Do you love romantic atmospheres and want to recreate them in your home's outdoor spaces? You can furnish a shabby chic porch with a touch of class and elegance using much of your existing furniture, with a little DIY.
If you're lucky enough to have a small porch, all it takes is a small investment in a few custom accessories and you can completely transform your outdoor space.
Let's get started and see how to make your dream shabby chic porch welcoming in just a few simple steps!
The perfect colors for your shabby chic porch: white, and more!
As you may already know, the shabby chic style palette is very muted, with a strong prevalence of white. To furnish a porch in this style, we recommend starting with this simple rule.
Choose a slightly distressed white for wooden furniture and play with more natural tones for accessories: rugs, cushions, and curtains will look beautiful if chosen just a little darker than the furniture, so in the entire color range from beige to dove gray, including white.
When it comes to outdoor spaces, we know it's important to consider the exterior color of your home. If you have a colorful facade and can't change it, don't be discouraged: a few small changes will be enough to create the shabby chic porch of your dreams!
- If the facade is pale yellow, choose delicate pastel shades to bring the shabby chic style to the porch! Soft pink, baby blue, and sage green are winning combinations.
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- If the facade is a dark color (like blue or gray), the contrast with the white furniture will be even more elegant. In this case, you can match the color of the walls using accessories in the same color palette! A porch with white shabby chic furniture and a blue and white striped rug, for example, would be perfect in a blue home.
- Does your home have very neutral exterior walls? Create a welcoming shabby chic porch by adding all the pastel touches you like: the base will always be white, but pink, lilac, or cerulean accessories will add a bit of movement.
How do you create a shabby chic veranda in a brightly colored house?
And what if the facade color is too bright? Sure, the most suitable style would be modern, but you can still decorate a shabby chic veranda... You just need to be a little clever!
It doesn't take much effort: a wooden net covered with climbing plants or hanging flower pots will cover the wall just enough to allow you to dare with shabby chic decor without fearing an eyesore.
Again, picking up the wall color with small touches in the accessories will allow you to perfectly complement the colors of your shabby chic veranda. For example, you might be surprised how well red pairs with shabby chic furniture.
How to choose furniture for your shabby chic porch
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If you're lucky enough to be able to choose your porch furniture from scratch, you have carte blanche: for the more sheltered and sheltered areas (especially if you have an enclosed porch), you can even dare to use pickled wood without fear of ruining it.
But shabby chic furniture doesn't necessarily have to be wood (especially if it's for the porch): materials more suited to outdoor spaces, like rattan and wrought iron, can also work well. Simply choose white and pair cushions with a slightly rough finish (for example, in a linen-like material) to compensate.
Finally: how do you choose the perfect shabby chic porch furniture? It depends a lot on how much space you have available: a small living room with a sofa, two armchairs, and a coffee table is always a great solution. But if you have a small space, you can set up a charming coffee corner with a round table and two folding chairs.
Would you like to invite friends over for lunch on your porch, but don't have much space? Get an extendable table and opt for a nice tablecloth, rather than runners and placemats, to cover the table's seams. It doesn't matter if the chairs aren't all the same; in fact, shabby chic decor goes very well with mismatched chairs, as long as they're all in the right style!
How to create a shabby chic ambiance on your porch with old furniture?
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Do you already have some furniture, but it's not the right style? A little DIY can transform it into impeccable shabby chic furniture that's also perfect for outdoor spaces!
If your porch is enclosed, a few coats of chalk paint will give you the distressed look you're looking for. You don't have to be a professional; in fact, a slightly imperfect look will make your porch even more shabby chic.
And if the base is made of wood, you don't even need to cover it perfectly: a few slightly lighter brushstrokes, allowing a glimpse of a darker shade underneath, will add a touch of shabby chic. To make the whole look even more aged, you can use special waxes.
If we're talking about plastic, metal, and all those materials created specifically for open spaces, get a special paint, suitable for outdoors, always white: sure, it won't create a distressed look, but it will help to unify the base of the furniture. The accessories will then make your shabby chic veranda welcoming and romantic!
If you have cabinets and drawers, replace the knobs with vintage painted ceramic ones, each one different. And if you're a real DIY expert, you can consider covering the tabletop with decorated cement tiles and majolica: the result will be spectacular!
French Atmospheres: The Shabby Chic Veranda with a Provençal Touch
If you have a penchant for the refined, floral style of Southern France, you can recreate this rustic atmosphere by adding a Provençal twist to your shabby chic veranda. The basics can be the same; it's the details that make the difference.
First of all, "Provence" means "lavender": bunches of dried flowers hung from the ceiling are spectacular, fragrant, and easy to make. Alternatively, choose a botanical print depicting lavender for cushions, tablecloths, curtains, or rugs.
Wrought iron is the most suitable material: if you have limited space, it's ideal for setting up a charming breakfast nook with a small table and two stools. Finding a few "repurposed" accessories will add a touch of poetry to the space: an old enamel pot or a mug will make lovely vases for your plants.
And what about colors? Green light for lilac, wisteria, powder blue, and sage green, in expertly balanced touches.
In short: decorating a shabby chic veranda is possible even on a small budget, without waste, by transforming what you already have with your own hands. We bet you can't wait to get started!
