| Shabby chic is a term that is often used, but what | | | | clean, almost sterile, white lines of Swedish interior |
| does it really mean? It's lack of precise definition | | | | design and the simple form and functionality of |
| neatly reflects the style itself - there are no 'rules' to | | | | American Shaker style. The style is is light and airy, |
| shabby chic as there are with some fashions and | | | | bright and warming and brings to mind long, hot |
| styles, it is an eclectic collection of designs, eras, | | | | summer afternoons taking shade under an apple tree. |
| patterns and themes. | | | | Whilst shabby chic items, and furniture in particular, |
| It is a style, not a fashion, reflecting its permanence | | | | may show signs of wear and dents and scratches, |
| and emphasis on quality and tradition, rather than a | | | | this merely serves to re-enforce both their |
| fashion which may be more fleeting. The term was | | | | permanence and beauty, emphasizing that this is |
| first coined in the 1980s, but the style certainly | | | | something worth saving and showing off. |
| existed before that. Its roots are in an 'English | | | | Shabby chic utilizes natural materials: fabrics are linen |
| Country Style' where pretty floral prints are teamed | | | | and cotton, no man made materials here please! |
| with old furniture that has already served a useful | | | | Plastic is definitely not shabby chic, but melamine and |
| life, but still has much to offer, and a collection of | | | | Bakelite are, reflecting the influence of the 1950s, |
| crockery - none of which perhaps matches, but all of | | | | with its bold, hopeful polka dots, on shabby chic. The |
| which have a sentimental attachment to its owner, | | | | unique and individual nature of hand crafted items - it |
| often having been passed down through the | | | | is the antithesis of the mass produced item - fit well |
| generations, or picked up for a few pence in a flea | | | | within the style. |
| market or jumble sale. Victorian features heavily, but | | | | Shabby chic is fun. It is vintage quality in items, in |
| the style is anything but; it is confident and | | | | fabrics and clothing that celebrate bright, but |
| aspirational, celebrating the best of a by-gone era, | | | | understated, pattern. It is a collection of items that |
| but looking forward to a bright future. | | | | have stood the test of time, that have already |
| It also draws upon French Country Style, with its | | | | served a useful purpose, but which you still want to |
| rustic romanticism and promise of a rural idyll, of the | | | | own and still want to show off. |