Meet the team: Merle Miegel - Burlanes Junior Designer

Both Burlanes design studios have an experienced and passionate team of designers and CAD technicians to bring your dreams to life. Based at Burlanes Sevenoaks alongside our design studio manager Jordan, Merle creates the technical drawings for all Burlanes Sevenoaks' projects.

Let's meet Merle...

Tell us a little bit about yourself...

I was born and raised in South Africa where I spent the majority of my youth.  At 19, I got a job as Au Pair in the USA and by 21, I'd lived in two more countries and emigrated to The Netherlands where I lived for over a decade before moving on again. Fast forward 20+ years, many countries, languages and careers later, and I'm happily living life here in the UK. In my free time, I will either take or instruct a fitness class, be found creating something on Adobe Illustrator, or chilling by the fire with a glass of red wine.

Describe your dream kitchen...

My dream kitchen is a large open kitchen concept with skylights and modern black-framed floor-to-ceiling doors. I would have a large tiled wall with open shelves for all crockery and glassware, a huge island and state-of-the-art appliances. I imagine the furniture to be minimalistic with sleek metal handles as detail. 

Tell us a little bit about your career. How has it unfolded?

I worked in customer service centres for many years before I went to university to study Fashion Design at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute. After graduation, I landed my first fashion job at H&M's head office in Stockholm where I eventually worked my way up to Senior Footwear Designer. Even during my fashion career, I have always had one eye on interior and furniture design. This is why I grabbed the opportunity to work at Burlanes with both hands, I'm really enjoying the challenge and the journey so far.

Name a kitchen gadget that you couldn't live without!

Our DeLonghi coffee makes amazing lattes and we joke it is as good as a wife!

What would people be most surprised to know about you?

I have lived in 10 countries, I speak a fair few languages, worked as an air hostess, and have a certificate in tattooing.