Shabby Swank: Opening Day

About Shabbyswank

I rarely see anything that I don't want to embellish. Having started as a decorative painter in 1994, I soon developed a passion for re-designing, re-purposing and re-defining vintage furniture and accessories. Little did I know that someone else had already coined the phrase "Shabby Chic" and created a design empire around it...I was just taking ugly old castoffs and making them pretty again.
Working out of my home studio in Ontario, Canada, I have established a popular line of vanities, mirrors and other accessories in the Shabby Chic style as well as a line of retro kitchen ware and one of vintage Paris artwork.
Please contact me at qb623@hotmail.com for information on any piece pictured or to request custom work.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Opening Day

Look, Lisa, I did it !!!

Hello. I am Olwyn and I design and create unique furniture pieces and accessories from vintage relics, single-handedly trying to educate the world about Shabby Chic. I feel the term has been overused and misunderstood. Simply painting something white does not make it Shabby Chic.....it's all about rescuing the tired, the misbegotten, the shabby and abandoned. And it's all about making it beautiful again...making it chic.
All of the items I re-furbish were found in various states of disrepair and neglect, some just in pieces. Most of the vanities I have found without their original mirror but no worries, I just find one that fits. Sometimes I add carved appliques ( from a very secret source ) and often I replace rusted old knobs with reproduction glass ones.........I don't object to using reproductions, they're just too pretty not to. Every piece is hand waxed and ends up looking fresh, pretty and, well............chic.

I created this blog today and will be adding pictures of finished pieces which are for sale. Some of them may currently be seen on my pal Lisa's blog- Recaptured Charm.

So, please check back.....there will be much more to see.

Cheers,
Olwyn