shabby chic

Shabby chic is a comfortable, casual decorating style with a look that uses vintage accessories, pastels, and comfortable furniture. While people have been living with old lace tablecloths, dreamy soft floral fabrics, light painted furniture, wrought iron curtain rods with filmy sheer curtains, and colorful fresh flowers for a long time, Rachel Ashwell identified this style of decorating and named it shabby chic. 

Think of visiting with your grandmother, snuggled in comfortable soft furniture. Fresh flowers look beautiful and the soft scent of candles fills the room. A home decorated in the shabby chic style can provide the same sensation for your own home.

Shabby chic is no particular style (much like the cottage style) but rather balances elegant things with old and worn, shiny silver accessories with painted wooden tables, soft throw rugs with rough old lace

Themes and Colors

Soft you love bold primary colors, Shabby Chic® is not for you. Soft white, muted gray, pale pink, and faded green all have a place in a Shabby Chic® interior.

Tea stained fabrics

Collect fabrics from around the house or buy vintage-looking fabrics even if they're new. To give the illusion of age, a fabric can be made to look old, worn, faded, and soft by staining them with a brew of tea. Be sure to test a piece of fabric first to get just the right shade. You can change something that's stark white to a soft creamy white—just right for the look.

Combine patterns and colors

Combine stripes, checks, and floral fabrics to achieve a warm and inviting look. Gather yardage or fabrics from yard sales and flea markets. You don't have to follow traditional rules of combing prints, but for easiest mixing keep the background color the same (white or ivory, etc.). Then choose one color to repeat in almost every fabric, such as a soft green or pale pink.

White painted furniture 

Almost any piece of wooden furniture will fit into a shabby chic interior if it's painted white. Collect pieces from flea markets, garage sales, and the attic. Spray with white paint, sand off the corners, and rough it up a little. Voila! You have shabby chic furniture. You'd be surprised how a coat of paint transforms a dark dingy chair or table.

Think outside the box

Not every chair has to be sat on. How about using a sturdy, painted straight chair as a table at the side of a bed or sofa or in a corner to hold a vase of flowers? An old picnic bench or trunk can serve as a coffee table. Stack wooden boxes at the side of a chair for books and flowers. Be creative and use what you have.

Slipcovers:

You can camouflage old, drab furniture and cover up mismatched pieces with soft slipcovers. Whether you have a slipcover custom made, make your own, or buy a throw at a store, you can get just the look you want without investing in a new piece of furniture. Most pieces are covered in white, but soft faded prints will work too. 

Overstuffed upholstery

For a welcoming and inviting look, upholstered furniture in a Shabby Chic® interior is comfortable, over-sized, wrinkled, with a slipcover. Sofas are long and chairs are almost big enough to seat two. Delicate prints cover soft throw pillows.

No iron needed

A rumpled, wrinkled, but a neat look is perfect for the Shabby Chic® style. Upholstered or slipcovered furniture should look well-used and very loved!

Architectural details

Anything old and beautiful will have a place in this style of decorating. Glass door knobs, pillars, an old mantle, and rusted old iron shelf brackets or hooks can add texture to any room.

The more rust, the better

Decorative accessories and wrought iron furniture are perfect compliments to a shabby chic interior. If the rust is peeling or flaking off, sand it lightly and seal with two coats of a flat, clear spray varnish.

Flowers and candles

Add a wonderful glow and delicious fragrance with scented candles. Be sure to have bunches of fresh flowers scattered around, whether in a glass jar or beautifully painted vase. Include pretty books on flowers to add color. Floral prints look comfortable and add texture on soft throw pillows.

Everything old is new again

Even the most broken-down or dingy of elegant formal furniture pieces can be adapted to a Shabby Chic® decor. If it's broken, fix it, clean it up, and paint it white. If it's rusted, clean it up (but only a little) and find it a new home. If the paint is chipped, you're lucky. If it's broken, find a new use for it. If the mirror is scratched, scratch it some more.

Because shabby chic style is so adaptable, it's a perfect way to decorate a guest room or family room. With the focus on warmth and comfort, everyone will be comfortable. 

Shabby Chic Bathroom

Tiles and Flooring

Go retro for a shabby chic bathroom boasting warmth with soothing pastel tiles or choose a more modern white subway tile to contrast with the rest of the room’s furnishings.

Patterned and mosaic tiles are great for floors, as are wooden floorboards or painted floorboards (grey and white are best for this look).

Bathroom Suite

If you’ve chosen white tiles, bring in subdued color with a pastel bathroom suite. And alternately, if you do go for pastel tiles, create a clean, white bathroom suite. Clawfoot tubs are a requisite with shabby chic decor, as are old-fashioned shower heads and taps.

Accessories

Hang a vignette or mirrors in the bathroom boasting character or hang artwork on the walls to add small doses of personality for a memorable bathroom.

Select an ethnic inspired woven bathmat in bright hues or bold graphic patterns and bring in plants of varied scales, and punctuate the design styles bohemian nods with mismatched towels, linens, and storage baskets

Shabby Chic Bedroom

Furniture

Metal canopies and bed frames are also a common thread in shabby chic bedroom decor as they are elegant and substantial without being too imposing.

Source a distressed armoire for a more traditional feel or opt for a brightly painted dresser or dressing table for a more eclectic and statement-making feel.

Bedding

With linens, there are two shabby chic bedroom ideas to consider. Choose less aggressive white or cream bedding and accessorize with colorful cushions and a patterned bedspread or quilt, or you can go for a wild combo of mismatched bright bedding for added character.

Whatever route you decide on, amp it up with different patterns and prints and introduce as much color as possible – even if it’s muted as the freedom this design styles offers you is far beyond clean lines and simplicity.

Accessories

Woven rugs in a natural materials paired with modern furnishings here and there are certain to create a layered and enviable take on shabby chic decor that’ll look like no one else’s.

Set rugs at an angle away from the bed, leading towards the door to make the path to your bed appear larger. And add a rustic chair in the corner for a conversation and reading nook and scatter trinkets, keepsakes, and artwork casually about the room.

Shabby Chic Kitchen

Furniture

Mismatch dining chair styles around a well-used wooden table, with a bit of personality, or cover a table you already have in a bright, patterned tablecloth. White units and wooden units look great in a shabby chic kitchen and are a pleasant move away from everything pastel.

Cookware and Dining Ware

An eclectic mix of different pots and pans and contrasting tableware from here, there and everywhere really brings this look together in the kitchen. Embrace the mismatched and use this to add color and texture to your kitchen.