Shabby Chic

Have you ever heard about Shabby chic? Do you know that this is a very appealing style of redecoration of your homes? Shabby chic is the use of apt furniture and styles to recreate an ancient look to any interiors. Find out more about this style below.

Shabby Chic Feel / History introduction

An age old interior design technique, Shabby chic is the form of decorating furniture and furnishings in a way that gives them the look and appearance of being an age old object. Sometimes, objects are actually distressed to get that perfect look of an antique item. Every Shabby chic will have multiple layers of work on it to reflect the age old appearance effectively. There are several variations of the Shabby chic style, such as, Cottage chic, Beach cottage chic, French country and Gustavian.

Shabby chic originated in Great Britain and is mostly found in large country houses where it is obvious to compliment the interiors with old and faded out furnishings. Do not get confused at Shabby chic being a quizzical decoration style. Its end results are always elegant and worthy of comprehension. In fact, Shabby chic is considered as a form of art.

Shabby chic styles: Cottage chic, Beach cottage chic, French country, Gustavian (Swedish)

Shabby chic style is manifested in four basic forms, which are as follows:

French Country

Do not make the mistake of confusing this style of Shabby chic with the provincial French décor. The two have a large array of difference. What you will find in an authentic French country style of Shabby chic are simple home décor objects that give off a relaxed and charming appeal. When you sit down to compare it with the provincial French décor style, you will always end up choosing this one for its mere simplicity. It makes use of muted shades such as Sage green, powder blue and pale pink. It uses everyday basic objects and yet succeeds in giving off an attractive and fascinating twist to each of them.

Beach style

For those who have a special inclination for sun kissed beaches and the san shores, this style helps in recreating minimal yet tranquil interiors. This style sometimes make use of mere shades of white, light blue and grey to pull off the rustic Shabby chic style. Even fabrics take a twist in this style, with muslin, linen and slip covers being used to recreate the desired Shabby chic look. The use of mirrors, to reflect light and create spacious interiors, is quite inherent in this style.

Gustavian

This Swedish style Shabby chic favours a fancy look, with various accessories, gold trims, and mirrors being used to emphasize the feel of open spaces. This style essentially cuts down the frilly and cluttered look of the interiors, when compared to other Shabby chic styles. The major colour used in this style is white, which is used to emphasize a warm and youthful touch to the interiors. This is perhaps the only style which bends towards modern elements as well as fancy Shabby chic styles to recreate the interiors.

Cottage chic

Initially, the cottage chic style was focused on bringing an apt match between every aspect of the interiors. Everything from the pillow covers to the curtains had to be matched within a similar tone and hue. However, in the current days, there is an ideal mix and match philosophy that envelopes the decorating style. One could make use of as many neutral shades as they like or even many vibrant and bright shades as well.

Shabby chic decor

Shabby chic décor has a basic essence of picturing a light back drop to redesign and recreate the perfect country ranch style. The style makes use of existing furniture as well as creating intimate cottage-style materials to create the perfect houses.

Basically, a Shabby chic décor entirely focuses upon the use of right materials, colors, patterns and furniture that help in recreating the ideal Shabby chic feel. It is the ideal blend of old as well as new furniture and aspects to create the desired interiors.

Shabby chic furniture

Shabby chic style makes use of a variety of furniture to achieve the desired appearance and feels after redecorating. Basically, any form of solid timber furniture can be brought into use, such as yearn or oak. Even the use of natural and warm wood styles is appropriate to make the styling perfect. Repainted furniture also takes an integrated place in Shabby chic redecoration. The basic idea behind using any particular style of furniture is to give them an ornamental look to give the right feel to the interior decoration.

Shabby chic style takes a great leap with the use of authentic yet antique style furniture to lend the perfect accent to the interiors. In this case, use of both initial as well as recreated furniture is made to get the perfect tone of Shabby chic redecoration. When redecorating your interiors in Shabby chic style, you can easily experiment with various furniture styles and designs to get the right look.

Shabby chic bedding

Shabby chic bedding styles are just as antique as the furniture or the floorings. It is worthy of saying that even Shabby chic bedding makes use of fabrics and designs that are previously associated with the old age and rustic interiors of old days. For this reason, you will find that every Shabby chic style bedding aspects have a very subtle, light and subdued tone on them. Besides this, it makes use of small flowery prints on them that not only look very attractive and enrapturing but also compliment the whole idea of keeping things very sublime, right in line with the rustic look of ancient furniture and interiors. You will find too many pastel whites, baby pinks, and powder blues when looking for Shabby chic style bedding.

Shabby chic floorings

Shabby chic floorings are just a tad bit different from the vintage counterparts that exist in the interiors. While most prefer painted floorboards when decorating their interiors in Shabby chic style, wooden floorings are equally preferred and desirable options for refurbishing in the typical Shabby chic style. When it comes to the flooring, choice of complimentary shades such as those on the walls and furnishings is not desired. Such pairing would simply steal the interiors of the charm and appeal of the vintage look. Instead, by keeping the flooring sublime yet subtle, one can achieve just the perfect match and appeal of the ideal Shabby chic style.

All natural woods and ceramic floor tiles are just the perfect choices for shabby chic floors. Mostly, people wish to go for diamond shaped patterns on the floor to compliment the look of the Shabby chic style. Repainting the floor is also a wonderful option when choosing Shabby chic style.

Shabby chic home wares

Everything from the roof to the floor gets a makeover when refurbishing your interiors according to the Shabby chic style. That does not leave out your homeware from the scene. In order to make the interiors look in sync with the theme of a Shabby chic makeover, it is quite important to give a change to simple items of homeware as well. So whether it is the teapot that is placed on the table or the vase that holds the flowers. You will need to get new ones in the complimenting shades as per your choice of Shabby chic makeover. It is ideal to get homeware in authentic ceramic material as it is quite durable and matches well with the interiors.

Shabby chic bedside tables

Bed side tables are an essential component of any room as they service not only in terms of completing the look of the room but also provide apt utility to the room. When decorating the interiors in authentic Shabby chic style, it is important to re model every aspect of a room in order to achieve the right fit between all the aspects. For this purpose, it is best to get bed side tables mad in authentic wood materials that can be remodeled to suit the Shabby chic style. The idea is to lend the appropriate vintage style and look to the table. In this way, you can either use your old bed side table or get a new one and necessary modifications to it can be made so that the apt layering effect gives the rightful Shabby chic style look.

Shabby chic bedside lamps

Bedside lamps may be a thing of the past but Shabby chic style redecoration requires an apt and abundant use of vintage style home products that can actually make the interiors look peculiarly like the country homes. Lamps for an important part of Shabby chic style redecoration. For this purpose, pastel whites and creams are the perfect choice of colors for lamp shades. The stick at the bottom could be as opulent as you like, for it is most likely to be made of brass or other metals or at most, wood. So, the highlighting part is basically the lamp shade itself. The lamp shades are supposed to lend a natural country house feel to the interiors.

Shabby chic clothes 

Shabby chic style clothes are essentially made with genuine fabrics and colors that complement the entire theme. For this reason, there is an extensive use of red stripes, floral, and chequered styles. These cotton fabrics and styles lend an immaculate and impeccable Shabby chic style feel.

Shabby chic party decorations

Create a vintage style party decoration theme for your interiors with the best Shabby chic  Decor styles. Here, you can get really innovative and experimental as there is a host of objects, items, and options available to choose from. Not everything has to be fixed, rather, there is always room for your own style.

Summary/Tips

• Shabby chic style is relatively popular yet untapped as refurbishing according to fixed norms can be a tiny bit tricky.

• You can always try and be innovative in your approach when trying the Shabby chic style. This is definitely an innovative style of redecoration, which you can try quite easily.