Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Shabby and Chic Decor, Lifestyle, What Does It Mean

Hi! Welcome to PassnItOn! Glad you could stop by, and visit with us today.

Today I will discuss a style that is familiar to some of us, loved, and admired Shabby Chic. First of all, I would like to clarify and make you aware that using some of these words can have legal issues with it too. I have seen some people receive letters, notices, have complained of being notified, and have also had their sale listings removed because of using these words. To clarify just a little bit of this I went to the official site for Rachel Ashwell http://www.shabbychic.com to see if I could read a little bit of their terms, and what it said. On the bottom of her site I could click on the terms which in reading I had found that "shabby chic" "simply chic" and "Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture" are not to be used. I know, to us they are common words, we see them used all the time, and the question is why can we not use them? Rachel Ashwell has them trademarked and/or registerd trademarks of SCB. She does not just have them copy righted, but she went through further legalities to have them trademarked too.

When I see the term shabby chic being used I envision like a story book princess dream, and I think of being feminine too. I also picture white, chippy, and worn looking. Hmmm, some pink too. The term does come from the 80s. Shabby Chic is a form of interior design where furniture, and the furnishings are either chosen for their age, for the signs of wear and tear, or new items that are distressed to get the appearance of antique. Yet, it has a soft, and feminine feel that makes it different from regular vintage decor. 
The items are often heavily painted through the years with many layers showing through for that time-worn era. The style is intimidated with painting using a glaze, by painting and rubbing, or sanding away the top coat to show the wood, or some of the base coating. 

The fabrics tend to be cottens, and linens. The linen is the popular one, and is inspired by old French linens. Whites, worn, or even bleached out pastels are favorite colors. The fabric can often be stained with tea to give a look of old fabric. This method is also the same used with some papers to add with the decor of pictures, and different arrangements done through out the home. Using the bleached, and faded terms will often be applied to the style.
Todays Shabby Chic style is vintage, and antique furniture. 

Popular decor items used are pillows made of a vintage bark cloth fabric, using vintage linens, chenille bedspreads, vintage chandeliers or lighting, picture frames, wired baskets, and of course anything with roses on it. A soft, and a relaxed feminine romantic way to decorate with and that looks comfortable, and inviting. This method is sometimes also called, or referred to as Cottage Style. 

I also found that Shabby Chic is a general term which can be used to refer to a person who is stylish rather than fashionable.

Shabby Chic isn't simply elegant, or a decorating style . . . . It's an Attitude!

Some of this content noted is from the official Rachel Ashwell Site at the beginning of this with regards to the terms, and use of the words. The rest of this mostly came from http://www.en-wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabby_Chic

I want to thank everyone for visiting with PassnItOn today. You are always Welcome to comment here, leave a message, and share with everyone a thought or discussion for topics that have been done here. 

Thanks again everyone, and look forward to your next visit with PassnItOn! Don't forget to visit with my other blog at LilacsNDreams Blog, and also at LilacsNDreams Website that has been revised recently. And, check out some goodies with my LilacsNDreams Artfire Store also.

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