ABOUT US
We believe good design starts with two conversations — one with the building, one with the people who'll live in it. Most design starts from a style and works backwards. We start with those two conversations, and look for where they intersect — whether that's a Georgian townhouse, a 1930s semi, or a new-build extension.
No two projects start the same way, because no two buildings — or families — are the same. A Georgian townhouse asks different questions than a 1990s new-build; a young family entertaining every weekend needs something different from a couple downsizing into their next home. Our job is to read all of it properly before a single decision gets made.
Studio Forty Seven works across residential interiors in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, with occasional projects further afield in London and the South East. Every project starts with the same questions: what does this building already have going for it? How do you actually live, day to day? And what does that mean for how we design the space?
We favour things with provenance — antique and vintage furniture sourced with real care, sustainable finishes, materials that will only get better with age — alongside anything simply new that earns its place. Great design should stand the test of time. Interior design should be no different.
Meet the Founder
Alicia Mellish trained at KLC School of Design before working across commercial and residential interior design in a number of London-based architect studios, where she gained hands-on experience in space planning, technical drawing, and delivering complex projects alongside architects and contractors.
She founded Studio Forty Seven to bring that technical grounding — the kind usually reserved for large architectural practices — to residential projects across the region she calls home. Alicia is a certified member of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID).
When Alicia isn’t working she is almost always outside walking, sailing or swimming, drawing inspiration from the East Coast she calls home. She also writes a regular Interior Design Column for Essex Life Magazine.
How we are different.
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We read the building first.
Georgian townhouse or contemporary new-build, we start with what's actually there — proportions, light, structure — rather than applying a fixed style regardless of context.
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We design for the life, not just the space.
The brief is never just square footage. It's how a family actually spends a Tuesday evening or a Sunday morning, and we design around that.
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Rooted in the region.
We know the difference between a Suffolk pink render and an Essex weatherboard cottage, and we design accordingly — not with a generic "country" template applied everywhere.
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Technically fluent.
We work to the RIBA Plan of Work and are experienced collaborating with architects, structural engineers and planning consultants, on period and new-build projects alike.
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Considered sourcing.
Antique, vintage and sustainably-specified pieces feature in every project we take on — not as a trend, but because things with real character sit more honestly in a home built around real life.
Talk to us about your project.
Every project starts with a conversation — about the building, about how you live, about what you need from the space.
Get in touch and we'll arrange a time to talk it through, either on site or over the phone.