Designed for life
When Amanda Henningsen resolved to design her own new home in Athens, Georgia, she was inspired by time spent in Kent, England.
‘The first time I visited the UK I stayed with a family at their home in Tunbridge Wells and became the biggest Anglophile,’ she explains.
So how did this project come into being?
‘I’m not a formally trained designer, and this was my first time building a home, but I think that helped because I didn’t follow any rules or design trends.
‘I just thought about how my family would actually live in the house, more than how it would look.’
‘My design decisions were inspired by a lot of things, but especially the time I’ve spent in England. There’s just something about English homes; they have a quiet confidence.
‘They’re not afraid to use materials that age and understand that something can be beautiful and comfortable at the same time.’
Was het gevoel dat een ruimte ‘meer’ kan worden door ‘minder’ te hebben iets wat Amanda altijd al voelde?
‘Na verloop van tijd ben ik gedisciplineerder geworden,’ geeft ze toe. ‘Ik denk dat goed design soms juist draait om terughoudendheid. Ik ben dingen gaan weg laten en ben meer gaan nadenken over materialen en dingen die mooi en op een natuurlijke manier oud zouden worden.’
‘Een goed ontworpen huis met mooie architectonische elementen, zoals de stukken van Corston, ziet er al prachtig uit nog voordat er iets anders aan wordt toegevoegd, zoals meubels of decoratie.
‘Toen ik op de dag van de verhuizing eerder bij het huis aankwam dan de verhuizers, had ik bijna geen zin om hier meubels neer te zetten. Ik vond het mooi zoals het leeg was, en ik denk dat de Corston-meubels me hielpen het huis te waarderen voordat er nog iets anders bij kwam.’
According to Amanda, our designs were always part of her plan.
‘I may have been one of the first US customers as I had been waiting not so patiently to be able to use the light switches, but still meet US code,’ she says, laughing.
‘I found very early on that Corston aligned with my design philosophy. Their pieces don’t scream at you, they’re just very well designed. They care about the materials they use, about making something that’s going to withstand time, and they have a weight to them that makes them seem more architectural than ornamental.
‘I chose the paintable switches because visual noise really bothers me and the paintable switches allowed for that architectural continuity throughout the house.
‘With design I don’t think it’s about what you notice all the time, sometimes it’s about what disappears, and that’s something I really liked about those switches.’
Gepubliceerd op 15 juli 2026
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