It’s a spacious apartment in an upmarket locality in the city. The living room radiates a quaint charm. Sofas are dressed up in pastel slip covers with vintage lace trims. A Baroque-style lampshade with a corrugated texture is the piece de resistance in one corner, while a desk with a faded chequerboard pattern whispers elegance in the other. An old trunk with layers of coarse paint has been repurposed as a coffee table. The walls are a dreamy white and the weathered floorboards are discreetly exposed. Welcome to the world of Shabby chic.
Shabby chic is a style of decor that embraces the warm patina of age. It redefines the way we do up our interiors with carefully coordinated oddities. It’s raw, yet refined. Modest, yet luxurious. And, it shows respect for the past, by finding relevance in the present.
As a décor design movement, Shabby chic permeated homes in Britain in the 1980s and in the United States in the 1990s. This French countryside and cottage-style aesthetic soon attracted interior designers and decorators the world over.
Though the style keeps surfacing periodically, the recent months have seen a resurgence in India. This Deepavali, many refurbished homes showcased on Instagram sported the look. Though the style has evolved to incorporate a sprinkling of contemporary design elements, it still is predominantly Shabby chic.
Says Bangalore-based interior designer Vinita Chaitanya, “This is a trend for the well-travelled client. It may not appeal to the older generation, but the young seem to love it. Since its beauty is in the distressed and weathered, there is not much upkeep involved. Also, there is a lazy feel about it, which is charming. I like the Parisian vibe. It’s happy with an artsy twist. Again, I’d say it is for the client who is sure of living with the look and adding to it.”
Shabby chic is about inventiveness. It’s about putting together unexpected pieces of furniture and décor elements in a range of styles and periods and ensuring they sing harmonious notes in interiors. According to architect Raya Shankhwalker, who has his design studio in Goa, “The speciality of Shabby chic interiors is that they blend furniture, furnishing, accents and finishes to create an eclectic balance with an edge of sophistication. But, it is not easy to pull off the sensibility. It has to maintain the right balance between shabby and chic. It is important to note that ‘shabby’ does not mean rundown; instead, it tells the story of an era and the region to which it belonged. It is definitely challenging to curate the look, as compared to designing a sleek, modern and minimalist interior.”
Explaining the new Shabby chic look, Shankhwalker says, “It presents a fresh twist by providing the same comfortable elegance, but with a little less desolation and a lot more sophistication.”
True, like every style, Shabby chic too has evolved to incorporate new features of design. So, while there are a few distressed pieces that aren’t too stark, the lines are cleaner, and there is less clutter.
To luxury brand consultant, columnist and ‘interior architect’ Nisha Jamvwal, “Shabby chic is about breaking the rules in the retro movement. Its essence lies in a fine balance of aesthetic, achieved by blending worn leather and unfinished fabrics with the natural patina of distressed wood and aged metals corroded by the sea or tarnished by air.
The background has to be in sync with the look, with artistic walls and diffused lighting. Tattered drapes with hanging threads can be converted into objets d’art with imagination. I have also used wooden railway sleepers as flooring to get the look. Old doors with washed-out blue paint and rusty hinges complement such interiors.”
Is Shabby chic being confused with Industrial chic? “People do use elements like industrial shutters, old pipes, fans and stairwells too in homes. But, at the core of both the aesthetics is the need to ‘do with’ the old, instead of ‘doing away’ with it!” says Nisha.
Raseel Gujral Ansal of the famous home accessories brand Casa Pop, who has also dressed up homes of swish clients, feels, “The two sensibilities are fairly close. Nevertheless, Shabby chic is more romantic, while Industrial chic is clinical.”
According to Raseel, “Shabby chic, which is making some noise in recent times, is about achieving a casual, lived-in, relaxed look with mismatched elements that complement one another. Any design project is an invitation to think and do things differently — and Shabby chic offers interesting possibilities in décor.”
But, with unlimited creative options, how do you construct a look that’s casual, yet soulful? “Mix prints and patterns with textures and distressed wood.
Fabrics such as velvet, cotton and linen blend into the décor. Books and memorabilia add interest and stories to the space. And, the colour palette to work with is pale wood, white, nude tones and pastels,” says Vinita.
By creating a well-edited look with old, gently-used furniture and timeless flea market finds that have the edge of functionality, this brand of beauty is not only sustainable, it is also warm, inviting and timeless.
So, the next time you are about to throw away your paint-worn metal chairs, Mason jugs, rococo chandelier or bleached turquoise dresser, think about repurposing and repositioning them in unpredictable places in unexpected ways.
