Shabby chic is a charming and stylish look that lends itself to romance, love and the season. While decorating with shabby chic you can create any number of beautiful settings, depending on your personal preferences and the existing surroundings. You can create your own romantic getaway in your own back garden or spend a warm spring evening cuddling up in front of your cozy fireplace. No matter where you choose to spend your Valentine’s Day, you will surely appreciate the fun, quirky and unique style that shabby chic home decorating offers.
Begin your shabby chic decoration project by selecting a few key items or components which will represent who you are and your interests. If you are a history buff, you might want to add some old-fashioned chairs, a coffee pot and a silver tray to your collection. For those of you with a passion for collecting things that can be enjoyed instead of just stored, consider adding a vintage sugar bowl or a doll cup filled with vintage candies. Don’t forget to add an item or two that speaks to your love of history: a sprig of lavender, a lock of hair or a bird nest. You can find a great distressed designer print at many craft stores or online.
Your shabby chic living room design is really quite simple. It all begins with choosing the right colors: pale blue, cream, pale green, gold or beige, just to name a few. Choose a color palette which is as much about the tone as it is about the color itself. This way you can create a range of moods from cool to warm to bright.
In shabby chic kitchen decorating, the key to success is in choosing light paint colors, especially if the room is designed as a whole and involves several walls. Remember, your shabby chic kitchen design doesn’t have to be a straight forward recreation of Victorian or Georgian living; in fact, try to keep your scheme as open as possible, as it will make your home appear more spacious. Choose light pastel shades for walls and then, if you have dark wood cabinets, paint one wall in a neutral, almost beige color.
The type of furniture you choose will depend on the overall feel of your shabby chic interior design. While you do want to use well-made pieces, there are a number of great distressed wood designs available for purchase today. You could go for a chest or sideboard with mirrored doors, a mirrored rocking chair or even a reproduction of a French country farmhouse table. Look out for pieces with interesting, distressed finishes such as weathered patinas, rough surfaces or splintered woods. Corning has a wide range of contemporary distressed woods to choose from, which can be used to create stunning, rustic furniture.
A great way to break up the effect of shabby chic bathroom decorating is to add some fun accessories. Vintage tissue boxes, old paintings and old magazines are all easy to purchase and to play up with. If you really want to get into the distressed style, you could frame a vintage picture or take a picture of a favorite photograph and turn it into a canvas on which to hang a few distressed pictures or re-frame the image.
DIY shabby chic decorating can also lend itself to some simple but stylish accessories. One great idea is to purchase vintage buttons or beads and to place them all over the room in place of the old style ribbon tie and badge holders that were so popular in years gone by. You could also use a few different size buttons all in different colors to add some texture to your living room decor. If you are looking for something a bit more stylish, consider painting your walls in a pale pastel shade – this is especially ideal if you have a fireplace in your living room.
Shabby chic cabinets are a great way to give your home a worn and faded look that still has charm. This can be achieved by purchasing old vintage boxes or bottles and re-using them as storage units. The best shabby chic cabinets will incorporate an aged and worn appearance, making the entire space have an antique look. There are lots of options to choose from – you could go for painted cabinets or stained ones; you could choose plain wood or have them stained in various colors; you could decide to get a unique centerpiece or a set of shelves. Whichever you choose, you will find that adding some of these finishing touches will help you make your home feel more like a real home than an apartment.