Shabby Chic Day!

Hi Efurrybuddy,

First of all Mom wants to tell yoo all THANK YOU for the get well wishes when she had flu; she is feeling much better now!

I bet there isn’t one cat or kitten owt there that hasn’t used their design skills to create Shabby Chic in their own home!  So get yoor mom or dad to grab the camera and showcase yoor skills TODAY! 

Shabby Chic is a form of interior design where furniture and furnishings are deliberately distressed to achieve the appearance of an antique.  At the same time, a soft, minimalistic, and feminine feel is emphasized to differentiate it from regular vintage decor; hence the “chic” in the name.

The style started in the UK and evokes the type of decoration found in large country houses where there are worn and faded old chintz sofas and curtains, old or chipped paintwork and unassuming ‘good’ taste. The end result of Shabby Chic is to achieve an elegant overall effect.

Make sure yoo tell me in the comments if yoo’ve posted Shabby Chic pics, and I’ll come and inspect them. There are no prizes but yoo do get the satisfaction of knowing yoor skills are greatly appresheated!

My HOT Tips:

Your furniture doesn’t need to be real antique, yoo can get the look quite easily. Cupboards and  tables that have been painted white or pastel colors, can be lightly scraitched to give a distressed look to the  furniture .  (Even non-painted furniture can be scraitched to give worn appearance!  It’s good for claw sharpening too ~ so it’s a dubble whammy!) 

Of course I can’t take all the credit for my skills ‘cos I’ve had a good teacher! Milo re-styled the paintwork on the wainscoting when he was just a pip-squeak tiny kitten ~ showing immense SKILL and FLAIR at a very tender age:

He taught me everyfin’ I know! Fanks Milo.

Sumtimes beans are reluctant to become stylish and they become OBSESSIVE abowt “touching up” yoor Shabby Chic designs ~ they made need help to overcome this pointless habit:

Milo said he got quite worried abowt Dad at one stage:

But he needn’t have worried, help was at hand ~ there are some good rehabilitation centres abowt.  Here’s dad after successful THERAPY ~ he’s now FULLY EMBRACED the Shabby Chic style (well OK, he still moans a lot bit but nowhere near as much as he used too!)

Milo trained himself from a very young age by scratching at basket-ware before moving onto wooden furniture:

He was very dedicated and started applying nose-marks to windows when he was teeny too ~ here he is resting up after a thorough application:

Following in the pawsteps of my brofur,  I started early too!  I’d only been in my forever home a few days when Milo commenced my education:

Here is a pic of Milo demonstrating  how to scraitch paintwerk.

Milo:  “Yoo just lift yoor paw and scraitch … OK?”

When I was little, Milo even helped me clean debris off my paws afta I’d been re-styling the paintwerk.  It hurt a bit … but he said there was no gain wiv owt pain!  He’s a good brofur.

I still enjoy the Shabby Chic style and recently Shabby Chic’d the back of our leather settee:

It’s impawtant to take a rest between applications:

Don’t forget to accessorize using snagged cushions and throws to decorate yoor Shabby Chic home:

And give wallpaper and picture frames the Shabby Chic once over if yoo have time:

Milo and I still love to do window treatments; there’s nuffin more stylishly Shabby Chic than snotty nose smudges or paw marks on a window! 

And flat-screen TVs are just calling owt for stylish paw marks! (hold back on scraitiching flat screen TVs though, beans can be a bit hyper-sensitive abowt this design feature ~ it’s a bit like MARMITE, they either LOVE it or HATE it!) (Sum fings are beyond the help of THERAPY!)

And chewed plants and nibbled flowers are another accessory that can add elegance to your decor!

Bomit stains are an easy cheap way to Shabby Chic fitted carpets …

 

But do try to discourage yoor beans from pointlessly wasting HOURS and HOURS of their time, endeavouring to remove bomit stains. It frustrates them and they say norty werds (WARNING: they made need EXTRA therapy to cure them of their addiction of trying to remove stains):

Don’t forget, yoo can add a little extra sumfin to rugs by fraying and fringing the edges ~ be sure to take a well earned rest during the process though, as it is tiring werk on a BIG rug:

 

As you can see, the possibilities are neber ending when it comes to decorating yoor home in the Shabby Chic style ! And wot’s more, this is a design for budget conscious beans who want a perfectly lovely and charming home for their cats. They will need to factor in the expense of any THERAPY they need though ~ ‘cos Shabby Chic can take sum getting used too!

Love Alfie (age 2) xx

Interior Designer and EXPERT at Shabby Chic. Also proud Master Gardener