What do y’all know about Rachel Ashwell? She wrote several, several books about her shabby chic aesthetic, had a line with Target, and has this inn in Texas called The Prairie. I first came across this place when I was trolling Style Me Pretty, looking for my friend Kat’s wedding.
Borrowed from Style Me Pretty.
And Oh. My. God. Shut up. Other than that girl being so pretty, and her dress being lovely, don’t you just want to curl up in that bed and never get out, except maybe to go look out the window at this:
Again, borrowed, but this time from Little House with the White Picket Fence.
Seriously, if I lived somewhere like this, I would have to quit my job because I would be so pleased with myself that I wouldn’t be able to leave my home at any time. I would have to just wait for people to come see me, mostly so they could look on in awe.
When I lived in Mississippi, it felt like everyone had a sleeping porch. The thing about a place like that is that in the summer, no amount of air conditioning can cool you down, so it’s a sunk cost. Just retire to the porch. I used to house sit for these artists, and their porch + Rachel Ashwell’s The Prairie are the inspiration for this week’s room. This post presupposes that you have a screen porch of some sort, but if you don’t, some small alteration would make this a gorgeous sun room, or even living room.
First things first: lighting. I am in love with the idea of candlelight for your sleeping porch, and would this be a dream or would this be a dream?
It’s a little pricey (this is the most affordable one I could find), and I plan to do a how-to on this in the future, but it would get you started for sure. One or two of these would be your big investment for the room. Get some inexpensive lanterns and a few pillar candles, and you are set for lighting. Stop by a local lumberyard and ask them to cut some sections of a tree trunk into different heights for you. Whitewash them, and then put a mirror on top to put the lanterns at different heights and also give yourself some tables for your cup of tea or book.
When I was reading Design Sponge at Home the other night, I was really struck by these pallet beds:
This is a no-big-deal project made from a salvaged door and some pallets that they will just GIVE you at any hardware store. I looked over the project, and it was a couple hours. A pair of these, white washed and placed flush against the wall, would make for an ideal sleeping setup. I would scrounge around for some vintage quilts in neutral colors and a LOT of pillows. Pillows are going to make this or break it.
At Prairie, they opted to go for wood floors, and I think it looks great. If you don’t like to put your feet down on the bare floor and it’s not too lodge-y for you, a white cowhide rug would look great.
The trick to this is to get it to feel lived-in immediately, so don’t overthink it, and don’t think you need to spend a ton of cash. Remember, this porch is still sort of outside, so you don’t want a ton of wall hangings, wallpaper, or anything that you’re nervous about out there. If the walls look bare, try white-washing those, too, or hang some salvaged, weathered windows on the internal walls. If you want some more privacy, maybe you’d want to hang some linen curtains on a rod like this:
And bam. You’re done. You have a pretty, lived-in, livable sleeping porch that makes you feel like you’re on vacation and you’re still on your own property.
What do you think? Have you been to the Prairie? Is it as pretty as I believe it to be? What would you do?
