How to decorate your home in Shabby Chic style

Shabby chic is a romantic, feminine decorating style: relaxing and comfortable, informal and with a timeless look. If you want a style for your home that stirs the emotions and conveys a refined sweetness, Shabby Chic is just what you're looking for!

Decorating a home in Shabby Chic style means giving it character, colour and elegance while keeping the warmth of a space where every piece seems to tell its own story. In this article we'll tell you about this style and suggest a few tricks for giving your home that "elegantly worn" touch.

On Pixtury you'll find modern wall art for sale online to decorate the walls of your home and quickly achieve the Shabby Chic effect.

1. The origins and hallmarks of the style

Shabby Chic style takes its inspiration from great English country houses, where furniture, fabrics and family heirlooms worn by time were kept rather than replaced, creating a lived-in, slightly faded elegance. The term "shabby chic" first appeared in the 1980s in the British magazine The World of Interiors, to describe exactly this taste for things that are old and well worn. It was made famous around the world by the English designer Rachel Ashwell, who in 1989 opened her "Shabby Chic" shop in Santa Monica, California, selling reclaimed and repainted furniture and softly coloured fabrics. Since then its popularity has only grown, to the point that some now consider it the most sought-after style of all time.

Shabby Chic interior design was born from a fusion of elements from French styles (such as Provençal-style interiors), the typical atmosphere of "British" Victorian style and a dash of Art Deco. The result is a distinctive blend of romance and elegance with rustic, homespun tones.

Shabby Chic interiors began as a budget-friendly style, designed for those who wanted to give their home a touch of elegance and refinement without being able to spend huge sums. From the very beginning, furniture was hunted down at old flea markets, in attics and cellars, or in abandoned country houses. Any old piece of furniture, ideally a battered one, left natural or repainted before use, is a perfect candidate for a Shabby Chic interior.

Even the design of the interior itself is no longer perfect and meticulously planned, but takes on that "worn" feel. In homes decorated in this style, it's not unusual to find furniture repurposed in very creative ways, such as an old door used as a headboard, an old bathroom cabinet serving as a bedside table, or garden chairs, perhaps mismatched, used as dining chairs.

2. Decorating with Shabby Chic

To create a Shabby Chic atmosphere you need to use old, worn objects and furniture, ideally with a few imperfections or even drawn from different styles, and with many layers of peeling paint. With new furniture, this effect can be achieved using the technique of "distressing", which involves removing the top layers of paint through special processes.

The main materials are wood and wrought iron, left natural or painted in neutral and pastel colours. Sofas are especially important – as large as possible and piled with throws and cushions, mismatched ones even better. Fabrics and cushions should be cotton or linen, with lace, embroidery and trimmings, decorated with flowers and roses for a natural, country touch.

The bathroom is one of the rooms best suited to this kind of décor: an old bathtub, brass taps, distressed wooden furniture, scented candles and dried flowers can create the perfect Shabby Chic bathroom!

Accessories can be of all kinds: vintage candelabras, period teapots and ceramics, wrought-iron birdcages, tinware, scented candles and dried flowers. The key is always to evoke an old-world, romantic atmosphere.

3. Shabby Chic wall decoration

When decorating the walls, take the style's signature colours as your reference. Wall paint generally leans towards neutral colours, with pure white, off-white, ivory, cream and ecru reigning supreme. Other colours to use are, of course, pastels with an aged effect, such as mint green, light blue, pink and beige.

For the finishing touch, it's important to decorate the walls with posters or pictures that create the perfect atmosphere for a Shabby Chic interior. The subjects to look for are those typical of the style: prints and pictures with floral motifs, roses in particular, nature posters or pictures of country landscapes.

Do you feel ready to decorate your home? Don't worry – if you need any advice, you can get in touch and we'll get back to you shortly!

And remember that in our gallery you can find wall art online of all the images we've shown you.

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