Hi guys!
I love and always LOVED shabby chic decorating.....Most of my furniture is shabby chic inspired....

I just purchased a distressed painted wood display cabinet for my bathroom and now want to r*** my whole bathroom in a traditional shabby chic style.

I could really use some inspiration and some ideas before i start the whole process....

I would love to see some of your shabby chic/vintage/french country decorating ideas....
thanks for sharing.....

I don't personally do it. I think it is pretty from a distance. Up close, I want to get out my paint stripper and scraper and fix it. LOL.

If you google shabby chic blogs, you should find tons of inspirations. Here are just a few:
http://theshabbychiccottage.tumblr.com/
http://allthingsshabbychic.blogspot.com/
http://shabbychichomeblog.com/

I like shabby chic in moderation. I like some of it, but I can't handle too much white, and I don't like pieces that look *too* distressed. I am really into the French country look, though! Give me toile and roosters and chandeliers and I'm all about it. I love the idea of shabby chic style, mixing worn and antique items with new and/or very fancy ones. I think it is a very "comfortable" and livable style for a home.

Here are a couple of my favorite shabby chic/decor blogs:

http://theoldpaintedcottage.com/pages/cotm.htm
http://fabulousfifi.typepad.com/chez_fifi/

i love shabby chic - and i worked at an antique mall for almost 7 years lol
I have never distressed anything myself, except for these photo blocks that i've recently started creating

i just like to buy stuff that's already done for me lol

Thanks guys for posting these blogs!!!
They are so fun to look at.
Although I love the look...I haven't gone the whole white shabby chic look...so I guess my style is a mix between shabby chic, french country and italian villa....
My bathroom has cream tile so I am going with creams and light greens I guess....
I just purchased an antique chippy medicine cabinet off of etsy and a vintage perfume tray.
I hope it turns out as great as it looks in my mind....

Originally Posted by k2sealer

I don't personally do it. I think it is pretty from a distance. Up close, I want to get out my paint stripper and scraper and fix it. LOL.

That's me too. I could never intentionally refinish a piece of furniture to make it look shabby. I did come across this pretty nice refinishing technique in Southern Living magazine: You paint two coats of flat white or cream latex paint on the furniture, then rub in two heavy coats of woodworker's wax. I did this on a wooden-framed couch I found and it turned out really lovely.

Bought a "Shabby Chic" cat basket at Target a few years ago and my cats were nuts about it. They were actually fighting over it. "It's MY shappy chic cat basket! Yeow!" I was forced to buy some of the matching room accessories. Never thought I'd be decorating a room around a cat basket.

Love looking at the photos in the blogs that some of you posted. But I see one of them has announced that "shabby chic is passe" and is changing her blog to "Classic House" or something like that.

Originally Posted by BigPurseSue

That's me too. I could never intentionally refinish a piece of furniture to make it look shabby.

We buy a lot of antiques and I know there is no way I could do this unless it was a piece that was already in poor condition.

Once I saw on a shabby chic blog where someone refinished a mint condition Heywood Wakefield dresser and painted it black. I think I actually lost consciousness for a few minutes over that one. It would have been worth quite a bit before the refinishing... she basically ruined it.

Originally Posted by pmburk

We buy a lot of antiques and I know there is no way I could do this unless it was a piece that was already in poor condition. Once I saw on a shabby chic blog where someone refinished a mint condition Heywood Wakefield dresser and painted it black. I think I actually lost consciousness for a few minutes over that one. It would have been worth quite a bit before the refinishing... she basically ruined it.

Some people should not be allowed in a paint store.

What I would really love to do someday is to decorate a few rooms of my house to look like pouffy, fluffy rooms in movies from the 1940s and 1950s. For instance I recently saw this movie starring Lucy and Desi from the 1950s that had the most amazing bedroom. With multi-tiered sheer curtains, an incredible skirted dressing table covered with huge perfume bottles, and a tufted headboard. Would love a bedroom like that! Although DH would not be amused.

By the way, you folks who are fellow antique-lovers... Are the antique stores in your community doing good business these days? All the antique malls and stores in and around my little midwest town have closed up. Even the malls no longer host weekend antique shows. Maybe antiques are no longer in vogue? Or maybe everyone is selling now on Craig's List? Used to love to spend a Saturday just browsing through shops, but haven't been able to do that in years.

I tried once but it didn't work out, lol

Originally Posted by tanya t

Hi guys! I love and always LOVED shabby chic decorating.....Most of my furniture is shabby chic inspired.... I just purchased a distressed painted wood display cabinet for my bathroom and now want to r*** my whole bathroom in a traditional shabby chic style. I could really use some inspiration and some ideas before i start the whole process.... I would love to see some of your shabby chic/vintage/french country decorating ideas.... thanks for sharing.....

Hi there I my partner loves shabby chic he does is own interior design work I love the colours he uses.

Originally Posted by ukgreetingcards

Hi there I my partner loves shabby chic he does is own interior design work I love the colours he uses.

do you have any pictures to share????

Originally Posted by Sternchen

I tried once but it didn't work out, lol

you are scaring me.....what happened?

Originally Posted by BigPurseSue

Some people should not be allowed in a paint store. What I would really love to do someday is to decorate a few rooms of my house to look like pouffy, fluffy rooms in movies from the 1940s and 1950s. For instance I recently saw this movie starring Lucy and Desi from the 1950s that had the most amazing bedroom. With multi-tiered sheer curtains, an incredible skirted dressing table covered with huge perfume bottles, and a tufted headboard. Would love a bedroom like that! Although DH would not be amused.

sounds beautiful!!!

Originally Posted by tanya t

you are scaring me.....what happened?

lol, I'm not very good at decorating and it just didn't look right. I tried it in college. Maybe the whole cinderblock-wall thing threw it off? I dunno