How to Make a Shabby Chic Chandelier

Learning to make a shabby chic chandelier can put the finishing touch on your shabby chic decor. Chandeliers add a touch of vintage elegance in a casual environment. Shabby chic style is individual, so you can make a shabby chic chandelier to suit your environment. They can be a way to inject a bit of sophistication and personality into your decor.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Start with a base when setting out to make a shabby chic chandelier. Choose an actual chandelier with lights or candle holders, bare with no bobbles and accents. Paint it silver, white or antique white, and distress the finish of the chandelier using a crackle paint technique.

2. Add some tiny lampshades to the chandelier. Select shabby chic fabrics like those sold at Yvonne Estelle's website online. Choose cotton or linen prints adorned with rose, leaves and vines on white, off-white and beige backgrounds, striped upholstery fabrics in subtle, muted tones or velvet in solid, airy colors such as white, pink, yellow or sage green depending on your décor.

3. Choose the items that you want to hang from your chandelier. If you use a lampshade then mix and match different crystals to decorate the chandelier. Stick with clear or muted, pastel colored crystals to stay true to the Shabby Chic style. Attach elegant oval or teardrop crystals or string a variety of small crystals on fishing wire alternating with a few larger crystals.

4. Complete your shabby chic chandelier by adding a lighting kit so that it is not only an attractive conversation piece for your home, but functional as well. You can purchase lighting kits at many home improvement stores.

Tips & Warnings

• Create a personalized statement when you make a shabby chic chandelier by adding items like silk roses, vintage lampshades or satin fabric on the cording that connects to the ceiling.

• Alternate shapes and sizes of crystals you make a shabby chic chandelier for added interest.