ok so I LOVE to decorate, when I had my son i had so much fun planning his room (I espcially love how the walls turned out. they are sky blue with clouds all over them, and now that he is a toddler we are going to buy some glow in the dark paint and stamp some stars in the clouds so he can have a night sky too) I am also a major girly girl. We found out a couple weeks ago that we are now going to have a girl, and I have to admit planning a girls room is even better then when I planned for our son. I decided I wanted to do a shabby chic theme. I have found some great things at Target and some on Amazon, and I tore out the old carpet (70's shag oranage) and am putting down laminte planks. the color of the walls are a greenish blue (we painted them before we were sure what we were having.) We are on a tight budget were can I find (or things I can make) some more shabby chic things that are reasonably priced. (I do plan on looking at old time pottery and the christmas tree shops)
I frequent 2nd hand stores and thrift shops. Everythings shabby. It's up to you to use it in a chic way or put a new finish on it. The money goes to charity and you get great prices.
Flea markets are really super for shabby chic finds. Craigslist can also be good, especially if you can "make" it shabby chic yourself through paint, sanding, etc. How fun! Our daughter's room was shabby chic when she was born and I loved it. I bought the Rachel Ashwell furniture through Target and some accessories, too. They no longer carry the furniture line, but you may be able to find it through CL.
Added: this is my friend's blog and her shabby chic home. They just adopted a baby boy, but you may check out her blog for ideas. Their house has been featured in several design mags.
http://www.sadieolive.com/theblog/our-house/
Basically, anything you can find for cheap and spray paint it white or any other soft color, and then distress it. I'm actually teaching a class on this in a few days too!
You can go to good will, garage sales... Find old brass candlesticks or wall sconeses, wood shelves, lamps, old picture frames... clean them up, sand them just a little bit, spray paint on a primer, then spray paint a coat of paint. Distress it a bit with more sandpaper then spray paint on a sealer if you want. So easy and cheap.
The chandelier and birdcage are also classic shabby chic style. As are dressing forms, flowers, old silverware...
Also, old floral quilts, or oil paintings of flowers can usually be found at thrift stores or ebay for cheap and make perfect additions to a shabby chic room.
I have a post on shabby chic style ideas on my blog:
http://littlelovables.blogspot.com/2011/07/inspired-inter...
I'm also a long time fan of sadie olive!
And yes, I'm a long time fan of sadie olive's style.
I would try to find a second hand chandelier and paint it white (or even a cool shaped birdcage). I would also look for a dresser to use as a changing table, paint it white and distress it. Make your own curtains and that will save some money too!
Try Craigslist and some paint. Then you will get exactly what you want!
Ok, not a fan of the style, but it appears books are a big part of it and you can go to garage sales to find older books and you should be able to look up ideas on www.ehow.com or www.youtube.com
I personally like to find pieces at goodwill, value village, or on craigslist and repurpose them myself! A little ivory paint and smoother sandpaper creates a nice antiqued look.
How about thrift stores, garage sales, and/or rummage sales? (you'd be surprised at what you can find!) Or Freecycle? Good luck-with the room and your baby girl!
