Shabby Chic by its name has an atmosphere of benign neglect but still has an elegance surrounding it. Vintage style decorating, on the other hand, has the potential of bringing you back to your grandparent's home. It is similar in a way to retro style decorating. The furniture may resemble that found in the Shabby Chic home. It may be well loved with peeling paint and many dents and scratches from much use. The differences are not found so much in the furniture used in the two styles. What separates the styles are the accents and accessories found in the vintage style home.
Vintage Style Home has Unique Fabrics
Fabrics are an important ingredient in creating this type of kitchen. If you love the large floral prints of the 40's you are well on your way to enjoying this style. Calico prints from the 30's and 40's can also be found in this kitchen.
Oilcloth tablecloths are commonly used.
Oilcloth is hard to obtain these days, but flannel backed table cloths in vintage prints are easily available. Oilcloth was also used to cover and protect cookbooks.
Another favorite in the kitchen is the old roller towel rack. These often had linen calendar prints or beautiful floral linen prints on them. If you can't find one of these roller racks, they are simple to make as is the roller cloth.
Another kitchen staple was the terrycloth towel with the crocheted buttoned handle that could be attached to a drawer knob or the oven door handle. Dishcloths and towels often had hand crocheted edges to keep them from fraying and help them last longer.
Other Vintage Style Kitchen Decorating Ideas:
Display a variety of aprons for the 40's and 50's on a vintage coat rack in your kitchen. You can find a wide assortment of these on ebay for a reasonable price.
A wooden folding rack for trying dish towels attached to the wall was a common site in vintage style kitchen. The slats would fold down into it when not in use and could be brought out for drying towels and dish cloths when needed. These are common items often found in yard sales and flea markets.
Enamelware, both blue speckled and white was popular during that era. Enamelware tools were also used. eBay is a great source for this type of kitchenware. For setting the table, enamelware place settings along with pottery and stoneware were popular at that time.
The Vintage Style Kitchen Accessories
Below is a list of items you might find in a kitchen decorated in the vintage style:
* gallon butter churns
* butter molds
* wire egg baskets
* rug beaters
* a display of old keys
* colored canning jars
* milk bottles
* antique cookbooks
* vintage pottery and canisters
* tin breadboxes
* vintage salt and pepper shakers
If your laundry area is adjacent to the kitchen, you could continue the vintage theme there. Washboards, stocking stretchers, and clothespin bags could be hung for wall decorations. Ironing boards were left out because they were used almost every day as there was no permanent press fabric during that time period. Blue striped ticking was the most common covering for the ironing boards. Colorful calicos or cotton floral prints were also a favorite fabric for covering ironing boards. If you have room to leave the board up, it can be used as a display area for vintage area table linens and dish cloths.
These are some ideas for decorating your kitchen in the vintage style. Hopefully, by now you get the idea of the differences between shabby chic and vintage style.
By now you may understand the differences between shabby chic and vintage style. As I mentioned earlier, these differences are subtle, but the change in atmosphere and feeling is important. While vintage style is a nostalgic "remember your grandmother's house" atmosphere, shabby chic will remind you of an elegant old aunt with a proper front parlor in her home.
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