8 shabby chic interior design ideas for your kitchen

To bring the warmth and texture of shabby chic to your home, incorporate painted wood cupboards and cabinets across your kitchen. And consider wooden flooring too: choose a light, rustic finish – the kind that's reminiscent of a front porch that has spent years being loved by the sun. For painted cabinets, embrace a textured paint effect and consider adding stencilling for a truly vintage look.

Think of sun-bleached picket fences – that's the shade of white that shabby chic incorporates wherever possible. When adding shabby chic to your kitchen, use this weathered paint look across a combination of the cupboards, shelving or floor to create an overarching vintage effect.

Alternatively, upcycle an old china cabinet or set of drawers to become a whitewash feature in your kitchen, adding both style and useful storage.

Shabby chic is cheerful and feminine, so brighten the mood with pastel coloured features. Make a statement with units in an ice-cream parlour shade of yellow, pink, green, or blue and choose retro accessories in complementary shades of the rainbow.

The number of colours you integrate depends on your personal taste. Consider balancing colour with white cupboards and flooring to avoid overwhelming the room.

Floral curtains and tea towels were the norm in 1940s and 1950s kitchens, and are therefore a must-have in any shabby chic theme. Bright, floral patterns that feature pink, yellow and green will bring a bit of springtime to your kitchen all year round. If flowers aren't your thing, consider curtains in a different throwback style, like gingham or polka dot.

Though shabby chic is all about soft and cheerful features, you can still incorporate metallic touches. Sturdy cast-iron or copper features such as oversized saucepans or a statement-making pendant light will fit naturally into a shabby chic style.

Just make sure to choose accessories that have a vintage shape or a weathered look, so they don't clash with the overall effect.

With all the benefits of modern technology and all the style of the revolutionary post-war home, vintage-inspired appliances will give your kitchen the ultimate shabby chic authenticity. A range cooker is both useful and attractive, while retro-look mixers and toasters will top off your scheme with exactly what it needs.

To achieve the signature, cutesy-cluttered look of shabby chic, incorporate open shelving along your kitchen walls. It's the perfect way to show off an eclectic mix of mismatched crockery, apothecary jars and other bric-a-brac, tying different patterns and colours together in the ultimate shabby chic display.

In a shabby chic kitchen, details can really help to finish off the overall look. On your cupboard doors, consider mixing and matching wooden, iron and patterned handles to add a hint of quirkiness across the room. Place flowers on the windowsill and hang vintage teacups off hooks beneath your shelves to bring your personality into the design scheme.

The beauty of shabby chic is that almost anything can work. It's about combining colours, patterns and textures that showcase a bit of vintage cheer, and using them together to create a kitchen that has a sense of nostalgia, ready to welcome you in.

Browse our traditional style kitchens to see how you can start creating your own shabby chic scheme. And explore other throwback eras with advice on how to add a vintage touch to your kitchen.