21st-Century Looks for Shabby Chic Fans

Gary Presto Love your lines and colors here--especially the rustic, elegant and comforting bedroom arrangement.

pattilopez I love the shabby chic feel but not necessarily the all white look. I have more of the masculine/bohemian look that Rachel used toward the end of her show. I loved her show, I own her DVD's and decorating books and yes I remember the "special" when she decorated the restaurant. I remember her stress when realizing that all of her beautiful dishes needed to be washed by hand :) I wish her show would come back along with Country Style. Those were the days.

Dana Veach You called my number on this one, Becky! Photos 2, 8, 9, 10, 11...I designed a chair and chaise once covered in that gunmetal/white chintz in photo 10 that I loved passionately until I had to pass them on to someone else when I moved into a space too small to accommodate them...sigh! But it's all the white linen and natural wood that really punch my ticket.

Ureno Interiors I do love the easy feeling in all the photos. I agree that you can still have a shabby look today but with a more updated look by pairing down and adding warm woods and texture to the room.

diyjames Most of these don't look so shabby chic as they do relaxing and comfortable! Love the look!

noakorem Your shabby chic ideas are great! We recollected two of the rooms from here in a budget-friendly way:
http://deccolla.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/not-too-shabby/

vee22 Love the shabby chic look but hate that Belgium furniture..too stiff.

mojack2180 I love the shabby chic style and have decided to use it to do a baby shower with a Parisian bohemian twist we've named it boho village chic. I'm so excited I often look to shabby chic pics for inspiration. The showers in April and I'm busy crafting away making what I can and hitting up home goods for great finds.

trixiejane I would love to see photos of Outsider art in settings like these. My decorating style is definitely along the lines of shabby chic, but my heart is often drawn to the interesting stories of Outsider artists. The colors tend to be on opposite sides of the spectrum, though...

CC Yes, I was a Shabby Chic fan as well. I have moved more towards french style and add modern touches as well.

noshings I was a little young to appreciate the shabby chic, but I am def drawn to it, but more in a modern Scandinavian+Bohemian way. But, I love me a farmhouse kitchen and a cottagey sunroom!

wantsideas Shabby Chic has evolved as these pictures illustrate. I did like some aspects of it.

hillonthehouse I always liked the Shabby Chic look, but never made it my own. For one, I couldn't live with white upholstery with my family and pets - it just would have been constant maintenance and I would have gotten obsessive about it, I'm afraid. And I didn't want to paint all my antiques, either. I do love the play of warm rustic wood against white walls and natural found elements like stones and lichen covered twigs and birds' nests and dried hydrangeas. I've always loved English cottagey prints, but in small doses (and have one of her print duvet covers in our bedroom mixed with a white matelasse coverlet). Rachel Ashwell certainly deserves credit for inventing and elaborating a design trend with wide ranging influence and staying power. I have always liked her casual, un-stuffy approach, especially at a time when rich gem-stone colors, fussy details and trims and heavily swagged curtains ruled, and have always admired the way Rachel could combine the old and the new in a fresh way. She has continued to evolve her style, but I'm a bit tired of the frou-frou interpretations of shabby chic along with all the peeling paint finishes you see on so many DIY blogs (which is different from an old piece with real patina) and the all-white look. As for black and white (sometimes mixed with the popular gray these days) - I think it's fine for kitchens and baths and Hollywood sets, but I would quickly feel bereft without some color in my home.

Michael My only problem with the Shabby Chic look is that you really have to watch it because it has a tendency to come off like a little girls bedroom. I'm much more partial to the look that Sibella Court preaches. I find it more interesting.

kelson I'am still for the whole shabby chic thing. Love it

bkdale 1/2 way through with building a screened in porch that connects my house to the garage. I like "Martha O'Hara's picture that's posted and will save it for reference. I like Shabby Chic but, I do incorporate some of the other styles listed. I have a clap-board cottage painted in pinky/beige with white trim. It has a brown roof & shutters. The front porch has a brown wicker swing and rocker . It has the Shabby Chic feel. People remark on how it looks like a old picture postcard. Shabby Chic seems real, comfortable, intimate and does not feel intimidating.

kayellin Nice! Love the dining room!!

julietviney Like many others, I love the "new" shabby chic style. I dream of the day (which may never arrive) when I can have white sofas. With a messy husband, three sons, grandson, two dogs and a cat - it just ain't hap'nin! When my youngest moves out, I'll have one (his) room that I intend to make my "white room" :o))

BOHEMIA 100% correct on the slipcover minus the ruffles! Also get rid of the skirt droopy on the floor
Modern slipcovers actually fit your furniture and give the pieces a grown up feel. I create a custom muslin pattern - that pattern stays with the client and can be reused over the life time of your furniture.
Katie Salvador - BOHEMIA , San Rafael, CA.

Michael OMG Katie Salvador, I live in Larkspur and I am going to be needing someone to slipcover my sofa and you sound perfect as it is from Europe and the existing slipcover is very fitted so it looks more like it's upholstered. I'm going to try to find your contact information.

BOHEMIA Hi Michael,
If this message comes to your attention, I have ashop in San Rafael,
Bohemia 1545 4th street -San Rafael
bohemiainteriors@sbcglobal.net

Kristina Gulino There are elements of shabby chic that I love, but I've found it can be too much if you go overboard. These suggestions definitely make the style more appealing - what a great way to have that soft, rustic feeling with something a little more colorful and structured!

BOHEMIA Slipcovers add style and color in a relaxed inviting sort of way, You can add color with out a huge commitment like traditional upholstery.
Katie @ BOHEMIA, San Rafael, CA.

drsusan in the Look into modern rustic photo..how high is the ceiling and what are the dimensions of the beams? how far into the room do they come down?

richdyan I always loved chabby chic, but this is what was needed; revamping of a much-loved genre...the act that became characatured and overwrought, such as the peeling paint, is lovingly polished as more emphasis seems to be placed on textures, thoughtful colour, and individuality. I particularly like the second image where the beauty of original wooden boards and beams is maintained and complemented by contemporary stripes and a spare light-filled space, rather than the sense of a cluttered attic that I used to shy away from.

beckystein Lived for Rachel Ashwell!! I watched each episode mutliple times so that I did not miss a single detail and so I coudl soak it all in. I own every book and my house served an homage to the decorating style as well. Now I have shifted a bit in my overall look, but I have kept some of the larger pieces in my design - keeping a love of the shabby and a good mix... for example now on my large chippy white wood farm style coffee table (purchase from the Shabby Chic Soho store) I have a collection of Crystal Oblelisks and a silver tray mixed with a stack of fashion books! I have pushed my "junk style and shabby books" to a out of the way shlef at this point.

sogborn THANK YOU! I finally have a name for what I've been doing. Makes me feel much better than "just because I liked it."

maddecorator This article illustrates a trend I've been noticing recently, that shabby is still there, but is being incorporated with and replaced by contemporary style. Very few florals are shown in these photos, and collections are pared way down. Lighting is much more modern, and the rooms more sterile. I've always liked shabby chic, but had trouble using it in my home, because my spouse doesn't like it at all. I like the slightly worn wood pieces, but not the ones that look like they have never been cleaned. Also never quite got the wrinkled, ill-fitting slipcovers, but I still see them everywhere in decorating mags and blogs. If I had an enclosed porch, I would definitely have more shabby elements there, especially some wicker furniture and rustic casegoods.

corinan I really liked the insect cushion (a beetle?). Is it part of a set with other related designs?

erasistible Love the rustic elegant look.

cussot Thanks, Becky - this article is so well conceived and arranged. The photographs clearly illustrate your points. Beautiful, too!

Yvonne Fitts I love the clean look....Too many different colors make me nervous.....So I love white and just a hint of colors at unexpected places!!!

JmsPdx I was a fan in my late 20s and early 30s (in the early '90s), but grew to feel that it's really only at home in a certain type and scale of house. Otherwise, it can seem a a bit contrived. Once I no longer had that style of home, I moved on. I did have one semi-shabby room in my last house, though, so I guess I didn't completely let go until a few months ago.

Living Vintage I admit that I am a shabby chic nut.

catscats How about stripping down the whole room and start from scratch!!