Rachel will be Forever Chic

I first learned about Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic style and brand in the early 1990's. It was exciting to know someone in the world of interiors had finally brought a fresh approach to flea market and thrift decorating to the light with a casual romantic and feminine style, far above the cluttered look of roses and an excess of unbalanced trinkets that was being pictured in most Romantic Home and Cottage Style magazines back then. I love feminine interiors, but I love them more when they actually represent the sensual side of a grown woman who is practical and able to see beyond what is considered as junk by other interior designers. I also adore quality made furniture. Rachel presented the opportunity for women to toss cookie cutter and stuffy decor to the wind, to embrace what we really desired to live with, in our homes. She proved that it is okay to use feminine patterns and soft colors, and we could combine the two with quality and purposeful furniture that is comfortable and not a hassle to keep clean. Her style truly represents what I believe home interiors should embrace ~ uplifting the old to blend with the new, creates beauty ~ In 1996 I bought her first book and it opened my imagination to revamping flea market finds with endless possibilities ...

After studying it reading it, I felt empowered to decorate our previous home by using things that were once cherished and vowed to making it comfortable as well as aesthetically beautiful. I became a sole believer in rescue, revamp, and re-pupose when it comes to acquiring home furnishings and accessories. But as I ventured off to buy two needed new furniture items, a sofa and a chair-and a half, I was faced with the problem of not having a Shabby Chic boutique near me when one is desired. We had moved back to Texas in 1996 and every furniture store I entered was covered floor to ceiling in shades of deep golds, rust and dark browns, with occasionally some burgundy and forest green splashed around in patterns and fabrics that truly belonged on a King Henry VIII screenplay stage. It was depressing. Plus, whenever I was asked what I was looking for I would happily tell them, "beautiful washable slipcovered furniture like that of Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic." To my dismay I was responded to with either an insulting laugh, a put down comment from the snooty furniture sales woman (cough) interior decorator (cough) designer, or a facial expression which implied "what the hell is Shabby Chic?" When I like something I do plenty of research and when I love something I become somewhat of an information center on the subject and I’m willing to enlighten someone who's clueless. But as I did this about Rachel Ashwell's ideas the sells snoots would continue to laugh and trash my shabby chic concept, claiming it isn't a real interior style and proceed to sell me the Central Texas "old world style" that made a room look stifling. Thank goodness hot flashes were not part of my life back then. Here is a sample picture that I found on Google of what it was like ...

Facing the fact at that the overall attitude here toward washable slipcovered furniture was negative, I settled for furniture made covered in the trademarked brand Ultrasuede. I was a mother with three boys and we had three pets, and it was an easy fabric to keep clean. It was also ultra expensive. I even got bold and ordered it in a gorgeous shade of fuchsia. Ultrasuede makes every thing it is attached to look ultra modern, so I put it on a sofa and chair-and a half having the same shape of what I desired from Shabby Chic. That shape today is on one of Rachel Ashwell's signature pieces ~ the Grace sofa...

here it is in her Shabby Chic standard ~ white denim...

Okay, lets fast forward a little. I eventually gave the Ultrasuede away once I decided to somewhat join the interior decorating world by working for a home furnishing store that sold Norwalk Furniture. I was then able to get a slipcovered sofa and its matching loveseat, along with two slipcovered lounge chairs at cost. They were okay for a while, but still not what my heart desired. Years passed and life changed. I have done the sofa and chair dance to the point that my feet are tired. But who can ever forget their first love? Chair wise, I met mine when Rachel Ashwell opened a Shabby Chic boutique here in Austin, when a new outdoor shopping center called The Domain surfaced. One day while walking down a sidewalk I approached a beautiful store painted all white with large windows revealing to my surprise, what I had been looking for years earlier. I walked through the doors and was reassured I was right all along about the comfort and coziness of Rachel Ashwell's furniture. I spotted a chair-and a half and rushed to sit in it. My interiors bucket list changed in that moment. I plotted and planned to buy that piece of heaven in a seat, but as soon as I was ready the store closed its doors permanently. I don't think it was more than within a year and I never knew why, but I did know the Austin interior market was a tough one. Many wonderful furniture and interior businesses have bit the dust here in Austin, including my other beloved favorite ~ Quatrine. It recently closed its doors after only being open for what seemed like a minute, while all of the "made in china" with "quick delivery" furniture stores stay open indefinitely. Finding timeless interiors here is nerve wrecking enough to make a zebra lose some color on its stripes...

Well lets continue. More years have gone by and recently as an empty-nester I decided it was time for me to get rid of the two uncomfortable slip covered Norwalk chairs and to make my dream of having a deep, super comfy, luxurious chair-and a half that I can grow old with a reality. In September my plan was to buy one from Quatrine. That was when I discovered Quatrine had left Austin too and weren't returning. This isn't as bad as when Shabby Chic left, because Quatrine does have showrooms in Dallas and Houston. A funny thing happened on the way to spending too much money. I was telling someone I know in the interior business my plan and she advised me to search for something pre-owned and I took that advice to heart by doing a little soul searching for Shabby Chic on Craigslist, hoping to get lucky. I then was shocked by what I found. Sitting in a San Antonio storage facility was my first love...

On a stormy Friday morning in October I drove to pick up what is now a discontinued Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic chair-and a half, dressed in the green rose and ribbon damask matelassé of my dreams...

The slipcover had always been stored and is in mint condition. The under body had been reupholstered in a beige herringbone fabric. I wrapped her in plastic, put her in the back of my Chevy truck and brought her home floating on a cloud, because I had just found the same bucket list chair-and a half I sat in years ago for only $175. I had drooled over this fabric for 21 years looking through my Shabby Chic book. Saying good things come to those who wait is beyond a saying for me now...

and in a picture on another page in the book...

After setting up Flo (her new name because she is a mini me of the Shabby Chic Couture Floris sofa) I realized there was a need for a little more support in the back. I'm only 5'3 and my lovely has a 44 inch depth. I purchased a 20x54 inch body pillow on eBay and shortened it to make it extremely full. Then after relentless shopping to find a coordinating fabric to make the cover out of, I settled for something creative because this shade of green is consider (cough) out of style (in today's interior design color trends) and extremely hard to find in a lovely fabric. I have flipped through dozens and dozens of high end fabric sample books only to come up with ditzy patterns and ugly decorator stripes that looked too dated and tired for my brain. One day during a lunch break I popped into Neiman Marcus Last Call and found a Legacy Home brand king sham in a luxurious chenille damask and silk box pleats on the trim for less than 20 dollars. SCORE!...

Owning Flo in this vintage rose and ribbon damask created a desire in me to find more, so I began to search the internet hoping to find RA Shabby Chic fabric remnants and with luck found a beautiful duck egg blue colored rose and ribbon damask pillow on eBay. It's shown centered on our Hancock & Moore leather sofa below. I honestly prefer washable slipcovered furniture, but my man like most men insisted that we have a leather couch...hmmm. So I insisted for it to be well made, comfortable and in a lighter neutral color....

I couldn't resist adding some feminine linen pillows in to soften the look. I may remove and store the back pillows for a while. They will be replaced with five large 24 inch square pillows covered in linen while sitting on top of a large textile, centered to hide the three seat cushion lines. One or two cushion sofas is my preference. This mini makeover will cause the sofa to sit deeper. Coziness and relaxation is key in our lives now.

I recently purchased Rachel Ashwell's book, The World of Shabby Chic. It is full with more of Rachel’s created loveliness that continues to inspire me. In it she also shares the life events that caused her to pair down her business. I own all of Rachel Ashwell books and each one is a gem filled with casually elegant romantic interiors. Being I'm a lover of black walls, I do not completely copy her style sense of color in my home, but I truly admire the beautiful style and legacy she has created. I would suggest to anyone who desires timeless interiors on the romantic side to look beyond the old and worn to find hidden treasures, by collecting a few things that seem shabby, but will be forever chic.