Tattered & torn

Necessity is the mother of invention. And in Rachel Ashwell's case that certainly rings true – 23 years ago Rachel was a single mother living in Los Angeles with two small children, one aged three, and a sixweek- old baby. Born in England, she had moved there to style film sets, and had met and married a film director. It didn't last. Rachel couldn't go back to her job in the film world as it meant leaving her children for long periods, and sometimes travelling abroad. She had to work from home and this was where she put all her energies.

The world was in a recession in 1989 and after the flashy interior styles popular in the early years of the decade, people were looking for a more inexpensive and relaxed style for decorating their houses – exactly what Rachel had been doing in her own home. So, she launched a business offering the kind of things she had been using out of necessity. The first product was a loose cover made in pre-shrunk fabric, giving a perfect fit. 'As a parent with young children around, my criterion for soft furnishings was that they should be washable,' she explains. 'Historically, loose covers have been used in England, but in America they weren't common.'

She made her sofas bigger and the covers baggier so you could sink into them and feel enveloped in comfort – and branded them Shabby Chic Couture. The Americans went crazy for the look. Jeff Goldblum and Warren Beatty loved the cocooning feel and ordered extra-deep sofas. Several books and 15 shops followed, selling her carefully chosen, timeworn elegance of weathered, painted furniture, pretty vintage fabrics, slightly chipped gilded mirrors or antiquegilt French wall sconces.

In 2006, in order to expand, Rachel went into partnership with investors but, in 2009, due to the economy and rapid growth, the company filed for bankruptcy. However, she was not deterred from seeking what she describes as 'the beauty of imperfection'. A few months ago she published her seventh book, Shabby Chic Inspirations And Beautiful Spaces, to re-energise her many fans. These are women calling themselves Shabby Chick or Whispering Poppies, who emailed encouraging messages, such as 'We have all been through economic hardship, you must carry on. You are surrounded by much love'.

In the book and accompanying text Rachel has chosen interiors by people she has met over the years who inspire her and also illustrate the Rachel Ashwell ethos. Rooms are dotted with old jugs filled with blowsy roses, pretty chandeliers with glass droplets, and distressed furniture. They are mostly furnished by women, but one house she has chosen is exclusively a man's work. Huw Griffith lives in an 1814 terrace in Shoreditch in London and 'finds and reworks the antiques that traditional dealers overlook'. He has sold pieces to Paul Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Designers Guild.

Rachel discovered him when she bought one of his artfully distressed mirrors with fabric backing. 'Every surface in Huw's home is a still life,' enthuses Rachel. The title she gives him, 'Shabby Man', is a compliment. 'The palette he uses in his bedroom, for instance, consists of various shades of cream, with pink and blue accents from rugs, folded clothes and flowers. The room is sparsely furnished but welcoming and neither overly masculine nor feminine. Every object has innocently earned its place and serves a purpose.

'As far as possible, I don't have an overabundance of stuff,' says Huw. Indeed his clothes are part of the interior design scheme. A tattered and shrunk purple jersey permanently hangs over the back of a chair because he was wearing it the day he met his fiancée. In his bedroom a vintage dressmaker's form is covered with a changing array of clothes.

Having read Rachel's book, followers can now learn where she finds much of the stuff. She has opened a B&B called The Prairie by Rachel Ashwell, in Round Top, Texas, near a twice-yearly antiques market. The British equivalent is a monthly fair at Newark in Nottinghamshire, wit more than 3,000 stands. Rachel has opened her own Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture stores in Santa Monica, New York, Texas and London. These sell unique, handmade, hand-dyed pieces. She has also overseen the design of a diffused collection of furnishings, which are now available at House of Fraser under the Shabby Chic Brand.

For Rachel, her tattered, elegant style does not consist merely of repainting and restoring tired furniture. As her books show, she invests everything with history and emotion. On her blog, a broken plate is captioned 'broken but not forgotten'.

Before starting a project she imagines being in a story or a film, or a character from the past. When she decorated her flat in Notting Hill she visualised the Darling family and Peter Pan. Her Texas B&B, she says, 'makes her feel like Marie Antoinette, with details from the film Coal Miner's Daughter'. Her business will flourish because interior styles may come and go, but creating a fantasy around pieces of furniture or a gilt chandelier will always appeal.

Rachel Ashwell: Shabby Chic Inspirations And Beautiful Spaces (Cico Books, £25).

Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture, 020-7779 9022, www.rachelashwellshabbychiccouture.com

Huw Griffith: www.huwgriffith.com

Newark International Antiques Fair, Newark Showground: 01636-702326, www.iacf.co.uk