From what I am seeing they overlap a little. I have seen some cottage decor that does not seem to have any shabby but shabby does seem to fall under cottage.

That said I have seen A LOT of urban places that are what I would call Urban shabby chic.. or flashy trash.

I know a lot of artist lofts that really do not have much of a cottage feel at all but most of the pieces in there would fall under the category of shabby chic.

Well these names for decorating styles are arbitrary and the mean different things to different people.

I think of shabby chic as one variant of cottage style and I define cottage style as a relaxed, comfortable and using "used" or antique furniture and fabrics that are informal, casual and appear to be easy to maintain.

Sky

I believe 'Shabby Chic' is one genre of cottage style. (oohhh, big word, Squirrel!)size>

Shabby Chic and Rachel Ashwell are both trademarks of Shabby Chic, Inc.

#2, in link below, states "Do not use Shabby Chic as a noun" because it is an "adjective."

I'm biting my tongue to keep from laughing....

Here is a link that might be useful: Shabby Chic trademark info

From the article below and doing some research, I agree with Squirrel that Shabby Chic style is one genre of cottage style.

Shabby Chic Cottage Style by: Tina Bauer

Is Shabby Chic Cottage Style your style? Let's take a look. If you can answer yes to at least 4 of these questions than it is indeed.

Is your color palette a combination of whites and creams mixed with soft pastels?

Does your heart melt at the site of vintage inspired floral fabrics?

Do you enjoy going to flea markets to find one of a kind vintage treasures?

Flowers, primarily roses, can be found in your home almost everywhere you look, including your artwork?

Do you consider vintage or vintage inspired chandeliers romantic?

Do you enjoy making your home a comfortable place where all feel welcome?
Shabby Chic Cottage Style is a distinct style. It allows you to mix old vintage treasures, perhaps family heirlooms, with newly found treasures. Washable slipcovered furniture allows for stress free comfort.

Our motto is, "You can never have enough pillows." Creating an inviting atmosphere is a snap by decorating with an abundance of floral pillows. Place several of them on your sofa, window bench, and/or wood chairs to soften them.

We believe that the finishing touch for any Shabby Chic Cottage Style home is in the lighting. A great find would be a vintage chandelier dripping with prisms (crystals). Paint it white and get a fresh new look that dazzles any room. Decorate with the things you love.

About The Author

Tina Bauer
For more Shabby Chic Cottage Style tips, or to locate Shabby Chic Cottage Style products, please visit www.notooshabby.com.

not_too_shabby@sbcglobal.net

This article was posted on January 08, 2005

Allison, Well Rachel Ashwell started a style and to me that style is a Shabby Chic syle and to me that is a new style she created just like French Country is a style. I think those that sell lamps can say the lamp has a Shabby Chic style to it but is a cottage lamp. Thanks for sharing the interesting information from her website that I never had read.

Is Shabby Chic a subset of Cottage? Or are they both subsets of Country? Country has evolved away from kitchens filled with cows and pigs into something more elegant and sometimes more modern. Yes I did post a few pics in there that could arguably be called shabby chic.

There's Country, English Country, and French Country, Shabby Chic, Vintage, Retro, Romantic and Cottage, and what else? Can any of you honestly tell the difference between all of them?

Didn't Country come first?

Tacking different names on all these is often just a way to make a fast buck, I suspect.

About the only thing I think I don't confuse in there is Cabin style, which is pretty woodsy and masculine (fish, moose, bears).

Victorian or at least Antique also seems to stand apart, having been clearly defined chronologically -- although it blended into Art Nouveau and that in turn blended into Arts & Crafts which then blended into Deco, if I have my chronology correct. Homes even up to the '40s often contained old and newer pieces mixed together, just as we do today. The merchants would love us to all buy a houseful of new furniture every year but it's not going to happen.

I suspect if we posted ten pictures in that general Countryish look even the experts could argue till the cows came home about which was which.

Hmmm, yes, they are distinct in my mind. There are always rooms that cross borders though, making it hard to categorize them, probably more than not today.

I think it's the result of a style of life, and the tones or characteristics individual to each originate from the region and social class.

Country, English Country and French Country are all styles of their own and don't cross over into each other like Shabby Chic, Romantic and Cottage.

imo, Country is more the quilts and graniteware look and Cabin is the woodsy, more masculine look.

Vintage and Retro are about the same.

DD1 has been buying Shabby Chic bedding, furniture and accessories since moving to San Francisco for college 4yrs ago. She recently moved to a new apartment. She said she knew it was 'the one' when she saw it but the bathroom cinched the deal! lol Not only does it have a vintage looking tile corner shower and a tub - but all pink and green tile.

Better yet, can 'Shabby Chic' ala Rachel Ashwell, or cottage for that matter, be traced back to the roots of Victorian? Look at the similiarities~lots of patterns, especially florals, painted and 'chippy' furniture, chandliers, pillows all over the place, doilies on tables~the list goes on, and the more 'stuff' the more you capture the 'look'. And don't forget wallpaper, especially floral! Colors can be either pale or deep, whatever 'tickles your fancy'.

IMO, many of today's trends are off-shoots of Traditional~ Country French(aka/French Provencial) English Country/British Colonial, Tuscan, European Country, and even Asian Fusion can be seen in Traditional styling. A more relaxed form of Traditional is/was country and colonial. Bees, fleur de lis, harlequin, roosters, scrollwork, and even the colors we see associated with the new trends have been around for years. We just needed to have new designers 'tell' us it was okay in magazines/books. Most of what we see now was rare in most homes, unless we 'were of means', and could afford an interior designer. Otherwise, homeowners bought what the market was 'pushing'~aka/Meditterranean, for a few years, and the 'blonde' furniture of the '50's.

Thank goodness we now have choices! ;o)

Yes, hooray for choices!

When you think about it, men in Victorian times were a lot more chauvenistic than men are now, but the decor was decidedly more feminine than the so-called modern decor. A lot of today's decor almost bends over backwards to escape any hint of femininity. But those Victorian men didn't seem to have any problems with all the frills, florals, velvets, tassles and various flourishes; in fact many made their living creating them. Interesting.

Allison, thanks for posting those pretty pictures. I like pretty!

As they say -- everything old is new again. lol

I've always felt our living room was more English cottage than anything else - it is definitely not shabby or country but it is a traditional cottage decor.

Ohhh, looove that bedroom, Allison. (((Lynn))) notice the neat but relaxed bed and the paint has yellow! :)

Oceana, she would probably be mad at me for posting. ;)

Squirrel, I've shown Lynn all of her apartments and rental houses. Her first look was more serene and now she's going for a more "grown up" look and bringing in a few darker colors. I'm not big on the large striped pillows on the bed, but they do look better in person. Here's a shot of the bed from messy side. lol She's ordered a new slipcover for the daybed. Oh, she also put the bedroom in the LR since she likes to watch tv in bed and the bed would have eaten up the small room off the kitchen...which is too cute for words. It still has the original built-in ice box. Doesn't work, so she stores things in it.

Allison - that is a dream bedroom - so feminine and fabulous!

What an apartment, too! So that explains the lovely fp :) I don't quite get the striped pillows either, but they don't look bad. That's such a beautiful room.

(((Lynn))) notice the different whites and light colors, and the lamps! which actually look matched except for the tassel.

Thanks Allison for sharing more of your daughter's bedrooms. She has a way of accessorizing and furniture placement like you do that whatever she touches is cozy and beautiful.

Thank you Squirrel for reminding me how different whites and light colors look wonderful together to create a peaceful room. I think that is an identical lamp set and DD1 added a tousle on one to make it a little different. I love both lamps. I am not crazy about the striped pillows but it does not look bad. I am wanting my room to be mostly ivories, whites, and creams since this is a look I had been wanting the last two years. I still wish I went with the white Duet Black-Out blinds since the linen ones are not creamy at night and get a little brown in them and it is not the look I had wanted. But they do insulate my bedroom and block-out the street lights and have retractable cords so the sheers on top may help me not mind them at night.

I like looking at rooms with yellow walls but sleeping in them is a different story for me. At night, the wall behind my double dresser gets more yellow with no light on but the light next to my bed when I am reading in bed. I prefer my walls to be less yellow I am finding out.

Thank you for the compliments.

Squirrel, the "tassel" is a silk rose.

Lynn, the lamps are the same but they were in different rooms when she purchased them for last apartment. One in BR and one in the LR. They are covered in squares of polished shells.

We forgot ... then there's ... American French Country and American Tuscan.

I love Spanish Country (may be the same as Spanish Colonial? which I love :) There's Ralph Lauren Country, and Hunt Country ...

And then there's Swedish Country -- been coming around too :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Swedish Country

The cottages of Carmel, which I think is a book. Cotswald cottage, and on it goes. Didn't Magnaverde say something about Rachel Ashwell's style being very close to something the French were doing back when?

Wow, I wasn't expecting all those responses. Didn't realize the complexity. Thanks everyone for those informed answers to my question. Allison, those are great rooms. That bedroom is heavenly!!

Good luck to all of you who actually try hard to keep these styles straight, bless your hearts. As for me, I either like it or don't, and you can call it "doggy style" for all I care. ;-)

Squirrel, enjoyed the link, thanks!

Did anyone mention Country Casual?

Here is a link that might be useful: Country casual description

Well Brutuses, got it all straight about the styles now? lol

I also learned even more about cottage and the different country styles from this post. I think my style is a mixture of many styles I am seeing. Thank you everyone who contributed to this post to teach all of us. I love this site.

I was just remembering Laura Ashley's style of English cottage, too.

I love the little ottoman in Allison's picture. I want all my chairs to be like that, and have little ottomans like that everywhere!