In this inspiring and useful design bible of the ever-popular Shabby Chic style, creator Rachel Ashwell shares her twenty-five years of work, showing readers how to apply her look to their own homes. A large, comfortable slipcovered sofa. Painted antique furniture. A palette and patina of soft colors and faded antiques. The essence of Shabby Chic is a romantic and charming interior filled with well-worn and well-loved objects, a look that is about comfort yet always remains chic. Celebrating the now-iconic Shabby Chic aesthetic, this design bible includes all the best of the look — from furniture, linens, paint colors and wallpaper, to lighting, accessories, and tabletops. Organized thematically, this volume is full of inspiration for every room in the house, as well as the garden. Sections include: Foundations (assessing the space, determining color palette, light); Furnishings and Fabrics (creation of mood boards, linens, mixing and matching patterns, furniture styles, and space planning); Accessories (lighting, mirrors, arrangements); Entertaining and Gardens (tabletop, flowers, outdoor spaces); and Pulling It All Together (showing a range of favorite homes, illustrating modern shabby, romantic shabby, or cottage shabby). Appendixes include information on sourcing, how to identify hidden gems at flea markets, and how to clean and restore them. The most lavish, thorough, and comprehensive book on the Shabby Chic look, this beautiful volume celebrates the enduring timelessness of Ashwell's creations while providing practical instruction on how to decorate your home in the Shabby Chic style. Rachel Ashwell is the creator of the Shabby Chic brand and line of stores. She lives in a shabby chic cottage in Los Angeles.

Think Marie Antoinette in jeans and a cowboy hat — that is Rachel Ashwell's prairie style. Rachel Ashwell Couture Prairie takes her signature pastels, ruffles and whimsical prettiness right to the heart of cowboy country. This is a journey in pictures and words, following Rachel through the fields of a little town called Round Top, home to one of the largest, most eclectic and vibrant antiques and flea markets in the world, and then back to Rachel's newly acquired bed-and-breakfast in Texas. Here Rachel's inspired finds, her creative imagination, eye for detail and her commitment to beauty, comfort and function have finally come together in one location: The Prairie by Rachel Ashwell — an irresistible destination. This book takes Rachel in a new direction, bringing her eye for cherished patinas and pastel prettiness into the endless landscapes and diverse architectural styles of Texas. Here you will see how her style adapts to corrugated metal sheeting and weathered timbers and how it brings new life to elegant period mansions. Chapter by chapter, the book leads you through Rachel's little houses on the prairie, from the Ranger's Lounge where hearty breakfasts are served, to the Pearl Barn, scene of wedding parties and celebrations, stopping off at the evocatively named guest accommodation: Blue Bonnet Barn, Cornflower Cottage, Meadow Manor, Faith Cottage and Liliput Lodge.

Welcome to Rachel Ashwell's world: as beautiful as it is comfortable, as inspiring and spontaneous as it is practical and personal. In this book, Rachel shares her inspirations and her humour, celebrates the charm of the old and battered, and demonstrates time and again how interiors touched with Rachel's magic transcend fashionable trends, extending a calming, personal welcome to all. In this new book, Rachel takes us to homes in the US — from a shabby shack on Malibu's oceanfront to a ranch on the wide, open spaces of Texas and to the wooded hills of the Catskills — and in the UK — from a houseboat and a city townhouse to a centuries-old manor house deep in the country, and Rachel's own London apartment. All the houses, regardless of their size or location, embody Rachel's ethos and share the same qualities: a respect for beautiful objects from the past, an extravagant sense of comfort, an eye for the unexpected and that signature touch of bling. All are inviting, artistic, soulful, inspired and inspiring, beautiful, gentle, considered and, in their own way, perfectly imperfect.

Rachel Ashwell created Shabby Chic: a peaceful, practical way of living that embraces a respect for the things in our lives we hold dear and keeps them at the heart of our homes. Romantic florals reclining against pure white linen, ruffles of muslin skirting a bed base against bleached floorboards, the deep comfort of a simple nest of fluffy towels — This is Rachel Ashwell's signature style that for the past 20 years has been a major influence in our modern lives. Shabby Chic Interiors — My Rooms, Treasures and Trinkets, an eclectic book of quirky inspiration, falls into chapters according to location, and begins with Rachel's breathtaking Los Angeles residence. Next, we wander into a photographer's minimalist mountain-top home in the Hollywood hills before heading to the coast and a beautiful Malibu beach cottage. A truly bohemian hideout in southern California is next on the journey, followed by a peek at celebrity homes, including the house that once belonged to Marilyn Monroe. With rooms combining flea-market finds and objects of pure functionality — an elegant French mirror reflecting a painting, a bejewelled metallic candle holder sitting by a cluster of willow-patterned china, a single faded velvet pillow lounging under the twinkle of a vintage chandelier — this book celebrates all that is wonderfully Shabby Chic.