What is Shabby Chic decorating?

Shabby Chic decorating is based around well-used, well-loved items and is meant to look comfortable, welcoming and homey. It is similar to cottage style decorating and to French Country decorating. Furniture is distressed and then painted white so it looks old and worn. The main color overall is white, with accents in soft pastel colors such as pink, green, grey and yellow.

Shabby Chic decorating takes its inspiration from the style of 1900-1950 England homes, when people used whatever they had. Worn furniture, family heirlooms, and hand-me-downs were combined in a way that was not dictated by anything other than family comfort. Designer Rachel Ashwell actually coined the term ‘Shabby Chic’ in the 1980′s, and since then it has become a definite decorating style, especially with budget and eco-conscious people who want to re-use old furniture and accessories rather that buying brand new items.

Shabby Chic decorating is full of mismatched pieces and fabrics. It all works together because color is used to make the items all look like they belong together. Wooden furniture is all painted white, and sanded around the edges to give it that worn look. In fact, the more worn it looks, the better it works. Painting a coat and then sanding it down and white glazing overtop leaves a lot of bare wood exposed, and helps that old desk or drawer look as if it has been in the family for centuries.

Fabrics also don’t have to match, as long as they have the same background color and at least one basic unifying color. Florals, stripes, checks, toile and other patterns can all live together in the same room, and even lie right on top of one another, when they are united by a color scheme.

Seating, such as sofas and chairs, tend to be large and overstuffed, and covered with rumpled but tidy slipcovers and plump, inviting cushions. Dining chairs may be mismatched wooden chairs all painted white, with matching fabric seat covers. Florals play a huge part in Shabby Chic decorating, cabbage roses in particular, as do vintage-look fabrics. You can age new fabrics by simply soaking them in tea.

Items are often used for a different purpose than they were intended, and this makes Shabby Chic decorating unique and personal. You can use a wooden chair or stacks of old hat boxes for a nightstand; an antique travelling trunk for a coffee table; an old wooden window shutter for a towel rack; or an old, scratched mirror for a serving tray. You can scour flea markets, garage sales and attics for mountains of treasures that will find new life in a Shabby Chic home.

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