Positano's shabby chic interior style

Shabby chic. Cottage-style - in Positano? A trend is capturing Europe, and what about the South of Italy? 

As usually, Italy has been amongst predecessors of many trends, and to my mind, also to this one. There has been the white trend, the trend of decorating houses with (painted) ceramics, and in one way or the other, these trends spreading across Europe have always existed here.
Shabby chic is defined as "interior design where furniture and furnishings are chosen for their appearance of age and signs of wear and tear, or where new items are distressed to achieve the apperance of an antique. This is all within the framework of a soft, opulent, yet cottage-style decor. Do you recognize Positano? It's the soft colors that fit so perfectly into its environment. But of late, also a pastel  color, cottage interior style has been developing, and here are a few examples. Also, by definition, fabrics are cottons and linens, and this is what is sold exactly here.

Makeshift yet charming appearance of roofs made of reeds and bambus

In Positano, you might expect white and blue floor tiles, dark Neapolitan-style furniture, dark-green window shutters, heavy yellow curtains .. And yes, you will find all that too (there are two other trends of interior design).

Still, Positano's been translating the shabby chic style popping up elsewhere in Europe into a very special approach. It is soft pastel colors and light and warm furniture, based on white and light-colored wooden elements highlighting the house, taking in the warm color of the walnut and olive trees abounding here in this zone.

Store on Via Colombo, with accessoires ushering in patchwork-shabby style - dish towels, cushions, plates, cups, mostly in pastel colors fitting well with the environment's colors - the typical Positano blue shades.

Aprons, lamps, curtains all combine to be exposed on wooden shelves painted in pastel colors. Also, the walls, typically white-washed, may be dipped in light pink or turquoise as well ..

Matching accessoires, aligned with the shabby chic which is .. Positano-style

Window panes have been painted white or light blue, reflecting the colors of the sky. Deep blue table cloths, reflecting the range of colors of the sea ..

Wrought iron elements in white (door) and black (table), seasoned-looking table glasses .. Positano has been creating its own shabby chic style for quite some time .. 

A fine place where you also encounter shabby chic elements on sale is Casa e Bottega, a new store that opened up in early spring this year. In addition to organic food and inventive dishes from breakfast to snacks and lunch, a whole array of accessoires for a Positano shabby-chic house are on sale here. Ceramic accessoires like chandeliers, table candle holders, flower pots, lamps, painted in white and turquoise, but also bright colors are available as you can see in the picture below.

Not all is from Positano, but a new trend is being created: sea creatues, even pans formed as fish

Baskets bearing flowers, the fish theme is reiterated, ricci di mare ..

The blue-white corner reiterating the Positano motif in a new style

House items are sold in the front part of the Casa e Bottega store. Here you can see their selection of linens, table cloths and cushions, and their lamps. By the way, next to the door is a young "pianta sensibile", a mimosa. I touched its leaves and they shut when touched.

Shabby chic hotel par excellence: Hotel Poseidon, a favorite hangout for tourists here in Positano

Shabby chic at the beach: a table painted in several layers of blue, Fornillo beach bar

If you take a look at this last example, it is obvious that Positano isn't consciously following any trends, on the contrary, it has been coining trends and styles, translated into lifestyle, ever since.

I will describe examples of the other two interior styles I made out here in Positano, Mediterranean fashionable and Mediterranean antique, in upcoming blog posts.