Are you a fan of distressed wood, crumpled fabrics and vintage furniture? A shabby chic interior needs the right lighting – here’s a buyer’s guide to shabby chic pendants, lamps and lampshades…
Shabby chic is all about presenting serious quality in an unassuming sort of way. The term was coined way back in the 1980s but it’s a trend that’s still going as strong as ever. And why wouldn’t it? As much as anything, putting together a shabby interior is a tremendous amount of fun. Upcycled or recycled antique furniture, eclectic fabrics, vintage fittings and accessories – finding and buying the stuff is as enjoyable as achieving the end result: a stylish room that’s uniquely yours. As for lighting – at Pooky we’re firm believers in decorative lighting. That is, we believe that your lamps and shades should be beautiful objects in themselves, just as attractive in daylight when switched off as they are when glowing at night. Here’s some inspiration for shabby chic pendants, table lamps, floor lamps and shades…
Shabby chic pendant lights
Pendant lights are a simple, effective way to make a strong impression in a space – hanging in a hallway, low over a dining table, or just anywhere that a floor lamp would be in the way. A low-cost option for a shabby chic look is a fabric shade. Our Drop Down pendant was a loose linen shade that dropped down and gave a relaxed, slightly crinkled vibe. It came in two colours: oatmeal and a lovely grey-blue that we call ‘clouds’:
Drop Down shade in clouds - unfortunately this pendant is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of pendant lights here.
Or for something seriously unusual, how about wood? Smart but that natural, soft, handmade feel? Our wooden pendant light was called Greendrive – and it came in a 30cm diameter size and a substantial 40cm statement version:
Larger Greendrive pendant - unfortunately this pendant is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of pendant lights here.
One customer said of it: ‘This glossy wooden inverted bowl is a thing of such beauty that my husband had to tear it away from me as I sat stroking it, in order to hang it from the ceiling. It looks glorious hanging over our wooden dining table and hangs low enough that I can still stroke it while basking in the warm glow.’
Regular-size Greendrive pendant - unfortunately this pendant is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of pendant lights here.
Other pendant light materials that work well for a shabby chic scheme are glass and ceramics. For something striking and with the antique-y feel, how about mercurised glass, like the Hazel:
Hazel in mercurised glass - unfortunately this pendant is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of pendant lights here.
Shabby chic table lamps
Eye-catching table lamps with a vintage feel are the thing to go for. The Mandalay (pictured at the top of this page) was a very smart, fluted glass urn sitting on a brass stand. As you can see from the pic, when set in a shabby scheme, matched with an Empire shade in gathered blue silk it looks sensational. For a French-influenced antique look, this is Antoinette, a statement table lamp which uses a sort of distressed mercurised glass. Unfortunately these table lamps are no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
Antoinette table lamp - Unfortunately this table lamp is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
Those are just a couple of suggestions – have a look at our buyer’s guide to glass table lamps here. Other good material options are ceramics…
Delilah ceramic table lamp - Unfortunately this table lamp is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
….or whitewashed wood:
Otto wooden table lamp in white - shop here
Shabby chic floor lamps
The Sorano – a towering 146cm hand-carved wood beauty in distressed white paint – is so strikingly shabby chic that you only need a plain black silk Empire shade to make a statement with it.- Unfortunately this floor lamp is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
Sorano floor lamp - Unfortunately this table lamp is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
But another good option is the worn metallic look of wrought iron. This is the Vicenzo:
Vicenzo floor lamp - Unfortunately this table lamp is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
Shabby chic lampshades
Plain shades can work really well in shabby schemes – as some of the pics above above show – but for a vintage look you can try a gathered cotton or silk shade, like this straight Empire in pink block printed cotton:
- Unfortunately this lampshade is no longer available, but please take a look at our extensive range of table lamps here.
Or if you like more country chic, then how about this grey ferns block printed cotton – a very affordable way of creating a very different look:
That’s all just the tip of the shabby iceberg really – the great thing about shabby chic is that you can interpret it in endless ways and find your own unique take on it. To find the right lighting for your room, have a play around with our site – you can mix and match shades and lamp bases until you hit the spot…
At Pooky we make beautiful lamps for beautiful interiors. Browse our blog for more inspiration...
