Winter Whites
On the North Fork of Long Island, discerning shop owner Lori Guyer takes an all-is-calm approach to at-home accessorizing with serene shades, colorless candy canes, and a light dusting of vintage decor.
No matter the season, Lori Guyer typically has visions of Christmas dancing in her head. As the proprietor of
White Flower Farmhouse (@whiteflowerfarmhouse)—her long-standing Southold, New York, vintage boutique—Lori has become known for her festive and retro holiday displays, decking out the North Fork favorite with old-timey Christmas decorations she hunts down yearround. “I’m up in attics in the middle of summer when it’s 100 degrees, pulling down the ornaments at estate sales,” she says. “Then I pack it all away and bring it to the store so that the day after Thanksgiving, all that vintage Christmas is ready and waiting in the shop.”
A similar scene plays out every year at the shopkeeper’s home in the centuries-old maritime village of Greenport (population: 2,230). It’s here that Lori showcases her personal collection of vintage glass ornaments and hard plastic Santa Claus candy containers from the 1940s and ’50s among a more evergreen assortment of ironstone and antique furniture. “I like to collect Christmas items because I can enjoy them for a few weeks and then put them all away,” says Lori. “Because I spend so much of my day surrounded by stuff at the shop, when I’m at home, I like to keep things serene and simple.”
Lori and her husband, Stephen, bought their circa-1850 saltbox-turnedfarmhouse in 2014 and enlisted local