What do you think?
Rate this book
Shabby Chic: Expert Tips from Designer Rachel Ashwell on Creating a Comfortable and Stylish Home
" Shabby Chic is as unpretentious as its author, including thoughts about what works and what doesn't, tips on how to shop at a flea market, inspirational photographic illustrations and plenty of encouragement." — Los Angeles Daily News
Rachel Ashwell’s bestselling guide to home furnishings, flower arrangements, flea-market finds, tag-sale treasures, and more continues to bring American home decorating back to basics with its remarkably down-to-earth yet beautiful aesthetic, showing you how to capture “the aura of old money, cushy comfort, and crafted indifference.” With her keen eye for thrifty style, and a peerless sense of how to get the most for the least out of your adventures into interior decorating, Ashwell and Shabby Chic are your treasure map to a treasure-filled home.
Rachel Ashwell’s bestselling guide to home furnishings, flower arrangements, flea-market finds, tag-sale treasures, and more continues to bring American home decorating back to basics with its remarkably down-to-earth yet beautiful aesthetic, showing you how to capture “the aura of old money, cushy comfort, and crafted indifference.” With her keen eye for thrifty style, and a peerless sense of how to get the most for the least out of your adventures into interior decorating, Ashwell and Shabby Chic are your treasure map to a treasure-filled home.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 1996
21 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 16, 2022
Great inspiration for decorating my new townhouse. I’ve always found amazing things at yard sales! Now I need to find a flea market!
May 17, 2012
I was a mom with little ones when this book came out, and it was a wonderful surprise. A designer who used loose slip covers and flea market furniture that hadn't been necessarily been refinished or otherwise spiffed up? I'm halfway there!
A very sensible style for people with young kids, assuming you're not lighting candles and wandering off or something similar. Slip covers are a lot easier to clean than furniture, and things getting dinged up a bit is not such a big deal. Some of her subsequent books, I think Ashwell goes too far with the whole "don't bother to refinish/reupholster/spiff things up" idea, but if you're like me and tend to have some things in the process of being redone, this book has some good ideas on how to protect things you picked up but don't want to start yet, and how to decorate so the partially done things don't give the whole room an off-kilter look.
A very sensible style for people with young kids, assuming you're not lighting candles and wandering off or something similar. Slip covers are a lot easier to clean than furniture, and things getting dinged up a bit is not such a big deal. Some of her subsequent books, I think Ashwell goes too far with the whole "don't bother to refinish/reupholster/spiff things up" idea, but if you're like me and tend to have some things in the process of being redone, this book has some good ideas on how to protect things you picked up but don't want to start yet, and how to decorate so the partially done things don't give the whole room an off-kilter look.
March 8, 2014
much less compelling and inspirational than i'd hoped it'd be. sort of confirms my uncharitable assumption that shabby chic is kind of gross.
i thought that since i love tone-on-tone decoration with a huge emphasis on mixing of materials, patina, and function that i just might like a good chunk of shabby chic, even though i've always found the peeling-paint thing and yards of ruffles to be a repellent mixture of dirtiness and twee.
ashwell, originator of the design trend and coiner of the term shabby chic, begins the book by insisting that the design style is all about casual, romantic, no-fuss utility, which, on the surface, squared with my idea of a perfect home. but then she began leaning crystal-dripped chandeliers on the floor against easy chairs (NOT useful) and celebrating moldy, stained wicker furniture for the patina (not even sanitary), and i realized that the gulf between her aesthetic and mine was too wide to bridge.
even so, i finished the book. on the plus side, she offers a LOT of specifics on fabric weaves and prints, upholstering, thrifting, and antiquing. but the book was ultimately unhelpful to me, as i failed to find any pictures that inspired me, and a number even really squicked me out (i don't WANT to repurpose a coal scuttle as a bread box, even if it's been scrubbed with a wire brush, as (a) that sounds really gross and (b) the bread doesn't even FIT in the coal scuttle).
ashwell's brand of shabby chic is fussy, dingy, and ramschackle. pass.
i thought that since i love tone-on-tone decoration with a huge emphasis on mixing of materials, patina, and function that i just might like a good chunk of shabby chic, even though i've always found the peeling-paint thing and yards of ruffles to be a repellent mixture of dirtiness and twee.
ashwell, originator of the design trend and coiner of the term shabby chic, begins the book by insisting that the design style is all about casual, romantic, no-fuss utility, which, on the surface, squared with my idea of a perfect home. but then she began leaning crystal-dripped chandeliers on the floor against easy chairs (NOT useful) and celebrating moldy, stained wicker furniture for the patina (not even sanitary), and i realized that the gulf between her aesthetic and mine was too wide to bridge.
even so, i finished the book. on the plus side, she offers a LOT of specifics on fabric weaves and prints, upholstering, thrifting, and antiquing. but the book was ultimately unhelpful to me, as i failed to find any pictures that inspired me, and a number even really squicked me out (i don't WANT to repurpose a coal scuttle as a bread box, even if it's been scrubbed with a wire brush, as (a) that sounds really gross and (b) the bread doesn't even FIT in the coal scuttle).
ashwell's brand of shabby chic is fussy, dingy, and ramschackle. pass.
April 19, 2019
This may be a truly great book for other people. This style interested me back in the 80s and 90s, but not 2019.
skimmed-it-not-for-me
August 5, 2023Not only do I not like the style, I don't understand how anyone can find this appealing. The pictures are not appealing in the least. It honestly gave me beginning of horror movie vibes.
November 22, 2020
I actually read this book when it first came out. As a poverty-stricken student the idea that I could just drape a cabbage rose printed fabric over my very shabby & meager furnishings and call it a day was very, very appealing. I still like the style, even though the book’s photos look quite dated now.
September 9, 2017
Beautiful photography and helpful information along the way.
January 6, 2024
1997011
January 6, 2024
1997011
August 4, 2024
This aesthetic has appealed to me for decades, but I had never read her actual book. Of course, way less kitschy than some of the things it inspired. Totally works for me, love it.
March 19, 2017
Fun to look at.
June 26, 2024
I miss her TV show.
From 1999 to 2003, Ashwell hosted a TV show, titled "Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic," on E! and the Style Network.
It looks like most of her items could have come out of Hobby Lobby. But she took the time to show me how to make some of them. The only disappointment was her lack of bookcases and libraries.
This book is a well-done follow-up to the program. However again not one bookcase or library.
I wonder if anybody shabbies these days?
If you do find you like this book, Rachel Ashwell wrote several other books on the subject.
From 1999 to 2003, Ashwell hosted a TV show, titled "Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic," on E! and the Style Network.
It looks like most of her items could have come out of Hobby Lobby. But she took the time to show me how to make some of them. The only disappointment was her lack of bookcases and libraries.
This book is a well-done follow-up to the program. However again not one bookcase or library.
I wonder if anybody shabbies these days?
If you do find you like this book, Rachel Ashwell wrote several other books on the subject.
February 14, 2015
I love Rachel Ashwell's writing technique, down to earth. She has a lot more flea markets at her disposal and antique stores but her advice and the way she puts it is very understanding and most of all doable. I don't believe this type of decorating will ever go out of style as some people have said - I like the lived in look and not the pompous look, where you're afraid to touch anything as you might get it dirty! Everyone loves my "shabby chic" at home and comment how "comfortable" and relaxed they feel when they do come over. GREAT book with GREAT ideas.
April 16, 2015
It pains me to give this book 2 out of 5 stars, but her other books were so on-point that this one left a lot to be desired. There weren't a lot of photographs to go along with the captions--that was disappointing. There were a few tips and designs that blew me away, but the overall book was not what I expected. I don't think I would read this book again, and I most likely would not recommend it. Sorry, Rachel, I still love ya.
May 14, 2014
Of all the books by Rachel Ashwell, this is by far the most informative and inspiring of them all. It really sparks the imagination, and gives a complete view of the Shabby Chic style. I would have loved it more if it included more illustrations, but that's just my opinion. It does include the most of all the other books. Also improved is the variety in the styling & locations made over.
November 8, 2011
I found this book useful and inspiring. I've used some of the ideas in my own home, especially the way in which she uses white fabric to cover things. Together with the book on white home decor, it has proved useful in helping me decorate a bit of my home.
May 4, 2010
Needs more pictures and an update but otherwise it is wonderful!
September 7, 2010
Good book on well worn fashionable interiors.
March 1, 2012
Fresh ideas on utilitarian decor & what constitutes "art" and artistic value. I could not overlook, however, the plethora of misspelled words & grammtical errors. *3.5/5 stars*
April 14, 2012
I think I just like the photography and the ideas it inspires....
April 22, 2012
A friend once called my home "shabby chic". I did not take this as a compliment.
September 15, 2012
Non-Fiction; Home Improvement
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
July 15, 2013
It was good. Nice pictures, and good ideas, but a bit overwhelming and I'm not sure I'm creative enough to enact many of the loose ideas.
July 16, 2014
Cottages like Grandma's!
September 9, 2015
an OK book. but my favorite thing was the stamps used on the paper plates, so simple and yet elegant.
January 31, 2016
Gorgeous photos! Great ideas! A book I look though over and over.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews