Shabby Chic was a design brand created by Rachel Ashwell in 1989 that became an interior decorating style in itself. Hallmarks of shabby chic include liberal use of white sprinkled with pastel shades and a slightly worn or distressed appearance, along with a touch of something fancy to catch the eye. In a shabby chic office, think beyond the furniture. Your desk organizing items can double as decorative accessories.
Shelves give you plenty of surface space for organization, but when you are shopping for a shabby chic room, avoid the sleek, modern style shelves commonly found in office stores. Look for shelves with ornate molding or decorative brackets. Wood is ideal -- paint them antique or linen white and lightly distress them with fine-grain sandpaper to give them the desired look. Alternatively, get a shelving unit, such as a hutch, to put over your desk. Paint it and wallpaper the back wall of the hutch with a light pink rose print or pale blue stripes to add a pop of color and some texture.
If you don't have enough drawer space to hide away supplies like staplers, tape rolls, boxes of pens and pencils, ink cartridges and other supplies, stack some vintage hat boxes on the shelf for hidden storage. If you prefer square and rectangular to round boxes, get cigar boxes or use cardboard photo storage boxes -- they're similar in size and shape to shoe boxes but sturdier. If you can't find boxes in a color or print you like, spray-paint them a pale blue, pink, mint, lavender or peach -- whatever light colors best coordinate with the rest of your shabby chic decor.
Certain things you need to have out in the open. With a little creativity, you can make your own shabby chic holders. For example, convert an empty tin can into a pencil holder by decoupaging it with floral-printed paper or fabric. Tie a bow around it, or hot glue some decorative buttons to it. Paint an old wooden napkin holder and decoupage a flower on the front of it to hold your incoming mail. If you are not big on doing your own crafts, shop at a thrift store for a small vase to hold your pens or a small window box planter to use for holding mail.
Stacks of reference books or binders can be an eyesore on a shabby chic shelf. Remedy the problem with book covers. Cover the books on your shelves with old wallpaper scraps, maps or decorative card stock. Even plain white typing paper used as a book jacket would be an improvement over books that have a modern look and bold prints.
A bulletin board is convenient for tacking up notes or things that are pending. Dry-erase boards are also helpful to have near the desk so you can jot down quick reminders and messages. If you're going to use a cork board or chalkboard, put them in an ornate whitewashed frame before you hang them on the wall to give them some style so they'll blend in with the decor.
Wright, Mackenzie. "Shabby Chic Desk Organizing Ideas." Home Guides | SF Gate, http://homeguides.sfgate.com/shabby-chic-desk-organizing-ideas-93323.html. Accessed 19 April 2019.