Out with the new, in with the old.
A few signs of wear and tear on a piece of furniture would lead others to throw it out and buy a new one. But, while shiny new things are great and fun to have, there is just something so endearing and precious about furniture that has a few imperfections.
Offices, for one, are designed to blend well with modernity as they can boost an employee's performance and productivity. But for the others who solely depend on their skill and talents, the need to fit a modern office's prescribed look is out of the window. Moreover, as everyone is working in the comforts of their own homes, it became easier to inject one's personality into a home office through creativity and design. That is why home workstations can even have a cozy shabby chic aesthetic that is very easy to achieve.
But first, what is a shabby chic aesthetic?
Shabby chic is a type of interior design wherein a home space is decorated with furniture and finishing that evokes a vintage feel due to distressing to achieve the look. While it may feel like one can only get a shabby chic interior with authentic time-period pieces, a spark of creativity and a few handy tools make the shabby chic home office of your dreams easier to achieve.
1. Hues for You
Soft whites and beige are the neutral colors most associated with the shabby chic aesthetic. These neutrals help the chic pastels such as lavender, light blue, mint green, and baby pink on the furniture pop. Speaking of pop, if you are a lover of vivid colors, turquoise is the hue for you.
2. Accessorize to Mesmerize
Achieving a shabby chic home office is easier than you think. You can either buy authentic vintage or truly antique furniture like dainty fine china to hold your pens. Grand chandeliers can help brighten and beautify your workstation, or wooden tables with a few signs of wear and tear can look right at home with some new items that would still look cohesive with the aesthetic.
Head on to your local flea markets and antique shows as you are more likely to find unique pieces there that would surely make your workstation shabby chic yet fancy,
As long as the furniture you choose follows a "cozy, comfortable, vintage, and pretty" formula by Rachel Ashwell, you are on the right track to a homeoffice that is different from the pack.
3. Distress to De-stress
While other people would be quick on their feet to repaint a piece of furniture that has faded colors or some chipped paint, a true blue shabby chic enthusiast does the opposite. Instead, they distress their tables and furniture for a truly lived-in look.
Distressing a piece of furniture may seem complicated, but a few tips and tricks to follow would surely get you hooked on the art of distressed furnishings.
To start, one needs a:
● furniture of their own choice
● sandpaper
● satin latex paint
● wood stain
● paintbrushes and tools
● candle
● steel wool
● tack cloth
● polyurethane for finishing
The first step of distressing is sanding down the furniture of your choice. Most of the time, your furniture would likely have paint or varnish on it. If that is the case, you should sand every nook and cranny well to achieve a perfectly distressed look.
With the satin latex paint, coat the entire furniture with the base coat color that will match your aesthetics and let it dry for a few hours or even a day. Drying your painted furniture well would ensure an even finish for either of the looks that you are going to achieve on the next step ahead.
Once the base coating is dry, you can choose between the bare-wood style or the color look. If you are on team bare-wood, get your trusty sandpaper again and this time, sand off the parts that are most naturally worn out over time. For those having a hard time where to sand, head on to the world wide web to have an idea where to sand off for an authentic distressed look. This step would prevent you from over-sanding the color which can rather make an unsightly appearance. With your tack cloth, thoroughly wipe off the entirety of your chosen furniture, and you are done!
Meanwhile, for those who want the colored look, the candle’s wax should be rubbed on the furniture’s parts where you want the hue to peek through. Make sure that every area is covered and then you can paint over the base and wax well after which you would wait for it to dry. Once it dries, use the steel wool to rub over the waxed areas and clean off the piece with a tack cloth. You may add a coat of varnish if you desire to add a layer of texture and personality to your furniture,
4. Never a fabricated lie with the right fabrics
The fabric you choose can nicely tie together a shabby chic office interior. Linen, laces, crocheted doilies, and prints like tiny flowers on a soft and cozy fabric are the cherry on top for the look that you are after.
While it may seem like too much, layered fabrics are a really pretty addition to a home office that also gives it a touch of vintage elegance sought after by the shabby chic believers.
The shabby chic aesthetic is attainable through the right pieces of furniture and colors. However, make sure that you follow a cohesive design to avoid the cluttered look that would not look good with distressed furniture. Just remember that the formula for a shabby chic interior is "cozy, comfortable, vintage, and pretty" to help you achieve the right look that you would love. After all, an aesthetically pleasing, neat, and comfortable home office would be heaven on earth to do all of your duties and tasks. It would even be easier if you have FlexiSpot’s ergonomic solutions like the Scalloped accent chair 1049 to tie in the shabby chic office.
