Shabby Chic Furniture is very designer right now, and we should all apparently be stocking up on worn bits of furniture and patterned fabric scraps in order to prettify our homes. But is it possible to do shabby chic on a small budget? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’, and even the smallest changes to your existing furniture can make a huge difference to how your home can look.
One of the biggest changes can occur in the accessories you choose. Brand new cushion covers can be expensive if you have a lot of pads to cover so try to re-use what you already own. You can make a very simple slip cover out of a favourite old piece of clothing which is a great way to re-use a pattern or colour that you can’t bear to throw out. The shabby nature of the design means you can use multiple fabrics for a single project and smaller scraps of fabric can work well when pieced together. If you’re not a dab hand on the sewing machine then turn your attentions to small decorative pieces of furniture and add your own aging effects with a bit of sandpaper (or even a hammer if you’re feeling brave!)
When you feel ready to take on larger projects you may need to supersize your tools and get a mallet out! Nothing distresses a wooden table like a few choice blows of a hammer so the next time you need to get rid of a bit of frustration or anger, do it in the name of shabby chic furniture! Any dregs left in the bottom of that old paint tin will come in handy too as you only need tiny amounts of colour to shabby-up chairs and the like. You can water it down to make it go further, mix colours together to create your own colourful cocktail or paint contrasting shades against one another for a truly unique effect.