%3Aformat(avif)&w=750&q=75){kind=logo}
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
%3Aformat(avif)&w=3840&q=75)
“I think that enjoying your home and using each room is so important. Many people have rooms they don't even use,” Henderson explained. “How can we make sure that when you come into this room there's a purpose for it?”
One room that exemplifies this purpose-driven idea is the home’s library and game room space. Just off the front entryway, it’s the first room you notice — and Henderson’s favorite in the house. Its warmth, coziness, and intentional design ends up being a de facto thesis statement for the whole project. With its strikingly high ceiling, incredible chandelier, and eight-foot Marvin Ultimate Casement Picture windows helping to fill the room with natural light, it’s an easy room to love and a hard space to leave.
“It's just really simple and beautiful and warm and not pretentious, but definitely well designed,” Henderson said. “It's a room that everybody just loves hanging out in.”
Coziness is a term that comes up repeatedly when discussing the project, but Henderson is quick to point out it’s not the fussy, bric-a-brac cozy where every shelf is filled. The idea was to bring warmth and familiarity without packing the home with ... stuff. There’s enough of that in life, especially with an active family and two growing, school-age children. Her idea was to design and decorate with calm in mind.
“They wanted it homey and warm, but not like bookshelves everywhere, or stuff that they would have to style and keep up,” Henderson said. “That's where wood really played a huge part, because wood adds a massive warmth element without having any of the busyness. So that's why there's a lot of wood [in the home].”
Adding to the dedication to wood and natural materials throughout the project: the use of Marvin Ultimate windows with White Oak interiors in many of the rooms. In almost all cases, these large units showcase the outside world, the river, and the surrounding beauty of the Pacific Northwest, all framed in a soothing wood tone. The windows become stand-ins for what otherwise would’ve been art-covered walls.
“The outside, the views, become the art and all of the trees become the color palette,” Henderson said. “There are greens and blues everywhere outside because of the sky, the trees, the grass, and the river.”
Henderson explained that green is such an important color for her work throughout the home, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Similar to the reds, oranges, and tans that make up much of the interior design colors of the desert Southwest; in Oregon, it’s green in all shades, along with those blues.
“I didn't realize until we moved here, in the winter, it's a lot like living in England, where they paint their walls all different colors to add to the coziness,” Henderson said. “So [in Oregon] we need to bring that in through fabrics, textiles, wood. You need to design the interiors with more color and more textiles to make sure each room feels cozy.”
One of the beauties of these fabrics and textiles, beyond the obvious, is that they’re changeable. For Henderson, and this project that was a long time in coming, the ability to mix, match, swap, and revise was paramount. What she loved in 2020 when the project kicked off, and what felt right then, might not be exactly where she wants to be now. And for her brother and his family, she wanted to start them off with a foundation of timelessness when it came to the parts of the home that are costly and hard to change.
“There are a million mouldings, wallpaper on the ceiling, and all these other things that are really in right now,” Henderson said. “This house is not that house. We're going to have fun in the styling, the layering, and the decorating. But for the hardgoods of the home, like the flooring, tile, windows, all of those are going to be high quality and match the architecture of the house. That's how it's going to be the most timeless.”
So, much like the home itself and its pylon-strengthened base, the entire project is built on a solid footing of quality and consistency, with Henderson’s signature style, color, and texture layered on top.
Get the Latest
From before-and-after transformations to expert tips and how-tos, we’ve got tons of inspiration waiting for you.
%3Afill(transparent)&w=3840&q=75)