Couture Praire And Flea Market Treasures: Rachel Ashwell

While I don't typically blog about that shabby chic style that the remarkable Rachel Ashwell has so beautifully curated and made known world wide, her book: Couture Prarie and Flea Market Treasures really appealed to me. I'm sure it's partly because it chronicles the ranch Ashwell bought in my home state of Texas, but mostly because of the strong vignettes in the book. We all have tons of things that we purchase because we absolutely love them in the store - but then get them home and have no idea where they are going to go. Or, worse yet, we know exactly where it will go, and we get it home, and it's not right. That's when having a library of gorgeous interior design inspiration comes in handy.

Now, a brief story of where you'll be taken in this book. What was formally a Bed and Breakfast known as the Outpost, Ashwell bought the ranch during a trip to Roundtop, the Texas antique show filled with beauty at every corner, and more designers than you can throw a stick at, picking up things at great Texas prices and taking them back to California to sell them for 2 to 5x that price. After buying the ranch, she renamed it, "THE PRARIE" and set out on a 12-year project making the farmhouse and the outlaying barns fit her Shabby Chic vision.

It's not refined, it's not fussy - it's exactly what the title suggests; Flea Market treasures lumped together to create this sophisticated scenery of 'Praire gone Ashwell'.

The ranch has 8 structures, including her Texas Shabby Chic Couture Shop, and still acts as a bed and breakfast for the lucky few during their trip to Roundtop. The people who stay here can test drive the Rachel Ashwell brand of products, bedding, furniture, fabrics, and wallpapers before they make the decision to use them in their own home.

So, if you are looking for a great book filled with pages of Shabby Chic inspiration, or just would enjoy having another resource for interior design vignettes, beautifully done - pick up a copy of Couture Praire and Flea Market Treasures by Rachel Ashwell, photos by Amy Neunsigner. Published by Ryland Peteres CICO Books in London.

Buy via the amazon link below:

   

Click image to buy. 

 Happy Reading!