What's old is new again

The Shabby Chic Movement
Rachel Ashwell is an Interior designer and entrepreneur. In 1989, Rachel Ashwell created Shabby Chic, an interior design concept that featured a light color palette, distressed furniture with character, slipcovers, and old–style designs known today as "Shabby-Chic". Ashwell's interest in antiques began in Great Britain, where she was born and raised. Her mother was a restorer of antique dolls and teddy bears, while her father was a secondhand, rare book dealer. Ashwell learned to love shopping in flea markets and antique stores as a young girl. Later in her life, Ashwell moved to the United States and began to decorate her own home in a "Shabby-Chic" style. She made washable, design–friendly slipcovers for her furniture. Friends soon wanted them, which led to her first store which she opened in Santa Monica, California. Today, in addition to her own company, Ashwell has paired with Target to create a shabby chic brand to be mass produced and sold nationwide. Her mass produced shabby chic items are inspired by one-of-a-kind antiques. 
A few images of her work: 

          

"A faded, peeling old dresser, a cracked white chandelier, a chipped metal trash can painted with roses. To one person, these items are rejects from the junkyard, to another they are a bounty of riches. Discovering beauty in finding new uses for the old and worn discards of others greatly appeals to me, there is no better place to find the faded and decayed, the crumbing and the scuffed than a salvage yard or flea market, garage or estate sale”. -Ashwell 

The connection that I feel between Ashwell's work and my own interests is her passion for restoring the old and making it new again. I appreciate that her work involves taking what some people believe to be junk and meaningless and making it brand new and beautiful.  She can look beyond the dust and chipped paint and appreciate how much the item still has to offer. Her work inspires me to do the same. I believe that this concept can be applied to other areas of interest such as graphic design. There are companies who's image is old and crumbling (just like and old piece of furniture at the flea market). However, while Rachel uses a can of paint to restore and give a fresh new look to these old items, I plan to use graphic design.