Creating a Shabby Chic Look

by Matt Trostle

What is Shabby Chic?

Shabby chic is a decorating trend where you basically take something new and make it look old. Sanding and denting are some of the more common ways to achieve the look.

Finding Some Shabby Furniture

Light weight furniture collected from yard sales and dime stores could do very well here. Strip the paint off and give a coat of white paint so that tones of the old color and the wood are visible through the new coat. The corners and edges should be sanded to achieve a naturally worn out look. A very light beige tone or cream color would be ideal and this should be so for all pieces big and small. Strip the room bare of dark or bright colors and go for white washed walls with one feature wall in red or in various tones of red.

Arrange the freshly painted old furniture and decorate with old world cushions in clean, faded slips; doilies, throws, table runners, and lamp shades. The basic tones should be the same antique white mixed with tiny floral prints or pastel stripes that spell cozy comfort. Anything from an old tea pot to a paint tin can do duty as a flower vase filled with red and white blossoms, perched on an occasional table.

Throw in a Little Color

Spice up the bare white walls with a bold painting in red or related colors. The feature wall can be left alone as a background for the white sofa with a quilted throw draped across, or serve as a dramatic setting for framed black and white photographs. The end tables could become the center of attention with some antique candle sticks or a tea-set retired from the kitchen.

Shabby Chic Not Just Plain Shabby

The whole idea is to maintain a contrasting tension between the crisp, clean white elegance and the dull shabby red elements. The various pieces of furniture do not have to belong to the same set or even match, but a balance is maintained and held together by the rest of the decor. The end result is a hand made, handed down look that spells a great bond with the past while looking to the future.

Shabby chic stands for a clean, neatly preserved look and is not a tag to cover bad housekeeping gone to the dogs. The key word here is clean, squeaky clean to grandma standards.

This article has been provided by for GreatPricedFurniture.com. Recently ranked in the top 500 by Internet Retailer 500, Great Priced Furniture has some of the most inspiring furniture collections and carry only the very best manufacturers.

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Shabby Chic - Vintage Decor and Ideas for Your Home

By Giorgina Devereaux

Shabby Chic, also known as Vintage, is the idea of incorporating accessories, furniture, and household items from the years 1900-1950 to decorate your home. But what makes this décor a popular decorating style? It provides a comfortable and casual look through the use of Vintage accessories, new décor that looks old, pastels, comfy light painted furniture, lace tablecloths, dreamy soft floral fabrics, wrought iron curtain rods with sheer curtains, and vivid fresh flowers. The idea of combining the old with the new opens up endless possibilities when selecting Shabby Chic home décor and furnishings.

Imagine visiting your grandparents and snuggling in comfortable soft furniture, while being surrounded by colorful fresh flowers and the soft scent of candles. This style can create the same sensation for your own home. It balances elegant items with old and worn, silver accessories with painted wood tables, and soft area rugs with old lace.

If your budget is limited, Shabby Chic decorating is the perfect solution. You can scour some of the great websites noted below for Shabby Chic home décor.

Shabby Chic and Vintage use furniture that is worn, along with stylish items and things that look old. Therefore, you have a varied range of choices for furniture and home décor.

Consider the following ideas as a guide:

A fresh coat of paint is a great way of giving old furniture pieces some Shabby Chic appeal. You can also update older upholstered furniture through the use of slip covers or large throws. For small tables, such as side tables, coffee tables, or consoles, look for pieces that feature carved wood as a focal point. When looking for Shabby Chic furniture, take measures to avoid bright bold colors or matching sets. Instead, try to mix and match the upholstery style with floral patterns, along with striped pillows and other accessories.

To accent your walls, you can include carved wood or metal shelves, which can be purchased in antique stores, gift shops, garage sales, and antique fairs. Again, a little paint on these items goes a long way because you will add a special touch to your décor. For instance, you can incorporate an ornate wrought iron corner shelf and display antique collectibles or crocheted dollies for a vintage look. Furthermore, you can look for old doors, windows, mantels, garden gates, house shutters, and wrought iron, which can be used as wall hangings or even used to replace existing doors to add charm.

For lighting, you can use a floral print or solid colored fabric lamp shade for the right splash of color and display it against surfaces that are distressed. Wrought iron, wood mirrors, or picture frames with white, natural, or distressed finishes blend well in a Shabby Chic room. If you want to add a unique touch to this décor, apply weathered paint to towel racks in the bathroom or kitchen. And let’s not forget to include candleholders or a candelabra. You can give these items a distressed finish in white or ivory for that shabby chic look.

Giorgina Devereaux is the creator of AskGiorgina.com, which features questions, answers, and ideas on home decor and furniture. For more information, please visit
http://www.AskGiorgina.com
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Decorating Your Home In Shabby Chic

by JCole

When you are searching for a definitive expression for your interior, you will learn that your decorating should take on several footfalls towards shabby chic. When concluded well, this intended practice of maturing and distressing on furnishings and furnitures renders the room that you are shaping on a stunning patina of years and custom. If you have ever yearned-for a home that was homey and well-appointed with heirlooms, you will detect that searching into shabby chic decorating can return you the outcome that you are waiting for without straining your wallet. If you have long been interested in shabby chic, but hardly don't understand where to start out, you will see that there are a few matters that you should hold in mind.

First, commence pocket-size. Before you take on your entire habitation, lead off with a room, whether it is a bedroom, a reception area, or just your kitchen! Consider about how you would like the room to look, and what type of effect that you require for it. For Example, are you after something that is to a greater extent Mediterranean in nature with a great deal of luminosity and a sleeked over tone, or are you looking for something that is a teensy duskier, a little richer and more comfy Holding a full scene in mind about where you need to take on the region is a well timed point to start.

Second, you will notice that you should find a few bits of well-worn chic furniture that you are absolutely infatuated with. Don't begin by piling up dinky shabby chic furnishings and setting them up about the room in question. You will find out that this can regrettably give your decorating a kind of careless or artless look that you want to avoid. Instead, pick up a a couple of bits of furniture that suit the aesthetic that you are anticipating to fulfil and establish them in the rooms in question. Search for humbler, more ornamental art objects as you travel, and make sure that they check the system that you have premeditated.

Don't forget to consider about a color system for the room. You will ascertain that shabby chic is a really multifaceted style in this respect. You can look for pearlescent and flagrant colors that have had scarcely a hint of fatigue used to them, or you can select something that is significantly more impenetrable or monochromatic. Both of these expressive styles are quite popular, and you will find that it is fitted out to your decision. Take a look and visualise what benefits the room the best, like what form of sun vulnerability it earns, and what your choices are going to constitute when it gets along to your color palate

When you are awaiting to embellish your place with shabby chic, you will discover there is a well timed chance that you have found out a ornamenting technique that is ideal for you. Imagine about what you want the end outcome to personify, and what bits you would care to base your innovations round. Inside this splendid decorating proficiency, you will incur a monumental measure of diverseness and lots of dissimilar alternatives that will befit your individual personal mode!

Juliettes Interiors are a top shabby chic furniture and french furniture supplier based in the UK.

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