A Do-It-Yourself Shabby Style of Kitchen

Sand and prime stained-wood cabinetry, and then paint it with white satin paint. Once the paint dries -- or if you had painted white cabinets to start -- use medium-grit sandpaper to sand the white paint from the edges of doors, corners and any raised areas to make them look naturally worn. Replace your cabinet and drawer hardware with antique-inspired glass or porcelain knobs and pulls.

Paint your kitchen walls white or with a pale pastel, flat or satin finish. Consider shell pink, creamy vanilla, pale aqua, dove gray or mint green. If you opt for white, have it mixed with just a few drops of one of the previous colors for a faint undertone. Paint doors, window frames and molding with the same white satin paint you used on the cabinets.

Add at least one piece of freestanding furniture, more if you have the space. Select pieces in a range of styles and periods, such as as a carved Victorian sideboard, primitive corner hutch and a Jacobean-style dining table with bulbous, baluster-turned legs. Pull vintage wicker or French Provincial, caned-back chairs up to the table. Look for pale, painted finishes that are chipping and worn, or paint and distress the pieces yourself if they're not valuable. The common palette and condition unifies the various styles.

Dress your kitchen windows with white cotton, eyelet or seersucker fabric, or opt for linen with a faded floral or Florentine print. Appropriate styles include cafe or window-length curtains and functional balloon, butterfly or Austrian shades. To add shabby style to windows where privacy isn't a concern, consider a triangle valance made from vintage floral handkerchiefs.

Add additional shabby-style textiles to your kitchen, such as floral linen tea towels and a 1940s patterned tablecloth. Dress up your kitchen chairs and bar stools with cushions made from washable white cotton or vintage patterned bark cloth. Make the cushions with self-ties and short pleated or ruffled skirts.

Hang a chandelier over your kitchen table, perhaps a white or gilt piece strung with clear or colored crystal beads and baubles. Italian tole chandeliers featuring pastel painted flowers and vines also suit the shabby decorating style. Hang a second chandelier in your kitchen work area, if the fixture won't block your cabinet doors. If a chandelier won't work, replace your overhead light with a flush-mounted, Victorian or Art Nouveau fixture -- especially if you find one with the original paint.

Finish your shabby-style kitchen with antique and vintage accessories. Place a row of enamel, French canisters on the counter, for example, or display a collection of hobnail milk glass behind glass doors or on open shelves. Hang a group of porcelain dessert plates or lustreware oyster plates on the wall. Hinge sections of old tin ceiling tiles together to make a screen. Place a tiered, metal plant stand with scrolling lines in front of a window.