SHABBY CHIC is such a versatile decorative style.
Casual and welcoming, there’s room for a little Shabby Chic-ness in every home. Bring this warm traditional look into your life with the minimum of effort for a cosy effect that you’re sure to love.
Upholstered furniture.
For a truly inviting look, overstuffed and oversized upholstery is a great place to start. Comfortable and wrinkled, sofas are long and squashy and chairs are almost large enough to seat two. Purpose made “love seats” look fabulous in a Shabby Chic room and delicate prints cover soft throw pillows.
Old drab furniture can be revitalised with soft slipcovers in pale cream shades or faded prints or use a throw to achieve the look you desire. Whether custom made or bought from a fabric specialist, the effect is instant, for a super look without the expense of new furniture. And because it’s a cover, how about a seasonal change with cool whites during the summer months and a warm stripe or floral theme for cooler times of the year?
Rumpled.
And wrinkled. That’s the look.
Give the iron a holiday and aim for that lived-in, well loved style that’s neat but not too much so. Upholstered furniture looks all the better if it’s a bit saggy. Not by accident have many specialist upholstery manufacturers been making their furniture this way for years!
Whimsy and intrigue.
Anything old, interesting and beautiful will have a place in the Shabby Chic style. Choosing old architectural details or garden statuary with a story to tell will impart instant interest and aesthetic charm. Pillars, an old mantle, glass knobs and chandeliers, or anything iron and a bit rusty will all add texture and intrigue to the room. The list of possibilities is endless, but if it looks right and at home, then it probably is right. Intuition is the interior designers very best friend when it comes to the perfect Shabby Chic look.
Bedroom themes.
Use Shabby Chic liberally in the bedroom for a beautifully cosy feel.
This is where the look really comes into it’s own. Pretty throwovers, pale patterned curtains, soft squashy cushions and pillows will all give the bedroom that quintessentially English cottage Shabby Chic style. And why not complete the look with an inviting iron bedstead to really captivate the senses?
Something traditionally timeless with delicate cast metal detailing should fit the bill. The Original Bedstead Company Arigna in glossy ivory or satin black, might just be our choice, but any traditional beds style is sure to lend a captivating tone to any Shabby Chic bedroom theme.
Revitalising “old”.
With Shabby Chic, even the oldest broken down or rickety furniture pieces can be given new life. If it’s broken, fix it, clean it up and give it a new identity and charming look with a coat of distressed white paint.
Something a bit rusty? Perfect. Clean it up, but not too much, and give it a new home. Furniture or accessories with chipped paint? Even better.
And mirrors with scratched glass or imperfect silvering as a result of age, are Shabby Chic personified. And of course, half the fun is to be had, trawling through the antique markets and junk shops to find these treasures.
Shabby Chic on a shoestring!
The finishing touch.
No Shabby Chic room is complete without the wonderful glow and fragrance of scented candles. And bunches of fresh flowers, scattered liberally in ornate glass jars or pretty painted vases will look and smell wonderful. Likewise, anything with a floral theme has a part to play in a Shabby Chic home. Books on wild flowers, antique floral prints in faded guilded frames, and soft floral fabrics add accent and colour and calm.
Charming and comfortable, Shabby Chic is the perfect way to add a lived-in, fondly loved quality to any home whilst having great fun along the way, throwing it all together!
Tags: Beds, Bedstead, Bedsteads, Iron Bedstead
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