Her family lived in a co-operative apartment building in Helsinki where she was introduced to neighboring master carpenters and joiners whom she later apprenticed for.

Their early built works were mostly small-scale buildings, especially summer villas, designed in the style of Nordic Classicism.

Aino’s first project that was accredited entirely to her was Villa Flora (1926, extended 1938) the Aalto family's holiday home in Alajärvi, South Ostrobothnia, which expressed the efficiency of modernism and the simplicity of rural Finnish life.

She paid attention to the comfort level of a home and used materiality and furnishings to achieve a warm and practical space that was rare in 20th-century modernism.

It has recently been discovered that it was Aino who completed the first interior design work commissioned through Artek, the Viipuri Library in 1936.

[11] In the early years of their marriage and design partnership Aino Aalto and her husband would enter architectural competitions with their own separate entries.

Aino's work was always measured against the achievements of her husband and she often stood by while Alvar received recognition for their joint projects.

2021 Design for Modern Life MoMA, New York, USA 2018 Modern Couples - Art, Intimacy and the Avant-garde Barbican Art Gallery London, United Kingdom 2017 Aino Aalto stars in the Children’s Scale exhibition Alvar Aalto Museum, Jyväskylä, Finland 2016/2017 How Should We Live?

Propositions for the Modern Interior MoMA, New York, USA 2014 Nordic Art and Vintage Design Galerie Christian Roellin, St. Gallen, Switzerland 2013-2014 Designing Modern Women 1890–1990 MoMA, New York, USA 2009 INTO THE WOODS: An Exploration of itala Chelsea space London, United Kingdom 2006 Art & Technology.

Moments in Artek history Alvar Aalto Museum Jyväskylä, Finland 2006 Artist’s Choice: Herzog & de Meuron, Perception Restrained MoMA, New York, USA 2004 Humble Masterpieces MoMA, New York, USA 2004 Solo Exhibition at Alvar Aalto Museum Jyväskylä, Finland[13][5]