This loft living area is decorated in shabby chic style.
Loft apartments are often located in vintage commercial buildings that have been renovated and repurposed as living areas. Lofts often retain the industrial characteristics of the original building, making them perfect settings for shabby chic decor. Weathered brick walls and distressed floors make a suitable canvas for the timeworn look that is the hallmark of shabby chic style. Large windows invite understated shabby chic window treatments while worn but comfortable furniture brings coziness to a loft's wide open spaces. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Lay wood plank floors if the space doesn't already have them. Distress them if necessary until they look like they have experienced decades of use. Warm themup with faded and worn but still serviceable Oriental area rugs or whitewash the floors and leave them bare. Toss large, overstuffed floor pillows here and there to serve as casual seating. Cover the pillows with faded fabric with a small floral pattern.
2. Create conversation areas. Arrange large, overstuffed couches opposite each other. Cover them with white slipcovers or throw faded, worn quilts or chenille bedspreads over them. Place a large vintage table that has been cut down to coffee-table height between them. Choose a table painted white or pastel pink, green or blue. If the paint has worn off in spots to reveal the bare wood, leave it that way. Or opt for a vintage glass or marble-topped coffee table with timeworn but still graceful wrought-iron legs. Put small weathered dressers to work as side tables. Use pieces that have not been refinished. Dress them up with vintage linen handkerchiefs repurposed as doilies. Choose table lamps with chipped wrought-iron bases topped with white fabric shades.
3. Shop for a large armoire to act as both a room divider and media center. Find one with carved accents and peeling paint. Add mismatched vintage hinges and knobs. Push your bed against the back of the piece, hang a quilt or tapestry on it for a shabby chic headboard. Craft a privacy screen from weathered shutters or old doors hinged together.
4. Furnish the kitchen with large, freestanding hutches and cupboards, the more weathered the better. The cabinets don't have to all be the same color, but stick to a pastel or white palette. Hang open shelving to display everyday items like chipped stoneware and mismatched china. Place an unadorned, painted table in the middle of the kitchen and surround it with mismatched wooden chairs. Opt for a large dresser to serve as an island as well as providing storage.
5. Dress the windows with full-length cotton sheers. Also consider full-length, rumpled heavy linen, silk or satin curtains hung from wooden or wrought iron rods.
Tags: shabby chic, chic style, Choose table, faded worn, have been, large overstuffed
