I've been following the lovely Alaina's blog,
"Arbor House Lane" for about a year now, and every time I visit her blog, it is always a place where I find the most beautiful inspiration. Here home is truly breathtaking and her love for decorating really shines through in her photos.
Kitchen
Studio
One of Alaina's favorite holiday's is Christmas. Her home at Christmastime is full of warmth, beauty and the love of family.
"Christmas is about traditions, I have at least 11 Christmas trees in my home, most of them are decorated differently. I love every bit of this Holiday, the traditions, baking, shopping, decorating, holiday parties and definitely the decorating. I try to give my children memories like I have from Christmas past." ~Alaina, Arbor House Lane
Christmas 2010
Christmas 2010
Kitchen tree
Living Room tree.
Alaina's oldest sons Christmas tree.
Her youngest sons tree.
Alaina's daughter's tree.
I think this is my favorite of Alaina's 11 trees, I love the top hat tree topper.
Office tree.
Tree in basement.
Halloween
"I have two favorite holidays; Halloween and Christmas. I host an adult a Halloween costume party and I tend to really get into it, my kids enjoy helping me make decorations and decorate the house in kind of a classy horror." ~Alaina, Arbor House Lane
I love this skull that Alaina used glue gun blood on.
Alaina's cottage shed:
Around the house.
"I have always been drawn to small black pieces from stools to boxes and small furniture. Even though I like the look of mostly white, I think the contrast of black and white to be very striking in a room. The trick is to be careful and not over saturate a room with too much black and make it depressing or just too dark." ~Alaina, Arbor House Lane
I love Alaina's vignette's throughout her home!!
A beloved collection of Alaina's mother's cameras.
~What has influenced your style?
As for what has influenced my style; I remember seeing Rachel Ashwell's books when they first came out and I was drawn to the white shabby chic look. I read a lot of magazines and decorating books, but my fondness for vintage and antiques I inherited from my mother. As kids, my mom stayed at home while my father worked, my mom learned to sew, slipcover, reupholster, paint and stain her furniture to the style that she wanted. My mom took us with her to auctions, garage sales and antique shops. We learned the value of furniture, how to buy it cheap, take the good bones of furniture and change it with paint, stain or cloth covers to make it what you wanted it to be. I also have to give credit to my good friend Nancy, her shop was located next to my shop several years ago. She taught me that I could do it, after my mother died, it was Nancy whom became my mentor and she brought back the creativity in me, she believed in me, instead of I letting me buy one of her painted furniture pieces or a creative piece she made, she taught me how to make it myself. My style has always been to mix vintage with new, and over the past 10 years my home has evolved to become mostly white. Little by little I started painting my furniture white, once I painted my kitchen chairs white, I was sold, white all the way, well, almost. I taught myself to make slipcovers and now there is no stopping me. In each of the main rooms in my home you will find white furniture, white slipcovers, silver, something black, at least one hat, buttons, ironstone pitchers/platters, a living plant or flowers and books. The books, hats and buttons are reminders of my mother and grandmother.
~How would you describe your decorating style?
I hope that my home shows my style to be casual, country cottage, and family oriented.
~How do you keep things fresh in your home?
I love getting decorating ideas from the wonderful blogs I enjoy reading and decorating magazines. I move things around a lot. You may not know where the couch is going to be when you come to visit. It helps to have white/slipcovered furniture, a wing back chair can one day be in the living room and the next day be found in the kitchen or dinning room. I also have a lot of collections and I do tend to decorate for the different holidays and seasons, so that means I have to move things around and display in different rooms, mixing textures.
~Where are your favorite places to shop for home decor?
I love to shop at The Flower Barn and local flea markets. I am lucky to have several Marshalls and TJ Maxx stores in my area for keeping up on new trends. I must say I also find a lot of furniture and decor at Salvation Army. I love a good bargain.
~What is your favorite holiday to decorate for?
I have two favorite holidays; Halloween and Christmas. I host an adult a Halloween costume party and I tend to really get into it, my kids enjoy helping me make decorations and decorate the house in kind of a classy horror. Christmas is about traditions, I have at least 11 Christmas trees in my home, most of them are decorated differently. I love every bit of this Holiday, the traditions, baking, shopping, decorating, holiday parties and definitely the decorating. I try to give my children memories like I have from Christmas past.
~What is your favorite color palette to use in your home?
Color-WHITE, of course. I use an old version of Martha Stewart Fine White throughout my home in both flat and semi-gloss. I also have a lot of green, Martha Stewart Everyday Green. Black, and an off white that I mixed myself. The master bed room, dinning room and cupola are finished in an old Ralph Lauren glaze and each of the kids rooms are pale purple and dark blue.
~Tell us about your blog.
I originally started blogging over a year ago because I was going to open a shop and I wanted to help promote my business. The shop did not happen, but I really enjoyed blogging and getting to know other blogger's so I decided to continue blogging. My blog arborhouselane.blogspot. is a mix of decorating, gardening, painting, slipcovering and my family. I try to share my enthusiasm and be an inspiration for doing it yourself. If you don't like it, paint it, sewing; give it a try, you may surprise yourself.
I hope you all enjoyed Part 1 of Alaina's feature.
Please check back soon for Part 2.
Until then, please check out her blog:
All photos courtesy of Arbor House Lane.
Have a great week.
Sincerely,
~The Vintage Inspired Home
