DIY Homefit tips on how to shabby chic your home!

You may associate our title with an old Dire Straits song but it’s also now a popular BBC TV show! The idea is that an entrepreneur Sarah Moore scours refuse tips to save items from being dumped and then oversees their transformation into new items, making money for their owners in the process.

The whole programme illustrates that so many thing can be done with what people regard as just old trash. At DIY Homefit we are passionate about upcycling! If you are about to undertake kitchen cupboard replacement or change any other furniture in your home then there is a lot you can do with the displaced items!

In the clip from the programme here you can see how one of the designers upcycles an old chest of drawers into a “stunning piece of bespoke furniture”. As you can see from the images below the transformation adds chic to shabby!

The particular example above is very sophisticated and was created by hand printing a design onto the surfaces of the chest – both inside and out.  Though the effect is stunning it was costly to do, and the programme goes on to explore whether or not that investment can be recouped.

However, if you want a more general and easily achievable “shabby chic” look you can do something much cheaper that will still look wonderful!

Shabby chic is a popular trend in which furniture is in some way distressed to give it the appearance of an antique.  The furniture may either be new and artificially distressed or in fact be old and much repainted throughout its life, with different layers showing through time-worn areas.   An old chest of drawers or other item of furniture is an ideal basis on which to create a shabby chic look.   

We love the transformation of this bureau below which you can read more about here.   The original item was picked up from a charity shop then primed, painted and sandpapered to create the distressed effect.   The simple yet effective techniques could easily be applied to any item of old furniture and it would soon become a signature item in your home!

Enjoy bringing a touch of shabby chic into your home!  Whether you start with existing items of furniture or upcycle surplus items – for example from a kitchen cupboard replacement – the effects can be both practical and stunning, and need cost very little.   An ideal project for your home this autumn!