The Shabby Chic Couture boutique in London's Notting Hill

Two days before I had to pack up my life and move into a new flat, I hadn’t filled a single box. Instead I found myself in Notting Hill sipping champagne and eating cupcakes, strawberries and white chocolate fingers at the official launch of the Rachel Ashwell’s Shabby Chic Couture Boutique – the first branch of the homeware store to open this side of the Atlantic.

The boutique is located on Kensington Park Road, next to the ever-so-trendy Portobello Market. The area is a colourful fusion of the old and new; where the old money of London meets the more cosmopolitan crowds. This is a fusion that could also be used to paint a picture of the Shabby Chic Couture brand and the ethos behind it. Rachel Ashwell opened her first ‘Shabby Chic’ store in 1989 in California, and after some restructuring, the brand in its current incarnation was relaunched in 2009, with two boutiques in Los Angeles and New York.

The brand’s distinctiveness is its versatility and range. Offering everything from bespoke furniture to antique “heirlooms of the future”, bed linens and cushions, Shabby Chic is a graceful amalgam of the English country house and the French chateau; without a hint of faded chintz in sight. The muted, demure and “smokey” palette of colours favoured by Shabby Chic Couture all help to recreate the allure of a bygone era of interior design, comfort and sophistication.

The overall aesthetic of the designs is one of subtly graceful faded glory. A traditionally British decorative style reminiscent of the charm of glorious country houses is combined with a laidback West Coast look: think large, distressed painted cabinets and antique Chesterfield settees re-upholstered in sultry grey velvets.  New furniture uses modern, feminine fabrics with traditional prints such as pretty, floral patterns in creams, golds and duck egg blue. The colour palette is light and refined, yet creates an overall atmosphere of warm and welcoming cosiness.

With Shabby Chic Couture, Rachel Ashwell has managed to combine the influences of quintessential British charm, Gallic chic and American glamour, and in so doing has established a brand that is elegant and very feminine.

You can find out more about the brand on the Shabby Chic Couture website, plus an insight into Rachel’s inspirations on her blog.