Style : Stylemakers : Romancing the Home

With lively young kids around, most mothers would never dream of having white furniture. But 31-year-old Rachel Ashwell, who moved here from London in 1979, has kept her sofa, ottoman and two chairs covered in damask, muslin and denim--all white, ivory and cream. “The more you wash them, the better they look,” says the mother of two toddlers.

A year and a half ago, Ashwell opened a shop offering the kind of homey, lived-in furnishings she uses in her own house. Business doubled in three months. Today she still shops in Europe, but because of the high exchange rate she also haunts American estate sales and flea markets. One particularly good find was a painting of roses. After it appeared in a local ad for her store, Butterfield & Butterfield appraisers called to tell her the canvas was a valuable 19th-Century Marie Johnson oil.

No matter how many treasures she comes across, however, she keeps things simple: “I like experiencing something for a while, and then going on to something else.”