I'm in Love...(Home: Part II)

...with autumn and shabby chic.

If any decor pattern describes my taste the best it would have to be Shabby Chic made famous by Rachel Ashwell.  I got my first exposure and taste of this style back in February when the girls and I were invited to a birthday party at the home of my friend's niece in Church Point, LA.

My friend wanted me to see the house. 

Going into the home was a chance to see inside one of those "sleek, fanciful home-living magazines". I saw a style come to life. It was priceless.

Shabby Chic is now a high dollar style because of its successful marketing appeal but it doesn't have to be nor, I believe, should it be. It certainly didn't start off that way.  And with banks failing and the housing market in a hurricane all its own, we best all learn to look at Shabby Chic outside of those "sleek, fanciful home-living magazines".

Shabby Chic is exactly what it says. It's a decorating style that has made the old new again. And I love it.

The niece very much has an eye and flair for decorating and I was embraced by a home that welcomed not only the chic-wannabe mom in me, but the shabby-this-is-the-reality mom as well.

I saw furniture that had been picked up at garage sales and flea markets and simply placed in an area of the home that seemed made for that piece. There were no weighty, high-priced items, no expensive pieces that could be damaged by little hands and childish play.

The room waved a welcome, it spoke a comforting presence, it warmed the heart, and it invited us in. I joyfully released the little hand held tightly in my own and I shared in a childish tract through the house.

Not surprisingly---at least not in the inner recesses of Louisiana---while admiring some charcoal drawings by a distant Sonnier cousin and Cajun artist Floyd Sonnier that ran the length of the hallway, I discovered that we were related to my friend's niece's husband. His grandmother was a Sonnier and cousin of Floyd Sonnier.  Small world, huh?

As can only be quilted in Louisiana, the niece's home and company immediately became an extension of family and we made ourselves quite at home.

And that's what I loved the most. The feel of the house and the family that had made it home.

Rachel Ashwell has this to say about her creative style: "I don't look for perfection in my home. What I'm after is a feeling."

Neither do I look for perfection in my home. I gave that up a couple of children and a couple of dogs ago. Not that I wouldn't want my home to be cleaner and more tailored and more "chic" but, even as a young child, I adored homes that looked lived in and offered a comfortable "shabby" quality.

I want the chic, but I love the shabby.

The look of Shabby Chic is that of walking into an antique showroom that has been picked over and left with white slipcovers thrown over the furniture.  You get whatever is left but, as you look around, you find a showcase strewn with rose petals. Literally strewn. Shabby Chic is a delicate balance between classy chic and shabby slobs.  It fits me perfectly.

Mirrors are left leaning against walls, somehow lost in time.

Drapes languish in the heat of the noon day sun and spill their exertion onto the floor.

Chipped tables and chairs are absent-mindedly left visiting in corners of the room, obvious to the time that has past.

Pictures! So many pictures adorn not only the walls but sidetables and mantles as well. They are black and white reminders of time passing by.

Piles of linen, especially vintage linen, dress the atmosphere with their presence.

Vintage wallpaper makes the walls talk.

Baskets, lovely baskets make even the clutter look good.

Like this Shabby Chic's blogger, I believe that "Due to our new economic crisis, I imagine there will be more competition at yard sales and a rise in shabby chic decorating with vintage and used pieces." 

We will, once again, have to work with what we have, and that's another reason I'm grateful for Shabby Chic.  It helps me to look anew at the house I call home.

My husband and I inherited an older home. We're not even sure when it was built. It's a low rambling 3,000-sq-ft ranch style on two acres.  Before I became the owner of this house I thought it had the craziest floorplan I'd ever seen! The front is deceptive because it houses only the kitchen and living areas (and now also the sitting room).  The part you don't see is down the loooong back hallway which twists and turns and secrets the rest of the house.

I still have not gotten the knack of how to address my living room in Shabby Chic. It's a big, lengthy room. I think my mother-in-law might have been trying to soften it when she painted the walls white and hung these roses.

That's the chic part. The rest of the room is just plain shabby.

One day a good friend of mine entered my kitchen for her first day and exclaimed, "What a nice big country kitchen!" Her first impression of my kitchen is what stuck with me. I like to think of my kitchen as very Tasha Tudor-y and a large rambling country-style kitchen suits me just fine. My oldest daughter says it's a "grandma's kitchen" and that'll be okay when I'm a grandma. For now I'm content to love a kitchen that gives visitors a Walton-family feel and one that blesses my family abundantly.

For years I wanted a bigger, better, newer house like the ones my friends were building and buying and ones, for a time, my husband was helping to create when he operated a sideline siding business with a partner. They were working on houses that cost millions of dollars and he would drive me around on weekends to tour these homes. Just call me greedy!

That was yesteryear...

Last night I was listening to the President address the nation. Tonight I listened to the next President of the United States debate the economy with another Senator vying to be trustee of our national debt. Every lunch hour I see on my home webpage another bank has folded. Every morning I have coffee conversations in my country kitchen with my mother and my father about prudent and conservative living and spending. Every evening I listen as my husband educates me on the state of our economy.

Every day I thank God for this old rambling ranch house that gives us plenty of room, secure shelter and warmth, and lots of love and memories.  And I ask God to bless the husband who had the foresight to hold tight to what God was offering us so that my children will always have a home to come home to.

Now it is autumn and I give myself a treat denied throughout rest of the year. Those "sleek, fanciful home-living magazines" are my candy, not only eye candy but soul candy and heart candy as well. They help me to dream that life at home can be sweet and whimsical.

My home has a long way to go to get Chic. The Shabby is a no-brainer. But, perhaps, one day I'll have worked my imagination enough to see how its done and make it work in my home. I'm hopeful...

I'm excited that Shabby Chic doesn't have to be expensive and the fun is in the hunt, not in the purchase. 

In the mist of doom and gloom presented to us by our government, why not turn off the television, treat yourself to one of those "sleek, fanciful home-living magazines" or, better yet, go to your local library and check out books by the queen of Shabby Chic Rachel Ashwell, or, when all else fails, just do an Internet search, and check out some area garage sales or Goodwill shops.

Someone else's junk might be your treasure.

In the new issue of Romantic Country, Rachel Ashwell offers some tips towards Shabby Chic living (buy the magazine for more concise instructions as I only jotted notes):

• clear out the clutter
• list your needed items
• soft colored walls and florals (I have a debate with the "white" theory but that's just because I have a goodly number of children living here)
• washable slipcovers on furniture
• less is more
• overall simple look ~ no frills
• linens everywhere
• vintage and new texture mixes
• fresh flowers
• fragrance ~ candles set the mood

And this article gives you ideas for How to Get the Shabby Chic Look for Less:

• Shop at Target
• Scour flea markets
• Head to your nearest Salvation Army or second hand store.
• Check out garage sales
• Use a little imagination  :)

Want to know more about using vintage linens to decorate your home? Click this: How to Buy Vintage Linen to Decorate Your Home

Keeping your eyes open for Shabby Chic furnishings?

• "They've seen better days"
• "An air of sweet disorder/gentell decay"
• "The thrill of finding buried treasure"
• "The unbearable lightness of being"
• "We add ourselves to what we find"

Go here to read the details behind these quotes. So worth reading if you want to find out more about Shabby Chic.

Comments

[Mrs darling]

I have no idea what my decorating style is. I have pics of my house labeled on the sidebar but even looking down through those I dont have a clear idea how my home would be viewed and classed. I just surround myself with things I like and love and call it good. I too thank God for nothing to worry about on the home front in this economy. Our home is paid for in full and has been for years. God is good.

[Michele Quigley]

Cay I love the shabby chic look too! My friend Amy had her house decorated like this years ago before it was popular and I am slooowwly moving in that direction --a little here and a little there. I love that it's so eclectic and can be adapted to one's own taste.

[Kristen Laurence]

This is a beautiful post. I too love the well lived-in, warm, welcoming home, and enjoy finding used pieces with chipped paint and wear in them. My difficulty is, because we don't have much our home looks a little bare and not so warm, which I'm working on....slowly.

[Deb]

I've just discovered a cute consigment shop called the Shabby Button which is helping me do the Shabby Chic thing--without telling my hubby, because he hates the word "shabby." Lol.