About Diane Henkler
About Diane Henkler
The Blogger Behind In My Own Style
Welcome to In My Own Style
My name is Diane Henkler and I love adding my own personal style to everything I do and want to inspire you to do the same using your own style.
It is just the way my brain is wired. I can’t add 2+2 to save my life, but I can help you decorate your home in a style that you will love.
I created the blog back in 2009 to inspire readers to seek and find what their personal style signature is that will make you feel like a confident in your own life and an inspiration to the people around you.
Looking for a Place to Find Decorating Inspiration on a Budget?
My favorite thing to do is help readers create a beautiful home for themselves and their families… on a modest budget!
Decorating a home does not have to be hard, expensive or time consuming. I can help you with decorating advise, ideas, project how-tos and more.
What Readers Are Saying
“Let me take this chance to say how much I admire you and your blog. The photos and graphics are always top-notch. Your tutorials are complete without being redundant. Your content and style are consistent but still adaptable for your readers. Your writing “voice” is genuine and warm, never cliche-ridden or cloyingly sweet. I never miss a post. Thank you for all the inspiration.”
-Barbara P.
“I love Diane and her blog, she shows you with her projects and creative ideas that it is not about having more or less, but about finding what is right for you and YOU alone”
“This blog contains concise, compulsively readable, and approachable DIY projects, with plenty of pictures. Many design blogs just display the finished product, but Diane Henkler shows the process, taking readers through each project step by step.”
Along the way there will be lots of daily creativity, DIY projects, and how-to tutorials to make the journey easy, interesting, and fun, so you can live in a style isn’t just about what you wear, style encompasses life and how you choose to live every minute of everyday with it.
Not only from the way you dress, but how you effortlessly host dinner for friends or pick-up a one-of-a-kind vase for your living room at a flea market, to the way you creatively wrap a gift or choose the perfect stationary when writing a personal note.
Style is about making everything you do – unique only to YOU.
My motto…“Life it too short to be the caretaker of the wrong details.”
When I hear… “That is so YOU!” It is the best compliment ever. I know I have succeeded in editing my life to live authentically like no one else but myself.
It is the best way to live. It is my hope that I can inspire you to do the same.
Contact Me: inmyownstyle@gmail.com
More About Diane
I have been married to my husband Ed for 41 years. We have two grown daughters and so far one son-in-law and soon to be another. We have one adorable granddaughter and one adotable grandson. I started this blog back in 2009 in our previous house in suburban Philadelphia. I have been blogging about affordable decorating, creative DIY, my travel adventures and lifestyle for 15 years.
Ed and I have always wanted to live on the shores of a large body of water and made the dream happen in December 2016 when we moved to Lake Murray in South Carolina. We bought a 1970’s home that we have been updating to make it our own. Follow our progress, here: Lake House
My background is in retail display – which led me into the wonderful world of DIY decorating and design when Ed and I bought our first house. We didn’t have a big budget so I used the tricks I used in the display trade to decorate that first home.
That led me to writing a decorating book about it, called Instant Decorating, published by Meredith Press back in the 1990’s. It is no longer in print, but my blog is where I continue to share ideas and what I have found works for me – all budget friendly… which I love.
I love the feeling after I put thought and effort into a space I have created with my own head, hands and heart. I love this feeling and the fact that you can’t put a price on it as what you create will become uniquely yours.
I also try to make the practical pretty and hundreds of posts and useful ideas that elevate your home and life.
With a bit of ingenuity and resourcefulness I think anyone can create a home they love.
If you enjoy your visit, I hope you will want to subscribe to my posts and become a follower.
My Philosophy on Decorating:
How To Decorate So You Feel At Home
My Favorite Post:
The Best 2 DIY Projects I Ever Made
Interested in How I Got into Blogging?
Read my story here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Take a Walk-Through Video of My House With Me
Facts About Me
Quotation I Live By: “To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk” – Thomas Edison
First Object I Ever Re-Purposed: A pair of earrings for my Barbie when I was 8. I made them by cutting the tips off of the beaded end of straight pins. The beaded end was like a post earring. Once the pin was shortened I could pierce her ears with them.
Signature Flower: A mix of deep purple and lavender hydrangeas and pink peonies. I can’t get enough of them. I have them in baskets and vases in every room of my home and planted outside in my garden.
Favorite Place: Anywhere there is a view of water, the larger the body of water, the better. It could be standing on the bow of the Staten Island Ferry to lying on a beach or swinging on the swings that rim the Burlington, VT waterfront.
Most Prized Possessions: My daughters.
Most Prized Material Possession: My first grade pencil case. It’s pink and the inside still smells like crayons and graphite.
What I Want To Be When I Grow Up: After I graduated from The Fashion Institute of Technology I wanted to be an editor for a big magazine, but life took me on a different path and I ended up being a display designer. I then took what I learned from working in retail display to start working as an Interior Designer helping people decorate their homes beautifully, but without breaking the bank. Having a blog lets me be my own Editor-In-Chief so I am sort of doing what I always wanted.
Favorite Inside Pastime: Watching old movies from the 40’s and 50’s, especially if they take place in NYC or during WW II and have Cary Grant, Doris Day, Rock Hudson, or Audrey Hepburn in them.
Favorite Outside Pastime: Sitting by above mentioned bodies of water, kayaking, swimming, riding bikes and hiking while on vacation with my family.
Music I Listen To When I Need A Lift: Anything and everything from rock to pop and everything in between along with movie scores by John Williams. I also love the sound of church bells ringing in the distance and will stop and pull over to the side of the road just to hear them. They remind me of a simpler time and to stop and enjoy every moment of my day.
Places I Go When I Need Inspiration: The streets of NYC, public libraries, bookstores where you can read and have a cup of tea or a latte while you browse. Flea markets, magazines such as In-Style, Country Living, House and Home.
Dislike: Amusement parks, I get really dizzy the minute I walk through the gate.
Still Want To Design: The perfect handbag. It would be a bit of “Audrey Hepburn” meets “Jane Goodall”. A small black croc bag that would have a long strap and lots of pockets for organization that would hold my camera, cellphone, sunglasses, keys, and lipstick and not look bulky.
Splurges: Travel and skin care products.
Collect: Seashells, matchbooks, clock faces, baskets, and colored pencils since I was a child.
If You Walked Into My House Right Now You Would Immediately Know: I love color!
Proudest Moment: Getting my book, Instant Decorating published and demonstrating projects from it on TV.
Surprising Fact: I have an identical twin sister named, Carol.
States I Have Lived In: Pennsylvania, New York, California, Washington, North Carolina, New Jersey, and South Carolina
Celebrity I Want To Spend The Day With: Ina Garten
I Smile When I See: A child skipping down the street – so carefree.
Simple Pleasures I Look Forward To: Fresh air, pumpkins, a breeze that makes my curtains billow into my room, a good red wine, the moon shining in on my bed at night, a rainy day, waking up to chirping birds, hearing the surf pounding against the sand.
Can’t Live Without: My Pilates Reformer and Lipstick!!!
Follow me on Social Media:
InstagramMy Writing Elsewhere:
Glidden Paint Website: How to Paint an Open Concept Space More Than One Color
True Value DIY Blog Squad Momtastic My Way Home