I think your style will look lovely and you certainly won't commit a faux paux, , but it won't be "shabby chic", it will be more cottage or country. Shabby Chic (as Rachel Ashwell does it) is very heavy on the white paint. I have her books and looked through them after I read this, and the look could include a natural wood piece for interest, but almost everything is of the white/cream/pale pink/mint palette. With lots of natural woods and stenciling, I think you are after a different look. I am not sure what Swiss Country is, but your description does sound more "country" or cottage. If you have a bookstore near you, like Barnes and Noble, look in the home decor section. With so many books you will surely find one that shows the very look you are after (it will resonate with you), and then you will know what your style is called, well, at least by an editor and publisher! LOL Have fun and please show us pics of your work :-) Joanna

pupwhipped - getting the type of aged appearance that you are speaking of is fairly easy. For the rubbed back look some things that you can do are the following: After you have a base coat on and prior to putting a top coat on - choose which areas that you want to have that 'rubbed back' look. They will be areas that are naturally handled, touched and bumped over time. Don't think too hard about where these areas are (too many people over think this and end up w/ pieces that are over done) - just simply pretend that you are walking by or putting something in a drawer - where did you just naturally touch or handle the piece? Now grab a candle and simply rub wax on that area. Use whatever topcoat you are using and paint over top. When it's dry buff back where you waxed over the base coat w/ a soft cloth or brown paper bag. I've always found that it is much easier to control how much top coat I take off by using a paper bag. It will also buff up to a nice subtle sheen and knock done any raised brush strokes. DH uses brown paper bags at work too when he's working on a piece. Glazes are nice over top to age a piece. If you are not using a top coat (for instance you just want your white or cream basecoat to look aged) after you paint your base lightly sand back to the raw wood in the areas that you want to rubbed back and use a glaze, stain, shoe polish (whatever you are using) and paint all over the top. The raw areas will hold the topcoat more than the painted areas and give a nice aged look. The shinier the base caot finish that you choose the more stain/ glaze top coat will come off and you can build up your 'aged look' to how dark you'd like it to be. Matte paint sucks up the glazes a bit more right away. If you use crackle medium there's a bunch of tips that I can give for that too if you'd like. The worst think in the world is when I see an entire pice w/ crackled paint on it. No piece EVER ages like that. EVER! But that's a whole 'nother pet peeve of mine. Use a phillips head screw driver to replicate a small patch of worm holes. Sometimes I'd go into my dad's shop when he was aging a piece and he'd use a heavy chain to make dings here and there. They would also use a handful of keys wrapped in an old t-shirt to make smaller dings. Making dings follows the same principal as rubbing back: Think carefully about where the piece would get naturally knicked over time. Don't ding it all over. I hate when I see that too. Sometimes I'll take a hammer to a piece (w/ a lighthanded approach of course - not everywhere!) and ding the edge here and there. My dad has a friend who makes beautiful reproduction furniture - some of it aged - some not (he will never divulge all of his secrets to me but I've gotten some out of him since I've known him since I was a child and he worked for my dad) and he used to tell me how they would tie brand new chairs together part way through painting, and throw them in the running creek behind the shop and just let them bob around and bang into rocks and smooth down from the running water. Then they'd haul them out and finish them up. He is so good at aging furniture that he has a reputation for fooling antiques dealers and has been named to the Fine Woodwoking magazines top 200 list for the past 10 years. Use as many or as few of some of these ideas as you'd like to get the look you want. It's so much fun!

I just wanted to chime in to say that I've seen pictures of homes with doors and window sashes that are unpainted wood paired with trim work that is painted, and I thought it looked beautiful. Basically, anything that opened/closed/moved was unpainted wood, and the rest was painted. So that's something to consider as an option. I wished I'd thought of that option before we went with all wood trim and doors in our main floor living areas and all painted trim and doors upstairs (bedrooms, bathrooms, and laundry room). We have lots of stained wood (trim, doors, built-ins, etc.) on our main floor, so I understand the challenges of decorating around it and finding colors that work with it. But when you find the right colors to bring out the best in your wood AND give you the vibe you want, it's worth the challenge. There were times (after spending too much time looking at trendy design magazines or web sites) when I second guessed our decision to go with so much wood, but I've come to love it more over the years because of its character and richness. I grew up in a house that had unpainted fir paneled walls in every room (even the bathroom, though the walls in there were varnished), so for a long time I just longed for light, bright, painted walls. After having those for years living on my own, I guess I finally came around to appreciating natural wood again.

The photos make it look pretty hopeless. I am in the process of painting the walls accessible beige SW. It is half done. Also i have to go back to cut in at the ceiling. I ordered a border sample but i think that might be overkill and make the ceilings look even shorter. Things are laying around until the paint is finished. The footstool under the window will be recovered. The dog likes to sit there to look out but it also slides in front of the sofa for a footstool/coffee table.