Cico Rachel Ashwell's Painted Stories: Vintage, Decorating, Thoughts, and Whimsy

I bought this for a friend and she loves it.

I will never forget the night I walked across the street in the village where I lived into the bookstore. It was a small town bookstore and didn't have a lot to offer to someone who is an avid reader and is used to Barnes and Noble, Borders, and now Amazon and Amazon third parties for out of print books. It was a Friday night and I was bored, my husband working and me in a high rise apartment in the middle of the village. I walked in and started down the first isle and looked up and saw this book by Rachel, I had never heard of her at this time, this was back in the 90's. I could not put it down, and I didn't continue to look at anything else, I bought this book and went back to my apartment to look it over and over and over and over. I did that for weeks and in my head trying to figure how I could do what she had done. I believed in her ways, and she and I talked on the phone one day and we had a lot in common. She told me some just liked the style but it is about more than that, and that was how I felt after reading and looking at this book. This was me and meant for me. Finally we moved out of the high rise not long after that as we wanted a dog. I started a conversation with my husband about doing some redecorating. Not knowing how to bring up the fact that I wanted to ditch the whole apartment of everything and start over with what had planted it's self into my soul. At first he said NO flat out, but finally come around because he knows me and when I decide something it is because I have a love for it and it must be accomplished. We went to a lot of auctions and antique stores. We painted in our living room and even painted their cupboards white after they had just refaced them in oak. We painted so much and put up beautiful lighting fixtures and I started getting addicted to it all. I worked for the auction house where I was getting things, so if I got something home and didn't want it we put it back in the truck and took it back through the next auction. I started with my knowledge of auctions and old furniture and painting and I started to buy my own estates out and paint the stuff up and then sell it. So it become a business for quite a while. I loved it. I will never tire of the way I live. It is beautiful, the torn and shabby and the lace and crystal and the look of I don't care much, because to be truthful, I don't. I am an avid reader and I don't like to have to redecorate or find matching things or this or that. I just want to live free and this is as close as you can get to living free. If a curtain or rug goes bad you replace it with another from a used store or antique store instead of going and getting new stuff that costs a fortune, and there is not matchie matchie about it. I watched my mom go through that for years and years and I don't think she was ever matched enough, it had to be perfect and I don't have that in me to do, I love the lived in look. Rachel has written many books and I have them on shelves with nic-nacs on them. I will never let them go ever. She changed my life, or I should say she brought out something in me and my soul that was not coming through me and maybe never would have. i can't thank her enough, and I love this little book of sketches and will keep it forever. Her books are still out there, take a look you might fall in love. This style never hit Mi. where I live and so people were upset that I was painting all these antiques white and sanding back edges and all. To them it was a waste, to me it was worth a million. Read her books while having a cup of tea, they are fun and interesting even if you just do one room or none, they are fun and teach a lot also. I can't say enough so I will stop right now. If you manage to get one of her books, enjoy it!

A very nice book

What I love about it so much is that it's diverse in it's attention to every aspect of shabby chic. Lights, wallpaper, paintings, flowers, bedding, paint colors and so much more. I'm pretty well versed in details of decorating but it serves as a check the box for each detail so I know I've considered them all. It's easy to read and put down and pick up again. Doesn't need to be read chapter by chapter in order. If you see a pic that catches your eye, it takes only minutes to read about that detail. The books' cover is beautiful and it's lightweight with a pretty pink ribbon to bookmark your last page.

The most wonderful book I have ever owned. The illustrations are so beautiful, the details are exquisite. Total inspiration. A book I will treasure forever.