What everyday things do you find utterly charming/chic?

[Croya]

I feel extremely accomplished and satisfied when I make a homemade pudding. I have no idea why. Probably because I came from a family where I don’t think a single thing was homemade. Seeing a homemade cake on a stand in my fridge actually makes me happy.

i also love seeing people lounging at home in battered jeans, jumper and very comfy/fluffy looking socks. Even better if they are stripey. It’s so cosy to me.

Piles of newspapers and magazines on a coffee table that actually get read is another one.

Really odd I know!

Old dogs with faded faces
Home made chutney on the shelf ready for Christmas
Allotments
Narrow boats
A sofa in the kitchen
A knitting/sewing bag
Birds eating on a bird table or splashing in the bird bath.

Narrow boats! Yes!

I so love this thread. These simple things and rituals make my life special. In this crazy world and especially at this commercialised time of year I'm so happy other people enjoy the little things too.

Church bells
Homemade soup
The short, dark, quiet days of winter
Sea swimming
Baskets
Dusk
A book left open on a chair, especially with specs set down beside them
Bulbs in pots on window sills

Christmas cards hung up with string. My favourite decoration.

I’m with you on this having grown up similarly to you. I sometimes find myself tipping over into too much (especially when dd1 is home!) and feel so stressed by it. That sweet spot of having back ups but it all being tidy and organised is immensely satisfying

Love the date night. I have an unpredictable work schedule but mostly don’t have weekday evenings free so I never make plans. However sometimes work is quiet and I am unexpectedly free on a random Tuesday evening so DP drives the 1 hour from his house to meet me after work and we have a spontaneous mid-week date. 🥰

Has anyone else got Facebook pushing articles at them about the ‘frazzled Englishwoman interior’ as a result of this thread?

I love how well-stocked PIL’s kitchen always is, with the most wonderful food. They’re big foodies and never, ever skimp when it comes to food, sourcing things from multiple places (this bakery, that cheese shop, such and such deli etc.). They always buy their favourite of whatever they fancy. Their motto seems to be life is too short for mediocre food (and wine). They’re both very slim and disciplined/sensible with food too, not sure how.

My butter dish

re reading books

the house being like a gallery of the things we love like photos of the kids, art they’ve made etc

colourful plates, mugs, oven dishes etc

the cats sleeping together on the sofa

every room being filled with colour but not so much that it’s overstimulating and not relaxing.

herbal tea

DH bringing up my coffee and vitamin c water every morning without fail

when the kids occupy themselves on a weekend morning so we get a lie in (rare)

weekend morning cuddles with the kids in our bed

always having fresh flowers from DH

soft lighting no big lights

seasonal scented candles

Love a kitchen sofa.

But it must be a squishy, knackered one in a faded print or plain neutral linen, with cushions and throws, not the one I'm thinking of which is lipstick-red leather with hard, slippery seats, bleaugh. Neither charming nor chic.

Scrumptious thread!

Mine isn't chic, but definitely charming. When I find random children's toys in incongruous or unexpected places, like a teddy bear in the bath, a toy car on top of the hob in the kitchen, some felt tip pens under the covers in my bed, or a little playmobil figure sitting on the Christmas tree. Never fails to make me smile.

A very specific one….
My parents live in a lovely elegant Georgian house. Being old it has various random holes including one about an inch in diameter through the floorboards of the downstairs loo, to the cellar.
When I came home one Christmas I discovered my mum had taken a few of my brother’s Lego minifigures and made one of them dangle down through the hole like a potholer while the others stood around peering in.

Oh I absolutely love this! Similar to my post directly before it, but on steroids! 😁

Wandering around a National Trust property before Christmas, when it's decked with tradional decorations like holly and ivy, bits of dried orange, cinnamon sticks and twinkly lights. Followed by a walk outside in the cold and then a cup of tea with a slice of cake.

Chubby babies in snowsuits
When you're out walking in a forest/woods etc and the sun is setting and you get the sunlight peeking through the trees.

My husband and I are in our late 60s, been married for 45 years, and still hold hands.

Can someone tell me what the meaning of chic is here? As most people seem to be describing charming, homely or cosy things rather than chic, which is sophisticated, stylish and elegant?

Are people thinking more "shabby chic"?

I've loved reading this thread... thank you.

The thread title was ‘charming/chic’ and a slash can mean ‘or’ rather than ‘and’ so for a start I don’t think everyone is claiming that everything in their list is both charming AND chic - some things are just charming!

However for me one of the things this thread encapsulates is that one can find style and elegance in honesty and simplicity - the idea that a beautifully mended old garment can be more stylish than a new thing of the latest fashion.
Things that are simple, cosy and unaffected can have an inherent beauty as well as being comfortable and part of the enjoyment is from being surrounded by that loveliness.

I think one of the reasons the thread made me happy is that it made me realise some of the choices I have made that people don’t generally consider stylish, my long grey hair for instance, I actually DO find them attractive and that is why I have done them - it’s not just that I can’t be bothered to go to the hairdresser!

Of course your mileage may vary on all of this and that’s fine, style is a very subjective thing. 🙂

I agree with @TheCountessofFitzdotterel. But also, to me 'shabby chic' is almost always unappealing. I don't mean the concept, I mean the actual stuff - IME it's often things like perfectly nice old brown furniture that someone's gussied up with Annie Sloan paint and then 'distressed'.

Whereas I liked the things on this thread because a lot of them have to do with taking care over something (growing flowers, or making things by hand, or taking time over what you're doing, or keeping something old). I think that's really appealing. 'Shabby chic' seems to me to be about pretending something is old/worn when it isn't.

I also don't think 'chic' and 'sophisticated' are the same thing. Something very chic can be very simple.

I read it just before this thread.

Desk diaries in leather covers
Hand written thank you notes
Antique furniture smelling of beeswax polish
Venetian velvet slippers
Burmese cats
A cheese board
Prams
Espresso
Fruits de Mer
Real Christmas Trees

Isn’t it just?

I remember seeing a video on instagram of Trinny Woodall helping her only daughter/child furnish her university bedroom and it just oozed chicness but I have no idea why?! Most of the parents I know have an only child, but there seems to be more… beauty in the mother-daughter relationships than the mother-son relationships regardless of how close the relationship is, if that makes sense (I know it doesn’t 😂).

I have 4 but I can absolutely see how one daughter would be chic.

That said, im not close with my mum.

Priceless if you are.

Old couples holding hands when they are out walking. Or sharing a joke sat on a bench in the park. Melts my heart. 💓