The Shabby Chic Home

Received this book yesterday, and I wish I had known it would have come from a smokers home. I would not have bought it had I known.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!