The shabby chic style can be used to enhance any type of interior or décor and make rooms look that bit more vintage. Whether your customers just pop in for a drink or dedicate a while in your café to satisfying their cravings, the shabby chic design will make sure they always return.
What is Shabby Chic furniture?
The style of ‘shabby chic’ describes a form of interior design in which furniture and furnishings are favoured for their aged, traditional style of showing signs of wear and tear, or when a new item has purposely been distressed to achieve a sought after antique effect.
Where did shabby chic as a style come from?
The term ‘Shabby Chic’ was first coined in the early eighties by a British designer in American magazine ‘The World of Interiors.’ This was just at the time that a new wave of decorating styles had emerged in Britain using paints and pain effects. Designer Rachel Ashwell used the same term to describe her style when she arrived in America in the eighties and it became so popular she used it as her business name and trademarked it in 1989.
How do you ‘shabby chic’ furniture?
The ‘Shabby Chic’ design is usually created by items being heavily painted through the years, with many layers showing through obviously time-worn areas. The style is then imitated by using glaze or by painting and then rubbing and sanding away the top coat to show the wood or base coats. This technique is known as ‘distressing’ the finish of the furniture to give it that antique look. Colours of cream or grey are often used to create this effect and result in the more traditional style most people favour.
How to ‘shabby chic’ chairs
Like most DIY projects, the key to a successful outcome is in the planning. Make sure to decide in advance how you want your finished piece to look, as winging it never ends well. Once you have decided how you want the end design to look, follow these next steps and take the plunge.
1. Prepare the wood – you will need to remove the finish on the wood so your new paint will be able to stick to the surface easier. White spirit and a wire pad will do the trick if your furniture is polished with wax and sandpaper will be more efficient if your piece of furniture is varnished.
2. Apply a primer – to give your furniture a smoother finish and make it easier for you to work on, apply a coat of water-based acrylic primer. It doesn’t have to be neat.
3. Apply the paint – Choose two different colours of acrylic water-based paint. Add the first colour onto your piece of furniture and let it dry completely. To create a clever two-colour distressed finish, you simply dab streaks of clear furniture wax using a paintbrush, cloth or sponge, where you want the wood to look distressed. The wax will then repel the next layer of colour after it is painted over the whole thing resulting in the base layer showing through. When the piece of furniture is completely dry, wipe it with a cloth to take the paint of the waxed areas giving you the favoured antique effect.
4. If you wish for a more distressed look, then sandpaper can be used on the painted piece of furniture to scrape off the paint as deep as the wood level. If you go wrong, just paint over it and give it another go.
5. Alternatively, choose sections of a piece of furniture to focus on, such as the legs. An example of this is our Shabby Chic Farmhouse Table, which combines a walnut wood finish with white paint.
Where to buy ‘shabby chic’ furniture
Due to the upcoming rise of shabby chic furniture, it can be bought in many stores from high street chains to small individual businesses sharing their unique styles. Whether you want to save yourself the hassle and buy pre-distressed shabby chic furniture or save money and upcycle your own pieces of favourite furniture, you will never be short of options and ideas!
For all of your furniture inspiration needs, visit the Trent Furniture website, where we have a huge range of tables, chairs, stools and sofas.