Shabby Chic Decorating Ideas for the Living Room

Thanks to Rachel Ashwell, shabby chic decor has become wildly popular in recent years. It evokes a sense of light, airy whimsy with a subtle, imperfect, slightly feminine touch. Decorating your living room in a shabby chic style will make it inviting and intimate to all who enter. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Choose Your Style
Shabby chic decor has many styles to choose from. For furniture, search for pieces with a vintage look and a comfortable feel to anchor the room. An overstuffed couch or chair that invites you to sink down into its cozy softness would be a perfect touch. Light wood or painted pieces with a distressed finish will add to your final creation.

For lighting, consider a small but elaborate chandelier hung from your ceiling. A dimmer switch will let you control the mood lighting.

Choose Your Materials
The selection of materials to create a shabby chic living room are almost endless. Consider cool linen slip covers balanced with warm velvet pieces in matching tones for your furniture. Look for vintage pieces with a classic look. A damask weave would also be a good choice for a shabby chic living room.

Gauzy curtains in the summer for an elaborate window treatment or an ornamental brocade for the colder months will tie in with the rest of your room.

A muted neutral area rug decorated with flowers will warm up any type of floor.

Choose Your Colors
Keeping in tune with shabby chic decor, consider colors that are slightly feminine. Pastels are popular with shabby chic, but don't feel obligated to stay within the confines of pastels.

Choose a color palette and go with varying shades within that palette. If you want to play it safe, try different shades of a neutral color, like beige, and accent with your more vivid colors to make your room come alive.

Choose Your Accents
Accent pieces are perhaps my favorite part of decorating with the shabby chic look. It's the subtle touches that tie the whole room together. Some ideas for accent pieces are iron pieces, such as a candelabra, painted a distressed off white, gauzy materials used in subtle places and organza ribbons. Candles and beautiful flowers placed in a unique container will add just the right touch to shabby chic decor. Vintage hat boxes also make for great decorative touches with the added benefit of hidden storage.

Look for mirrors with a vintage looking frame to place on the walls. If you decide to use metals, such as gold or silver, look for muted pieces that don't give off a glare or look garish.

Don't be afraid to mix and match pieces. You're not so much looking for balance as you are looking for a natural flow to the room.

Consider using European objects here and there in your shabby chic living room. European items tend to have just the right color shades and motifs to tie into your shabby chic room.

Where To Shop
For getting started or just getting ideas, check out Rachel Ashwell's collection for shabby chic decor at shabbychic.com. If you would like more unique pieces, consider scouring flea markets and yard sales for items to refinish and put your personal touch to it. There is no real right or wrong to buying for shabby chic. Think outside the box and you will open your mind to endless possibilities.

These are just a few ideas to get you started on decorating your shabby chic living room. Above all, make it unique and make it your own and you're sure to happy with your end result.

Source:
http://www.shabbychic.com/prairie_collection.html