“You know, I’m not going to mix completely different styles or colors that clash. “But there is a method to the chaos,” she says with a laugh. Mix it up: Ashwell made it stylish to set a table with mismatched dishes and silverware, and mix prints and fabrics throughout the house. “Fill it with fresh or dried flowers and it makes a beautiful centerpiece.”Ĥ. “And any kind of garden urn or pot looks good, especially if it’s flaking paint,” she adds. “I just look at every single piece - the palette, the material, the patina - and think, where is it best suited? Where does it look best?” Ashwell’s favorite items to repurpose include potting benches, metal garden chairs (“but make sure to add a nice, mushy down cushion for comfort”) and anything made of wood.
For all intents and repurposes: Another lasting Shabby Chic aesthetic involves taking elements from the outdoors and bringing them inside or vice versa. To this day, it’s what speaks to me when I’m walking up and down the aisles of a flea market: the good energy of something that’s been used.”ģ. And my dad had this deep admiration for worn, dog-eared books.
“She would use threadbare velvets and frayed ribbons and the result were lovely dolls with some shabby qualities. “My mum restored antique dolls and sold them at the market, but she didn’t make them pristine - she embraced their imperfections,” recalls Ashwell. Distressed for success: The designer’s appreciation of chipped, worn decor owes much to a childhood spent wandering north London’s famous Camden Passage flea market. I mean, if you can’t wash it, why bother?”Ģ. And of course white denim is the most practical fabric in the world, especially if you have children. But I came to realize it’s the biggest wow there is - it’s so striking in a room. “I was, and am, rather shy,” says Ashwell, “and back when I started Shabby Chic, I felt safe in saying that white was a color I liked - I thought it very neutral and wouldn’t be noticed very much. Do the white thing: Snow-hued furniture was never a practical option until Ashwell introduced washable white denim slipcovers to the world. Ashwell called from the Prairie, her B&B in the flea market capital of Texas, Round Top, to give us a rundown of her brand’s enduring appeal.ġ. In her latest book, “The World of Shabby Chic” (Rizzoli, $45), the design doyenne looks back on her humble start in both life and business and shows how to mix tattered elegance with easy comfort. These design elements are a few of the lasting legacies of Shabby Chic, the home décor empire founded in the late ‘80s by British transplant Rachel Ashwell. A battered painted dresser an overstuffed sofa covered in faded, flowered fabric a chipped vase filled with nearly-gone cabbage roses a light fixture draped in ropes of rock crystal.
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