Shabby Chic Thread?

Aril

This is such a lovely thread and I've only just read it through properly. Thanks for sharing all your photos:D
I adore the photos in magazines such as Country Living and love nothing better than to stagger home from the library with a big pile of home/craft books with all those gorgeous photos which make me drool. I don't have a great deal that I would term shabby chic [well maybe the shabby bit] as I'm not really one for chintz. However, I do love the American folk art style and my bedroom is done out like that...lots of quilts, a naive style wallpaper border and lots of handmade pine furniture and Shaker style bits. I find it very relaxing.
The rest of my home is more ecletic. I am very keen on strong traditional colours and gorgeous fabrics so have some lovely cushion covers and other bits and pieces. I am lucky in that my husband has made me a lovely mahogany corner cupboard which I have filled with all my pretty shells, pretty china etc and in the front room I have some fretwork shelves also made by him which I use to display my beaded bags [which have now also spilled over onto my ugly bannister to disguise it]
At the moment we are redoing the kitchen...I have chosen some Chinese jade green kitchen doors and some lovely handmade tiles in mediterranean colours. It's been done on a very slim budget but I hope we will pull it off. Anything has to be better than the kitchen we inherited from the previous owners that I have lived with for the last 11 years!
Anyway I shall definitely be back...there are so many useful tips and pointers.
Aril

triage999

Hello Aril

And welcome, what a lovely long post!

I too love Americana/Folk Art and a lot of my crafting has these elements too, I think the biggest Americana theme is my Christmas tree that I do with the wooden shaker style hearts, gingham bows and raggedy annie decs

I have just been told I can have a holiday next week from work so I am off to scour the local tip for items to do up! they have an on site shop that sells everone's unwanted items, you get some right bargains and lots of vintage stuff!

dolly_day_dream

Aril wrote: »

I am lucky in that my husband has made me a lovely mahogany corner cupboard which I have filled with all my pretty shells, pretty china etc and in the front room I have some fretwork shelves also made by him which I use to display my beaded bags [which have now also spilled over onto my ugly bannister to disguise it]
Aril

Having something in your home that has been made for you with love cannot be beaten. When an elderly relative died the one thing I that really wanted was the chest of drawers that her father had made. It didn't look in the least professional but it was a link to him and that was what mattered to me. Unfortunately I was the only person named in her will to receive a specific item - her sewing box. The rest of her goods were left for those who wanted to take them. The chest of drawers were taken by relative who thought that age = money. When she found out that it was worthless (in money terms) she threw it out:mad: I only found this out after the event. My house may be shabby - and is sometimes chic by accident.

chinatown_2

Hi
Hope you dont mind me joining you equally obsessed shabby chic'ers! We've just bought a new house and hopefully will be moving in the next month. Im so excited to do my kitchen/diner out in a sort of retro/shabby chic way and this thread is so inspiring. Im that hyper about my ideas I cant sleep at night and Im dreaming of kitchen things! argggh!!
Thank you Mary43 for pointing me this direction.

I fancy my kitchen to have pale green walls, pale pink enamel accessories (Typhoon style), a pink either small dots or gingham table cloth, but Im not sure what colour curtains/chair pads to have. I dont want everything to be 'too' matching iyswim. Any ideas?

Do you think a pine kitchen would match? Im loving the cream painted units but the kitchen in our new home is brand new and Im terrified of ruining it.

Id love a multi coloured pastel dinner service but cant quite find one I like. This would be ideal http://www.typhooneurope.com/TyphoonSite/category/Clearance/ but they only have one size of plates and Id need dinner plates and small plates, but this is the kind of thing Im after. Has anyone seen any around?

Last question, lol, has anyone ever painted a dining table and chairs? Our old pine set could do with a makeover but would it cover ok and would it stand a good wiping down after meals (2 messy children and a sloppy husband lol)?

sandieb

Have you thought of sanding down the pine table top, beeswaxing it and painting the rest in oil-eggshell?

Could you get a wooden dining chair off Freecycle to experiment with?

I noticed in Woolworths yesterday that cream enamel ware items, eg bread, coffee, tea, sugar, household containers, etc, were half price. They were like these
http://www.selectcollect.co.uk/shop/index.html?s=34B3B11C9300DC7D3D81DE893BE50BCA&p=9604a8825cb7e258f00dbe519e15f1f2&m=1202988525391&a=/categories&categoryid=11

chinatown_2

sandieb wrote: »

Have you thought of sanding down the pine table top, beeswaxing it and painting the rest in oil-eggshell?

Could you get a wooden dining chair off Freecycle to experiment with?

I noticed in Woolworths yesterday that cream enamel ware items, eg bread, coffee, tea, sugar, household containers, etc, were half price. They were like these
http://www.selectcollect.co.uk/shop/index.html?s=34B3B11C9300DC7D3D81DE893BE50BCA&p=9604a8825cb7e258f00dbe519e15f1f2&m=1202988525391&a=/categories&categoryid=11

Yeah I saw those in woolys. They have a fab range, even the housekeeper tins were really cheap compared to ebay and other places. Some lovely wicker laundry baskets gingham lined too! I'll definitely be having another look in there on payday.

So I beeswax it before I paint it? What i'll do is try it on the underside of a chair and see what happens, its an old set anyway so Im not too bothered about that.

Ellidee

Hi chinatown. I was just looking at Tesco Direct website and noticed that they had a white with pink spots dinner set half price. Might be worth a look. HTH
EDIT. It is the Creative Tops pink polka 16 piece porcelain dinner set £12.50. Sorry can't do linky things.

chinatown_2

Thanks Ellidee!:beer:

triage999

I am loving this half price dinner set from Tesco Direct!!

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-9274.aspx

They have the tea set too

http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.100-6624.aspx

maypole

Chinatown

You just use the beeswax finish after you sanded down the table top, you don't put that on a painted surface. I would imagine anyway.


Also if you like vintage china, you can sometimes pick up lovely sets in second hand and junk shops.