Shabby chic as an interior design style has been around since the 1980s when it first popped up in ‘The World of Interiors’ magazine. Since then, Britain’s houses have been taken over by bunting, distressed furniture, pastel colours, and chalk paint.
Not only is it a cost-effective way of decorating your home, but it is a timeless design with no rules set in stone.
Here are some easy ways in which you too can incorporate shabby chic into your life.
1. Upcycle
This is by far one of the biggest advantages of incorporating shabby chic into your interior design ideas. Rather than having to go out and buy a whole new set of furniture to revamp your living room or dining area, upcycling allows you to make use of what you already have. Now, this isn’t only limited to giving your old pine dresser a lick of paint, as you can also give something a new purpose that might otherwise have been discarded. For example, why not turn an old wooden ladder into shelving? Or you could remove the top two drawers of a dresser and turn it into a TV cabinet. The possibilities are endless.
2. Use Whites and Pastels
The easiest way to make shabby chic work throughout is to use white as your base colour. You can then add soft pastels like duck egg blue or champagne pink through the use of cushions, throws, chair coverings, and upcycled furniture.
3. Scour the Second-Hand Shops
If you don’t have the time to be sanding down and re-painting furniture, or you just need a bit of extra storage, the great thing about shabby chic is that you are likely to find a vintage piece for a few pounds in a second-hand furniture shop. Ornate, baroque-style furniture will look great against the pastel colour palette and even just one statement piece will help to bring the design together.
4. Consider Showing off the Floorboards
While carpet in a living room can provide that warm, cosy feeling, a hardwood floor can look even more luxurious and works with any colour scheme. Not only that, but hardwood floors last a lot longer than carpet and are easier to clean and maintain. A lovely natural wooden floor can provide a great foundation for the shabby chic look you are trying to create.
5. Don’t Forget the Lighting
To add a bit more sophistication to your shabby chic design, it can also be a good idea to change out the light fixtures. Ornate light fittings and candelabra style wall sconces are a great addition, and they can be picked up online, or from any good DIY store.
With shabby chic, there are so many different elements that you can add or modify, it is easy to see why this trend is still going strong over 20 years later. Why not take a look around your living room or bedroom and see if there is anything crying out for a lick of paint?
Before you know it, your whole room will have taken on the eclectic look that is shabby chic.
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This was lovely to reaad