The Prairie–Rachel Ashwell’s Bed and Breakfast in Texas

 

I’ve had a crush on Rachel Ashwell for a long time.  In case you have never heard of her – she’s the pretty English girl who came to America and reinvented slipcovers.   I sometimes wonder if we ever would have gotten back into slips if not for Rachel.  Maybe, but maybe not.  She created her own line of furniture with slips after realizing nothing child and pet friendly existed on the market.   Along with the furniture came wonderful prewashed fabrics, a chain of stores, a handful of books, and a relationship with Target – which really put her in the minds of most Americans.  Her bedding line at Target remains a favorite all these years later.   For me, it was this book above, The Shabby Chic Home, which was published in 2000, that really sealed the deal for me.  It remains one of my favorite home redo books.   I was fascinated with how she took an old dark and “witchy” brown house in Malibu and transformed it into a light, bright, feminine haven.   Over the years she has moved again and again and many of her subsequent books tell their own house renovation story – but this one – her second book – remains my favorite.  I never understood why she moved from it, or how she could move from it.   If I lived here, it would take a crowbar and trailer hitch to pull me from it screaming and crying.

 

Here’s a before picture of the witchy brown house’s yard – how unappealing can you get?

 

And under Rachel’s hand, the yard turned into a magical place – the turquoise blue water is still one of the prettiest colors I’ve seen in a swimming pool.

 

BEFORE:  The brown was painted a soothing a whitish cream color.  

 

AFTER:   There was this tiny whirlpool placed under the stairs.   Does it get any prettier or more feminine?

 

Hammock piled high with Rachel’s fabrics.

 

Inside, the house was all brown too.  Until Rachel painted everything.

 

The same view – overlooking the kitchen and the pool. 

 

Her dining room – what gorgeous floors!!!   Alas, everything must come to an end and Rachel moved from this house into others.  

 

Her last book tells the story of her current house and its redo, along with several friends and clients’ houses.   This cover is beyond gorgeous with its pink velvet gilt settee, the chandelier (of course!) and Rachel’s laid back Californian dress style.  

 

 

Her new house is beautiful without a doubt.  Her style has subtly evolved over the years with new colors added to her palette. 

 

Her bedroom kills me.  Those slightly mauve silk curtains are luscious. 

 

Her bathroom is luxurious, yet simple at the same time. 

 

This book is coming out soon – highlighting an artist’s work of Rachel’s collection of tutus!  The paintings look gorgeous.

 

Look for the two tree posts to turn into The Prairie.

 

Perhaps her most fun undertaking of late was buying the bed and breakfast “The Outpost” in Round Top, Texas.  Wow.  Rachel Ash well serving coffee and rolls to Texans????   Well, it’s not really such a stretch if you follow Rachel.  She’s been a fixture at the twice yearly Round Top antique fair for quite a while.  She usually stayed at The Outpost, so when she learned the owner was selling, Rachel bought it.   Newly renamed The Prairie, it has four guest houses on it, along with a gathering lodge, and a soon to be open retail store (yes!)   Rachel has spent the last few months painting and redoing everything to her own specifications.   She brought a truck load of furniture and bedding and antiques to finish it all up.   Just recently The Prairie opened its doors to visitors.   I couldn’t wait to go and see it all for myself, so last weekend, my daughter Elisabeth drove me to Round Top to check it all out.   As luck would have it, Rachel was “downtown” in Round Top celebrating a birthday with a local so we missed meeting her.  Elisabeth was even more disappointed than I was!

Most devastating, I had a huge computer crash and all my pictures from the day were lost!  Thankfully, Rachel’s assistant Kim was nice enough to lend me their gorgeous photos which probably are a lot better than mine were anyway!

 

The Prairie is located right near Round Top which is perfect for the antique fairs.  It’s an hour from Austin for quick day trips, but the real fun is just relaxing in the total quiet of the property. 

 

The Ranger’s Lounge is where all the action is.  You check in here and have breakfast here too.  Plus there’s a great area to sit around on cushy Rachel Ashwell furniture.

 

The dining area is typical Rachel with lots of flowers, baskets, and slipcovers.

 

The Ranger’s Lounge makes a great place for a party or a wedding.  Elisabeth kept saying she wanted to get married here!!

 

BEFORE:  The lounge area used to be painted a dark green, which Rachel repainted.

 

AFTER:   The lounge area is now painted a fresh white and is filled with Rachel’s furniture.  Antique portieres separate it from the dining area and kitchen.

 

 

The little bathroom at the Ranger’s Lounge – I loved the sink!!

 

Behind the Lounge is this pergola that overlooks the property.

 

BEFORE:  The original house from the 1800s on the property as it was – painted a golden yellow.

 

Today the house has a fresh coat of white paint.  There are porches and balconies with great views across the property.  An English flag flies in Rachel’s honor along with the Texas and United States flags.

 

The living room at the Liliput Lodge is adorable – filled with white slips and floral curtains.

 

The dining room has the old wagon wheel light fixture.  Rachel thought about changing it out, but decided she actually loved it.

 

In the dining room, antique fabric was used for the shades.  The styling is so Rachel – lots of china and flowers. 

 

This bedroom reminds me of Rachel’s own bedroom.  It’s so pretty and feminine.  I love the pink petticoat pillow.

 

 

This pink bedroom features double beds piled high with an assortment of her bedding.

 

BEFORE:   The former owner painted these walls blue, which Rachel kept, but all the furniture was moved out.

 

AFTER:  The same bedroom decorated by Rachel.

 

One of the bathrooms in the Liliput Lodge.  Each bath is stocked with toiletries and plush towels.

 

BEFORE:  The Cornflower Cottage used to be bright orange.  These colors are just not in Rachel’s palette.

 

AFTER:  The Cornflower Cottage is now painted white with blue trim. 

 

 

The Cornflower Cottage has this wonderful white bed and lots of peeling painted furniture.

 

The bathroom has wonderful tile, but it’s shower is brand new and huge and fabulous!

 

BEFORE:   The Bluebonnet Barn was dark.

 

AFTER:   The Bluebonnet Barn has a fresh coat of white paint.

 

An old iron gate opens to the Bluebonnet Barn.

 

The brick floored living area of the Bluebonnet Barn – filled with comfy Ashwell furniture and antique chairs.  There is also a separate bedroom here.

 

Brick floors, claw foot tub and pedestal sink.

 

The Meadow Manor is an 1800s house – and is further away from the others.  If you want privacy, pick this house.

 

 

BEFORE:  Rachel debated whether to remove this wallpaper, but decided in the end to keep it.

 

 

AFTER:   With Rachel’s white furniture and pared down style, the wallpaper really looks great.

 

Another view of the living room.

 

The second living room features Farrow and Ball wallpaper and white painted floors.  Since there are no closets in these old houses – each room features a wooden clothes rack – seen on the far right of this picture.  In another nod to life how it once was, Rachel installed an clothes line on the property!

 

 

The kitchen only needed new white paint on its floors. 

 

One of the two bedrooms in the Meadow Manor.

 

The second bedroom is darling in pink and white stripes – so typical of Rachel’s style.

 

Love the pink fabric in a gilt frame!

 

This picture says it all:  the linen closet at The Prairie – piled with bedding from Rachel Ashwell’s line.

 

For more information on The Prairie – go HERE.

 

Finally, I just want to say, I’ve been a huge fan and great admirer of Rachel over the years.  The English Rose who became the quintessential Californian girl captured the hearts of so many women like me.  To know that she now call Texas home and is putting down roots here just makes me love her all the more!  Who would have ever thought it?  I remember the first time I heard she had bought the Round Top bed and breakfast, I was floored and excited beyond belief.   For years I’ve looked at pictures of her houses and lifestyle and wondered what it would be like to live like Rachel, surrounded by her fluffy bedding, downy sofas, old china and glassware, and all the trinkets she collects from around the world.  Now, at The Prairie – you really get that chance to experience her aesthetic up close and personal.   What a treat! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Million Dollar Designers–New Skirted Roundtable!

 

After a short break, Megan, Linda and I are back in action recording a new Skirted Roundtable.  This week we talk about the newest Bravo reality series – Million Dollar Decorators.  Gah!  My latest obsession!!  If you aren’t watching this show, do!!!!!!!!!!!!   If you read this blog, you are obviously into design, and this show was made for you!!  

 

 

What I love most about the show is who they picked to star in it.   Instead of going with big name designers with bad taste (fill in your own favorite big name designer whose taste you hate!) – they picked five designers with fabulous taste.   Four of the five are personal favorites:  Mary McDonald, Kathryn Ireland, Nathan Turner, and Martyn Lawrence Bullard.  The fifth designer I am not as familiar with, Jeffrey Alan Marks.   Apparently he does a lot of restaurant design which would explain why he may not be as well known.  But, his style fits right in with the other four.  Some of the designers seem to be best friends:  Mary and Nathan,  Martyn and Kathryn and Jeffrey and Kathryn.   Another designer I feel who would have been great with this group is Peter Dunham, and he does make a cameo appearance on the first episode.   As usual, there’s a lot of creative editing involved:   in one scene, Kathryn hosts a party for her birthday and makes her 3 teenage sons do the cooking.   One of the sons sneezes and snorts over the dishes and the next edit shows the guests eating the guacamole.  Yuck!!!   Another scene we thought was creative editing is when a client tells Mary McDonald she is getting a divorce and Mary goes ballistic – “You can’t sell MY house!”   Linda, Megan and I all agreed they probably cut out the part where Mary was at first sympathetic to her client/friend before she lamented the sale of this “perfect house.” 

 

Best friends stick together:  Nathan and Mary, Jeffrey (with quite a hair style!) and Kathryn and Martin!  Their friendly camaraderie makes the show that much better.

 

Oh, the show is just a hoot!   Kathryn’s housekeeper, the French “Jack-leen” is going to be the show’s sleeper star!   With her scarves and glasses and her eyes staring off into space, she is hysterical.   Plus, all the scenes of Kathryn’s house are priceless!   No matter how many pictures you’ve seen of her house – it looked so different and so charming in the show.   Another sleeper star is going to be Jeffrey Marks’ partner, the gorgeous (did I stress gorgeous enough?)  surfer model turned designer Ross Cassidy – and what a diva he is.   The show seems to be portraying them as constantly bickering, Ross doesn’t respect Marks – probably all just more creative editing.  Nathan is the nice guy.  He comes across as the one you would most want to have as your best friend, but Mary McDonald has already claimed that role.   Mary’s two assistants add even more wackiness.    Neither assistant listens to a word Mary says and both go behind her back at every chance – the male assistant is a riot.    For pure name dropping snobbiness -  no one fits that bill like Martyn Lawrence Bullard!  His voice is so effected, he sounds so pompous!!!  But, I absolutely adore his style, even though the apartment he did on the first show for Sharon Osborne looked like a Z Gallerie showroom.  Ouch!!  What a disappointment.   Here’s a recap of the five stars:

 

Mary McDonald:   This house she designed was published in Veranda in the October, 2010 issue.   It’s typical of her style, though the red is rather a rare choice for her.  Her color schemes are usually lighter.

 

Martyn Lawrence Bullard:   featured recently in Architectural Digest, this style is not his usual.  He typically uses more global design with ethic touches, though he can do any style.  This house is the home of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne.  Those barn doors are to die for!!!!!

 

Kathryn Ireland:   much of her house was shown in the first episode.  Her living room is typical of her designs – a riot of patterns and colors and English sensibility.

 

Nathan Turner:  he designed this room for a Veranda showhouse last year.   His style reflects the ethnic prints and accessories he sells in his popular store.  I love the striped curtains and how he painted the ceiling to match them! 

 

Jeffrey Alan Marks:   this is his own home, a typical California look.   I wasn’t that familiar with his style before the show, but the house he did which was featured on Episode 2 was wonderful.   This room – decorated to remind him of his childhood on lakes – is a little too whimsical for me.  Not sure I would ever hang a boat from a ceiling.  Wait, I’m SURE I would never hang a boat from a ceiling.

 

Spreading rumors?    While googling for this story, several pictures of Jeffrey Ross’s gorgeous assistant Ross Cassidy on the arm of Martyn Bullard showed up from a few years ago!!  Leaves me to wonder did Ross and Martyn ever date before Jeffrey and Ross were a couple?  Anyone know???? 

 

Episode 1:  sneak peek into Kathryn’s house – here is her famous living room with the collection of prints above the archway.  Mary McDonald, dressed to the nines – always! – came with her bf Nathan Turner. 

 

There’s a great web site on Bravo, HERE, with lots of pictures and blogs by each of the designers!  Great reading.  Oh, this series is just SOOOO much fun!!!   I’m crazy about it.   So, be sure to tune in the show Million Dollar Decorators on Tuesday evening – 9:00 pm Central Standard Time.    They repeat it at 10:00 pm CST.    And, if you have twitter, the three of us, Megan, Linda and myself do real time analysis starting at 9:00 pm CST sharp.  The hashtag is:  #mddbravotv OR #milliondollardecorators – be sure to twitter with us, it gives the show an extra dimension to share it with other viewers across the country.  Some of the comments on twitter are priceless…wish the five stars would twitter along too!

 

To listen to our discussion on The Skirted Roundtable, go HERE.   Be careful though – there are two links!!!  The first green bar is for the skirted roundtable.  The second green bar is for a short talk by Kathryn Ireland that we recorded when she was on the skirted roundtable a few months ago.   At that time, she wasn’t allowed to discuss the show so we held that part from the recording.  You can hear what Ireland said about Million Dollar Decorators by listening to the second green bar!  Remember – the first green bar is for the entire Skirted roundtable discussion!  Got that???

 

As usual – thank you so much for your continued support for the Skirted Roundtable!  It is very, very much appreciated.                  

 

 

 

Readers Go Kooboo Crazy

                                                     

 After writing about these Kooboo wicker chairs a few times, an alert reader informed me that Cost Plus World Market sold them for just $149 (and sometimes they are on sale for even less!)  This price is hundreds of dollars less than the Kooboo chairs which are claimed to come from Belgium.   Maybe some do actually come from Belgium, but I don’t see why you have to pay so much more for something that basically looks the same.

 

An alert reader sent me the link to this chair – $149.99 – amazing!  HERE.

 

Even the magazine Country Living seemed to get it all wrong in this beautiful cover shot this month.

 

The credits say these two chairs are from Restoration Hardware, $595 each.   To me, they look like the Kooboo chairs that are sold wholesale by companies like Artesia.  BTW, isn’t that daybed cute?   A few more cute ones from the same company HERE, and HERE.

 

 

This is the closest Kooboo chair at Restoration Hardware that I could find – nothing at all like those shown in the Country Living magazine.  AND BTW, been to Restoration Hardware lately?  The one in my neighborhood was recently remodeled – all dark walls and moody, low lighting.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.  Gorgeous!  Go visit if you haven’t lately.

 

I’ve loved these chairs for years, after first seeing them in Cynthia Davis’ house in Country Home.   Gorgeous!

 

I recently noticed on Cynthia’s blog, Indulge Décor, that her dining room has changed quite a bit with a new faux bois table, crystal chandelier, and wonderful lamps.   Amazing this is in Houston, it’s so Belgium looking!   Just gorgeous – makes my mouth drool!!!!   This picture really illustrates how important texture is in a room – how much more interesting a room is with lots of different textures.  It shows how a crystal chandelier can dress up any spot and how versatile these chairs truly are.  Read Cynthia’s blog HERE.

 

After learning about the $149 chairs at Cost Plus, I wondered aloud on the blog what my breakfast room would like with the wicker chairs instead of these smaller French ones.

 

 

Two readers actually sent me photoshopped pictures of what my breakfast room would like  - here’s one view.

 

And another photoshopped view – amazing how accurate these pictures really are!   Based on these two drawings, I bit the bullet and bought the chairs.   Although I first purchased the more expensive and larger ones from Pottery Barn which ended up outside in the back yard.  

 

 

 

And here are the final Cost Plus Kooboo chairs in my breakfast room.

 

 

  And the Pottery Barn chairs outside.  To read an analysis of the two chairs, go HERE.  After I showed my new chairs, I got email from readers who had also bought them!   Here are their pictures, perhaps they will inspire you.

 

 

Karen sent me this picture of her cute breakfast room.   She bought a few Kooboo chairs to mix in, but is now saving for two more to put around her table. 

 

This reader, Robyn, sent in a picture of her dining room.  I was taken by how cute her table was!  She said she had it custom made, copied from a table at Mecox.  The reader said the table was very reasonable – much cheaper than the one at Mecox.   Think about having something custom made – a lot of times it IS cheaper than what is found in the design store.

 

This reader lives in a townhouse in Houston – she sent me this picture of her Kooboo chairs.

 

Another view – I love how she painted the back of her shelves the dark gray and added the sconces – makes the shelves so much more custom looking.   This reader has a vacation house in Santa Fe and she went to buy Kooboo chairs there, but the Cost Plus chairs were sold out until September – they must be really popular in New Mexico!

 

 

 

  This reader bought these chairs to put around her French dining room table.  She sent this picture last Christmas to show how they looked, along with her new seagrass rug, lamps and curtains.

 

  In each chair, she had lumbar pillows made of the Riad fabric from Windsor Smith for Kravet.

 

  I recently begged a friend to change out her French rush seat chairs for these!   She had just updated her kitchen with new black matte granite and white subway tiles.  She added two great looking polished nickel pendant lights from Restoration Hardware, but her breakfast room needed a little tweaking.   We removed a large pine bookshelf and replaced it with a British Colonial style console, new lamps and mirrors and the chairs.  It looks like a completely new room with the Kooboo chairs. 

 

 

All in the family!   I had to laugh.  My daughter Elisabeth is moving into an apartment this year at school.   She’s working on floor plans (oy!) and shopping the internet.  Last night she came home all excited about the slipcover sofas at Ikea.  I kid you not!  “Mom!!  They are so cheap!!”    I know, I know!   She picked up a few baskets to get her decorating started (naturally she just had to buy something) – and here’s what she bought.  Four Kooboo wicker baskets.  The small ones were around $5 while the larger ones were $10.     I just smiled thinking about how I was writing this article about Kooboo, while she’s out buying these baskets.  I want her to buy the Kooboo chairs for her dining table. but she prefers the slipcovered ones from Ikea.  

Thanks to all the readers for sending in your pictures!   I’m accumulating a lot of kitchen redos which I will show soon – so if you have a great kitchen redo – send it to my email:  mrballbox329@aol.com