Learn from designers and find ways to make shabby chic shine in your home.
A favorite for decades,shabby chicrose to popularity in the late 1980s.
We spoke with interior designers who shared more about the style’s history and its key characteristics.
The Spruce / Jason Donnelly
They also provided many useful tips for decorating your own shabby chic home.
It surged in popularity after designer Rachel Ashwell opened a store with the same name.
“Welcome back Rachel Ashwell, we have missed you and your shabby chic aesthetic,” Leskowitz says.
Mackenzie Merrill PhotographyforAmy Leferink
What goes around comes around, but presently it is streamlined and more refined for a new generation.
The look, once a tired trend, now seems tried and true, with a few tweaks."
Leskowitz attributes the return to shabby chic style to the increased time spent at home during the pandemic.
Toni Deis CreativeforMimi & Hill
“The deep understanding that our home is more than an address became especially prevalent.”
Mackenzie Merrill PhotographyforAmy Leferink
DesignerAmy Leferink’sexplanation of the style supports this point.
Adds Leskowitz, “The shabby chic look is defined by its vintage or relaxed appearance.
Kaley Elaine PhotoforMarian Louise Designs
It has a romantic and authentically grounded feeling.”
DesignerMiriam Silver Vergaagrees that the shabby chic has shifted over time.
“Keeping the connection to the outdoors is key whether through color scheme, materials or art.”
What Colors are Considered Shabby Chic?
There’s a palette of colors that are still considered shabby chic, from creamy whites to pale pastels.
Leferink offers a shopping tip.
“Typically it can skew feminine, but it doesn’t have to,” Meacham notes.
The two styles share some characteristics but differ in others.
They both share the notion of living in cozy, lived-in comfort.
Powder blue, cream, and aged gold is an updated example of a shabby chic palette.
Shabby chic andboho styleare relaxed aesthetics that mix old and new.
However, boho style is more bold, unconventional, and colorful.
