Shabby-Chic Home Tour

Homeowner Leslie Hanson had plenty of time to decide what she wanted to do to her new home before the birth of her first child, and she spent the time quite effectively! Hanson's living and dining room are interesting, inviting, and ideally arranged. Many of her most interesting pieces were found in junk stores or were received as part of a trade with friends and family members. The nursery features a lovely and delightful mural.

Hanson's goal for the living room was a European look. She chose deep, warm colors for the furnishings, and created a marbleized look for the walls using a mixture made with one part paint and one part glaze. She applied the color with a roller, then used a rag to remove excess paint and create the marbled effect. To complete the room's shabby-chic look, Hanson added an oversized black leather chair with actual puppy scratches.

In the dining room, Hanson covered the walls with a mocha-colored paint and randomly added whimsical stamps in gold. The dining room table and chairs she bought were less than visually pleasing, so she covered them with slipcovers then rubbed the unattractive black table legs with gold paint to give them a look that suited the style of the room.

The airy feel of the nursery was achieved with sky-blue walls and a mural full of trees and busy bees. Hanson embellished the plain shades with a variety of designs created in acrylic paint. Then she transformed an ordinary rocking chair she found at a secondhand sale into a beautiful accent piece for the room. She simply painted it the same shade of blue as the walls, then covered it with hand-painted ladybugs, dragonflies, butterflies and bumblebees to match the nursery's wonderful mural.