Market Treasures and it is phenomenal.

Rachel Ashwell is like The Beatles to me with her own Earth-shaking British Invasion of style. Self-made, talented and inspiring, her pretty stamp on decor is without question. Rachel and I share a publisher in CICO Books (!) which means by one degree of separation, I could know her (and gee, if Rachel knows Paul McCartney that makes just two degrees to bringing my Beatles analogy full circle).

As you've probably guessed by now, this isn't going to be your everyday sort of book review. There's no real journalism happening, not even a Q and A with Rachel and many of the images were taken in a dimly lit Girlie Office. Allow me to explain ...

For me the very best decor books are the ones I don't get to read -- or can't read -- because the ideas presented are so very wonderful and motivating they cause me to leap from the couch even after dark to do things and try things like forage closets for forgotten rolls of wallpaper and then wander through rooms contemplating and visualizing.

Note this beautiful and yet very attainable idea of unframed watercolor paintings posted to a delicate background of vintage wallpaper. Imagine creating a similar effect with an assortment of note cards or even inspiration pics torn from magazines?

What I love so much about Rachel's signature style of dusty pastels, worn finishes and charming florals is that it's truly design within reach. One doesn't have to scrimp and save and long, one needs only visit a flea market or keep their eyes open for curbside treasures and voila, Shabby Chic decor can be yours.

 

This favorite page shows an unexpected stacking of GASP-inducing furniture and as you can see, I'm using the top dresser as color inspiration for an old wooden chair on which I plan to give a deliberate treatment of distressed white over a sort-of dirty pink. {Paint shown: Chalk Paint by another CICO Books author, Annie Sloan; source: Sea Rose Cottage}

I'm tickled to see these stockings "made up from scraps of last season's fabrics" (p. 158) because when I visited Shabby Chic in London in February, I purchased two over-dyed cloth napkins in the most charming print and they are the two fabrics displayed!

As a writer and author I know how important the words are to even the prettiest book and I know I will enjoy reading each and every word someday but for now, Couture Prairie and Flea Market Treasures has me tying ribbon on horseshoes, trolling antique shops for chipped furnishings, and daydreaming of a visit to The Prairie by Rachel Ashwell in Round Top, Texas.

xo
elyse