Tag Archives: Shabby chic

DIY Shabby Chic Coral Bookends

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My grandparents on Tom’s side just recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. The traditional and modern 35th wedding anniversary gifts are coral and jade, which aren’t exactly the easiest gifts to find… Liz and Tom found a nice jade-colored picture frame from Home Goods, but weren’t as successful with a coral gift. They liked the coral accent pieces found below from Black Band Home & Design, but weren’t sure about the colors.

Liz remembered seeing a tutorial from Beth at Home Stories A to Z, on how to make faux coral (inspired by Pottery Barn). Beth’s results looked great, so Tom and Liz decided to use this tutorial to make some cute shabby chic coral bookends!

The bookends were surprisingly easy to make. The main supplies they used were two “innkeeper signboards” (which they found at their local craft store) and two faux coral fish tank decorations (found at Petco).

They started by spray painting the coral pieces white.

They then cut each of the signboards in half and attached the sides as shown below using wood glue and a few nails. A 45 degree cut would have looked A LOT better, but Tom’s mitre saw was too small to make the cut — so they improvised!

They used the same shabby chic painting technique as the one they used to refinish their set of shabby chic benches. They painted the corners of the bookend pieces (and any other places where the shabby look would pop through) using brown paint.

After the brown paint dried, they used petroleum jelly in those areas to make the sanding easier…

And then used a soft blue-green color to paint each of the pieces (Valspar Signature Sea Salt Blue, to be exact).

They used steel wool to sand down the corners…

And then attached the coral piece using a hot glue gun and sprayed on a clear top coat to keep the finish.

The two look great together — I just love them (and so did my grandparents)!

Hope you had a good weekend!

-Charlie

P.S. I’m linking to some craft blog parties, so be sure to check out my friends listed on my links page for other great DIY projects and transformations!

Shabby Chic Cabinets – Part 2

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A couple of days ago I posted some great ideas for shabby chic dining room cabinets. Today’s post provides a few additional cabinet ideas for other parts of the house…

Starting with the entryway! The cabinet below from Involving Color would look so sweet in any foyer. I love that the little drawers are numbered one through nine.

This yellow cabinet from Better Homes and Gardens would be a nice fit for a smaller entryway. The flowers on top are perfect, and I love that the cabinet’s on wheels!

A shabby chic wall cabinet like the one from Home and Decor would serve as a beautiful entryway accent piece.

And the hanging cabinet below from Country Living would help to keep any sewing room organized.

Shabby chic cabinets, such as the one below (available from Painted Cottages), would be amazing bookshelves. Best of all, Painted Cottages ships their handmade cabinets nationwide!

Several of these cabinets could be used in any space. I could picture the rustic cabinet below from Tilly’s Cottage working in an entryway, living room, bedroom — really anywhere!

And even though technically not a cabinet, the shabby chic table below from Seventh House on the Left looks great in the entry way with whitewashed striped plank floors.

While the similar table, matching cabinet and mirror below from Mix and Chic works great in the bathroom too!

The shabby chic cabinet below from Houzz might be my favorite bathroom option though. I love how it’s functional and charming at the same time!

Anyways, hope you’ve had a good night!
-Charlie

Shabby Chic Cabinets – Part 1

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One thing that you’ll soon learn about Liz is that she’s somewhat obsessed with shabby chic furniture. She just recently tried her hand at refinishing furniture, with her DIY shabby chic benches. Ever since then, she’s had me scouring the internet for shabby chic furniture ideas. I’m beginning to worry that she’ll paint our whole house shabby chic, but the style is so sweet and romantic, I think I’d be okay with it!

I’ve found some great shabby chic pieces. I’ve mostly just been looking at cabinets to start, but I have no doubt this search will expand… There are so many inspiring cabinets, I’m splitting this across a couple of posts, starting with dining room cabinets :)

First, I just LOVE the corner cabinet from Vita Ranunkler. As if it weren’t beautiful enough with the old doors — on top of that, the mint shade is perfect!

Same with this china cabinet found on Decor de Provence — I adore that the back of the cabinet is painted mint. I actually can’t tell if I’ve included this cabinet here because I like the cabinet itself, the mint pop of color, or the sweet items being stored in the cabinet. Regardless, such a beautiful piece.

And more splashes of mint in this cabinet from Simply Objekts…

There are sooo many options for shabby chic cabinets in the dining room. For a bolder look, I like this bluish-green cabinet from Home and Decor.

This light blue cabinet from Dreamy Whites is also amazing. The white panels on the bottom of the cabinet and the chicken wire panels on the top of the cabinet are so charming.

You can’t go wrong with all-white shabby chic cabinets though! Below is a lovely shabby chic buffet from Liz Marie Blog. The before and after is amazing — and I just love the white plates positioned above the buffet!

Last, a beautiful white cabinet from Cozy. Cottage. Cute.

Hope you enjoy these shabby chic cabinets — I’ll be back in a couple of days with non-dining room cabinet ideas. Stay tuned tomorrow for Top Ten Tuesday though :)

-Charlie