Customer Reviews

The Shabby Chic Home

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Rachel Ashwell knows what works for her--white, cream, pink and green--and several trips to the fabulously overloaded flea markets of Southern California. Fans of her funky but glamorous style certainly won't be disappointed by this latest addition to the Shabby Chic shrine, and the funny thing is, other decorating fans will enjoy this, too. Ms. Ashwell tends to become a bit annoying with her rules of white and pink, but I think this book shows she's relaxing a bit, allowing turquoise and cerise into her palette as well. The Malibu house she found for her family is just plain fantastic, with lots of charm and happy personality. The pool and garden areas are just the place you'd like to flop down and spend a lifetime, and her shots of her daughter's room show a nice mix of mom's and daughter's compromising for one another. Where, however, is her son in all this? I think he was mentioned less than half a dozen times! Don't boys fit into the Shabby Chic scheme, too? One word of caution with this book: although it is far more accessible than her last two, readers who don't live in as amenable a climate as Ms. Ashwell might find it a bit hard to take. All that white would sure get old in northern climates come February. If you cannot afford to have wholesale flowers delivered weekly to your home, or don't feel the need to match your shampoo to your decorating colorways, you might feel a bit perplexed by this book!

I've owned this book now for two years and I keep referring to it over and over. I wish that Rachel Ashwell would come out with these types of books more often. This book continues to provide me with decorating inspiration. Also, I very much appreciate the fact that she doesn't go on and on for paragraphs at a time. Many other books on decorating have a tendency to become boring with too much wording. Rachel just gets to the point. Rachel's home is lovely and the pictures are fabulous. It's too bad that the Shabby Chic stores throughout the country do not follow her advice about home decor articles being inexpensive. I was utterly shocked and completely disappointed that the prices of things in the Shabby Chic stores are way through the roof, and unaffordable for anyone except the wealthy. It is a total contradiction of what Rachel Ashwell advocates in her books.

In this pretty book, we finally get to see more rooms. (Her previous books focused more on tight photos of objects, tabletops, and the like.) Another MUST-SEE book this season is Flea Market Decorating, which also focuses on decorating with such treasures. Flea Market Decorating is a bit more sophisticated than the shabby chic book, and it's fun for me to look at and read because I like to do thing my own way, and Flea Market Decorating shows me a variety of styles, whbile the shabby chic books are kind of limiting, style-wise.

I usually don't spend a lot of time reading books like these. I normally just look at the pictures and try to get inspiration. This book, however, is a refreshing change. The author uses a very personal style of writing and gives the reader a step-by-step narrative of how she went about searching for and decorating her place. A good read. The beautiful pictures and illustration make the book an even more worthwhile purchase.

I am a fan of Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic program. I tune in every week to get ideas and inspiration as I continue to re-do my own little house. However lovely the photos may be in this book (she turned a gloomy place into a sunny oasis) the kind of written text she offers can be found in an article from Better Homes & Gardens, or other home design magazine. It was quite dissapointing. Her home now has light airy feel to it in general, however, Ms. Ashwell advocates some rather weird ideas, such as choosing her make-up products for their packaging (so that they fit in with the decor!). What's up with that? This is just one example of some of the impractical advise in this book. I will keep the book because the photos are lovely and have provided me with inspiration for my own plans, however few. Ms. Ashwell' home looks lovely but does not look like a place the average person would have as a primary home (the walls are wooden planks!). This looks more like a vacation cabin than a primary residence. If you like coffee-table books with lots of beatiful photos, then buy this, if not buy a home design magazine at the newstand and save some bucks.

The thing I love about Rachel Ashwell is the fact she is so NOT Better Homes and Garden which is boring and so middle class. What Rachel Ashwell does is bring class and elgance sans the stuffiness into our lives. And her ideas work whether you are doing a small college abode, your first home or a home you have lived in for decades.

Like most of her books she understands that (this may sound snobby..sorry) some of us have traveled well, and have evolved and simply want the elegance meshed with a less hootie tootie mode. The kind of home where we can walk in and see order but not the boring or sterile style that tract homes often denote.

She has a way of showing how to make a home out of a house. How to make the tract house look like a one of a kind mega bucks decorated home, and all on less money. She has obviously not forgotten her original intent, which was to decorate without breaking ones saving account or going into debt.

It is also nice to see a book that understands the piece meal ideal. That one does not have to redo the whole room in a week, but that using ones trek to the flea market, taking your time to redo a piece of furniture, and doing it right is what counts. Along with doing what YOU want and what makes YOU happy and not doing the cookie cutter decorating thing that sadly, most Americans do.

Whenever I read a new "Shabby Chic" book, I want to stop everything and head to the flea market. This one is no exception. And the photographs are indeed some of the prettiest yet. I could spend hours gazing at Rachel's inspiration boards or piles of floppy slipcovers. So soft, sweet and soothing. And I have a suggestion, if anyone (including Ms. Ashwell) cares: she needs to next devote entire books to (in this order) Shabby Chic Entertaining and The Shabby Chic Wardrobe. (I am a lifestyle editor, and I think readers would go mad for these titles.)

Function, Beauty and Home Design....Rachel Ashwell's thrid book is the best! They say Three's a Charm and it is. In this book, more personal then the rest, Rachel shares with us the restoration of her Malibu home (often featured on the show Shabby Chic) See how she took "drab to fab!" I own it and let me tell you it was worth every penny!

I could hardly wait for Rachel's newest book to come out, so I preordered it. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every page of it. The pictures are great and just enough words are used to describe the effect Rachel is going for. Some decorators like to hear themselves talk so much, that you get bored. Reading this book is just like being invited into Rachel's home. She shows you how to decorate with inexpensive things that anyone can follow. Congratulations, Rachel, another great book!

I'm a "Shabby Chic" fan and I really love this new installment. It's a great addition to my collection, with tons of great ideas and beautiful pictures. Her ideas and great tips are just wonderful. It's a great resource and totally worth the money. I love it!