What is Shabby Chic?

Shabby chic is a style, not a fashion, and it reflects a timeless and vintage quality that draws on so many sources and inspirations. The shabby chic home is light and airy, warm and welcoming, and full of quality items that you want to touch, to hold and to enjoy. The beauty of shabby chic is that there are no rules: you can’t just go out and buy your way to shabby chic. It is a collection of much loved, and often much used, items that have so much more than just a function – they have style and design as well.

The style originates from England, combining the flower prints of Victoriana, polka dot spotty tea sets and bright colourful melamine and Bakelite objects from the 1950s. But it also is influenced by French country style, the clean lines Swedish interior design and simple form and functionality of the American Shaker style. Colours are pastel shades, or bright and bold reds, often set on a white, cream or calico background, in stripes, patterns and dots.

Shabby Chic combines the new with the old – you are as likely to find a shabby chic item in your grannies front room as you are in the an expensive store, but the style is anything but dowdy: it is fresh, aspirational and timeless. It is bunting fluttering gently in the breeze as you sip a cool drink from a patterned beaker or enjoy a cup of tea from a spotty cup and saucer, watching the clouds scudding by high in the blue sky. It is baking in the kitchen, surrounded by an eclectic mix plates and mugs and nik -naks. But above all it is a fun collection of beautiful things, some old, some new but all bright and colourful, and all loved.