Sibling Revelry

Big sis Emily Henderson gives a big assist to her brother. The designer collaborates to build his family's Portland, OR, home.

- JODY GARLOCK

"My brother likes that I'm a designer, but he wanted to make sure everything was family friendly," Emily Henderson says. She fulfilled that brief in this room with mismatched, oversize pieces-comfy for watching TV, from her new furniture line.

Growing up in the country outside of Coos Bay, OR, Emily Henderson and her brother Ken Starke tended to do their own things.

Emily enjoyed hunting for castoff furniture to refurbish. Ken, five years her junior, preferred tossing footballs around. (Fittingly, Emily is now a designer and social media influencer. Ken spent 12 years as a high school football coach until recently becoming a general contractor.) Despite their different childhood interests, the middle siblings in a family of six kids developed some shared traits. "Our parents raised us to be extremely resourceful and to work hard," Emily says. "There's a level of industriousness we both share."

Their industrious spirit was put to the test when Emily collaborated with Ken and his wife, Katie, on a four-year design project as the couple built and furnished their Portland-area house; architect Anne Usher and Portland interior designer Max Humphrey were also part of the team during the initial phases. Although Emily knew that working with family can be tricky, she was confident they would succeed. "We promised to always be upfront with each other and give each other the freedom to do our roles,” she says. “We have really good chemistry and we like to have fun.”