Our
studio.

Princess

Our multidisciplinary studio team excels in visual storytelling, interior design, and operational best practices.

With over 15 years of experience, Melling Studio has built a foundation of collaborating with like-minded individuals.

We are creative, thoughtful, calm and approachable.

Melling Studio is a full service Interior Design Firm. Our extensive body of work expresses a warm, minimal aesthetic paired with a cohesive material palette that is often inspired by the natural world.

What sets us apart is our deep commitment to creating meaningful connections — with many clients and collaborators becoming cherished friends along the way.

We are curious about the connection between design and the human experience — how space can make you feel — and often begin a project by guiding a client through an exercise to visualize the qualities of their completed space.

With a blend of optimism, curiosity, and collaboration — all supported by clear elegant process — we imbue each project with a sense of wonder.

Stephens

Stephens

Meet our
Studio Team.

Laura Melling
Founder & Creative Director

Laura is continually inspired by being out in the world – connecting with the community and exploring opportunities for co-creation. Her favourite part of the design process is discovery - an essential ingredient that imbues each project with a shape or framework that guides our whole process.

Get to know Laura +
Get to know:

Laura Melling

Founder & Creative Director

Why did you choose Interior Design?

From an early age growing up in Victoria, Laura had a spatial awareness and a tactile understanding of the world. Art was my favourite class – it’s where the ideas of exploration and process were first incubated. This creative side was paired with a willingness to take risks, something which is an integral part of being an entrepreneur. Following graduation from high school, I knew I wanted to spend my life doing something creative but couldn’t yet grasp what that actually meant or the steps involved to get there. Enter design school – first a Diploma in Interior Design from Pacific Design Academy in Victoria, followed by a Bachelor of Design from OCAD in Toronto with a focus on materiality and textiles. While at OCAD, I was exposed to a conceptual studio environment paired with classes like guerilla entrepreneurism which started to shape how I could blend creativity with business.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

My favourite part of the design process is Discovery - an essential ingredient that imbues each project with a formula that guides our creative process. Collaboration is another core value/favourite part - this is all about joining forces to reimagine an idea, and is an essential ingredient for the studio’s playbook. I view each project as a platform to embody collaboration and engage with fellow creators, makers and thought leaders to bring ideas to life.

3 words people would use to describe you?

Open, Optimistic, Creative

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

Love cycling + am part of a local cycle club called Velosophy Queen of the Mountain where I work with a coach to learn how to ride hills. Other hobbies include - exploration whether it be local or afar, yoga, reading, and I have a new found curiosity for gardening.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

For me inspiration can come from many sources. Living in Vancouver, I draw an immense amount of inspiration from our coastal landscape - the mountains, forest and ocean. I am also continually inspired by being out in the world - connecting with the community and exploring opportunities for co-creation.

What did you want to be when you grew up and if you weren't in Interior Design, what would you be doing?

Growing up, I think I wanted to be a part of one of the HGTV shows like Trading Spaces. If I wasn't an Interior Designer, I may explore being a Real Estate Agent.

Anna Longrigg
Senior Designer

Anna loves to discover how people use their spaces, and work together to bring more beauty, functionality, and joy to their everyday lives. She enjoys learning about her clients and their vision for an ideal space. Seeing clients mirror her enthusiasm for design + materiality is a wonderful moment of connection.

Get to know Anna +
Get to know:

Anna Longrigg

Senior Designer

Why did you choose Interior Design?

I have always had a proclivity for making and hands-on design. The desire to interact more directly with space and materials led me to pursue a career in interior design. This pivot has allowed me to express my aesthetic point of view in a more accessible, tactile, and “everyday” way.

What is your background?

I completed both my Bachelor of Architectural Studies (B.Arch) and my Master of Architecture degree (M.Arch) at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. My design work and education have taken me to Cape Town, Rome, Venice, San Sebastian, Cambridge, and Vancouver. My experience spans luxury residential architecture, commercial, single-family and multi-family interior design, academic research, and exhibit design.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

I love the ability to be involved in projects from conception to installation. It is magic to begin a process in the discovery phase with our clients and to see it methodically come to life. From initial inspiration and drawing studies to construction drawings and site visits, each stage presents unique and exciting design challenges that keep me on my toes.

3 words people would use to describe you?

Resourceful, Collaborative, Energetic.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

I am an avid hobbyist! My personal creative practices include sewing, ceramics, plaster casting, and gardening. Each of these activities brings me a sense of grounding. They all require me to slow down and engage deeply with different materials and their unique properties.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

With a constant stream of imagery online, I try my best to engage in analog forms of inspiration. Whether it be travel, going on a walk in my neighbourhood, reading, rummaging through samples, or working in the garden — my imagination is always more active when I create space and time for curiosity and wonder.

What is your favourite studio project and why?

If you know me, you know that I care about every project I work on (a lot). Picking a favourite is impossible! I love Stephens for its original character and radical transformation, Ross Street for its meticulous details and Chau Flat for its commitment to colour and play. We also have some in-process projects that I can’t wait to share with the world!

What did you want to be when you grew up and if you weren't in Interior Design, what would you be doing?

From my previous answers, you may have learned that I love to have my hands in the dirt. Growing up I wanted to be a paleontologist and would go off to the park to daydream of dinosaurs while searching for fossils. If I hadn’t pursued design I would likely be a mathematician. While I love to flex my creative muscles, there is nothing better than a good problem or puzzle to solve, and I secretly enjoyed my math class the most!

Patricia Gutierrez
Intermediate Designer

Patricia believes that beauty, function, simplicity, and collaboration are essential ingredients for good design. She also believes that when we inhabit well designed spaces and surround ourselves with thoughtfully designed objects, we may move more fluently and happily. She is grateful for the opportunity to explore design through the lens of curiosity and creativity.

Get to know Patricia +
Get to know:

Patricia Gutierrez

Intermediate Designer

Why did you choose Interior Design?

Since I was a kid, I have understood the connection between people and the spaces they inhabit and how that relation impacts interactions and behaviours.

What is your background?

I come from Mexico City, and the chaos and overstimulation from growing up in a huge city made me want to create and inhabit calm, organized spaces. I studied architecture to learn how to do this.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

Space planning. Finding logical solutions that transform the flow and feel of a space.

3 words people would use to describe you?

Focused, Resourceful, Playful.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

Reading, cooking, and playing with my boys.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Nature, art, science and people-watching.

What is your favourite studio project and why?

Stephens. I like how the space was reused and repurposed to fit the client's needs without compromising beauty.

What did you want to be when you grew up and if you weren't in Interior Design, what would you be doing?

I always envisioned myself working in something that had to do with creating functional environments, even if I didn't know it was called interior design or architecture. If I hadn't done this, I might have been a Montessori teacher.

Crystal Wilcox
FF&E Designer & Marketing Specialist

Crystal finds joy in storytelling and creating meaningful connections between people and their spaces. With a diverse background in real estate and design, she brings a commitment to purposeful craftsmanship into every project. She thoroughly enjoys collaboration to bring visions to life.

Get to know Crystal +
Get to know:

Crystal Wilcox

FF&E Designer & Marketing Specialist

Why did you choose Interior Design?

I chose interior design because I've always had a passion for storytelling and how that intertwines with how a space makes you feel. Interior design allows me to step into the clients' or muse's shoes and envision how they use their space to create environments that are authentic and aligned with their lifestyles.

What is your background?

I grew up in a family deeply connected to design and real estate; my mom is a realtor and my dad owned a set design and staging company. This unique blend of experiences led me to start my career in the real estate industry, where I held various roles and worked with different developers in the Lower Mainland. Over the past 10 years, I have been able to curate and blend all of my passions and expertise into a career in Interior Design and Marketing, which is a very exciting place to be.

What are your favourite parts of your job?

I find immense joy in the conceptual stage of the process which takes in everything we learned during the discovery stage and sets the tone for the entire project. It is so fun to see the dots connect and evolve into the final, tangible product, especially with the addition of Furniture + Accessories which I thoroughly enjoy curating and is one of my favourite parts of my job. Collaborating closely with clients and the team is also an incredibly rewarding part of the job as we work together to craft spaces that are both personal and memorable.

3 words people would use to describe you?

Bubbly, Intuitive, Passionate.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

I have recently taken up Pickleball + Pottery which I am thoroughly enjoying. One of my all-time favourite hobbies is cooking - it really is a form of meditation for me.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I find inspiration in many things, especially travelling and books. As Rick Rubin beautifully expressed in "The Creative Act," inspiration involves refining sensitivity, paying attention to subtle nuances, and exploring what draws us in and pushes us away, while noticing the feeling tones that arise and where they lead. Honing my intuition as a creative in a world that can bombard you with so much content has been a fun exploration that I look forward to continuing to build upon.

What is your favourite studio project and why?

Each project has such a distinct personality that reflects the client, which is what makes each one so special. Morgan is one of my favourite projects because I felt transported into that person's world when I stepped into the space, with no detail overlooked in bringing that story to life.

What did you want to be when you grew up and if you weren't in Interior Design, what would you be doing?

I wanted to be many things growing up, but my earliest memory is wanting to be an Actor. If I weren't in Interior Design, I would probably be in PR or working with brands as a Creative Director — or naming nail polish colours, which I think is a pretty cool job!

Select clients

Stephens

Let’s discover together.

We welcome collaborations with a diverse array of residential, multi-family, and commercial clients, especially those who appreciate the power of collaboration and embrace curiosity.

Feel free to reach out; we look forward to creating something special together.