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A New Vintage Style Using Shabby Chic Chairs!

Shabby Chic Chairs are a new look that reminds us of the past.

Shabby Chic Chairs (R) can be a the centerpiece of your vintage living room design. These chairs are oversized, comfortable, wrinkled and often slipcovered.

"Shabby Chic" (R) is a term made widely popular on the heels of Rachel Ashwell's 1996 book of the same name. In fact, the term "Shabby Chic" (R)is trademarked by Rachel Ashwell.

Rachel Ashwell (R) Shabby Chic (R) photo

Photo from Rachel Ashwell(R) Shabby Chic(R) - shabbychic.com

To create a chair of your own, in the Shabby Chic (R) style, find an old chair in your attic, clean it up, then put a slipcover on it or buy a brand new chair in a custom designed fabric by Rachel Ashwell (R) herself.

Shabby Chic Chairs (R) are inviting, retro, and light. Light as in lighter colored. One of the trademarks of this design style is painting pieces white and/or distressing them.

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Distressing Furniture

If you're going to pick up some Shabby Chic(R) chairs, you may as well distress some other furniture in your living room and create the full shabby chic look.

Put very simply, distressing is a technique used to simulate an antique, or beat-up, look. Distressing does work better on new and unpainted pieces that will be painted later, but will work a variety of other items. Jen's sister has had great success distressing tables and armoires, that weren't new, in her home.

A basic distressing technique is take a hammer, actually a mallet, to your furniture and beat up the top curfaces and corners. You could go on from there to heat up a nail, til it's red hot, then grab it with pliers and plunge it into the furniture to create little holes. Be careful to keep these holes close together to make them look more realistic.

Finally, grab the sandpaper and go to town. Uncover the layers of paint in different spots. If your piece isn't painted, apply the base coat, top coat, let it dry then sand it.

Shabby Suggestions...

Shabby Chic (R) and Cottage design go hand in hand. We've been looking around the vast information superhighway and here are a couple ideas for bringing Shabby Chic Chairs (R) into your living room.

JJ Hyde 4 Piece Cottage Living Room Set from CSN Sofas.
CSN Sofas features a variety of cottage style furniture. Featured here is the JJ Hyde 4 Piece Cottage Living Room Set. This item has a casual feel and could easily be slipcovered or purchased in a more neutral color to blend in with your room perfectly.




Rose Hill Bexley Cottage Club Chair from CSN Sofas.Also shown is the Rose Hill - Bexley Cottage Club Chair. The material is easy to clean and this chair, as well, blends into a shabby look without a problem. This item is also available in multiple colors to fit your living room color scheme.

Shabby Chic Chairs (R) aren't the thing that make a room, so we've put together a store, just for you, to check out some great shabby furniture and accents.


Visit our Stylish Living Room Ideas Store

Other Shabby Chic(R) Resources...

Let's talk about a couple of other Shabby Chic(R) resources like Shabby Chic (R) Basics a great beginning article on this popular design style. Also, there's 10 Elements of The Shabby Look with easy to understand tips about this design style, which is also called cottage design, from About.com