Design led.
Detail obsessed.
Two specialists — kitchens and gardens — who met in St Leonards-on-Sea fifteen years ago and built a practice around a single conviction: driven by design, not by sales targets.
How Decimus started
Met in St Leonards, fifteen years ago.
Corinne and Siobhan met in St Leonards-on-Sea fifteen years ago — the town shaped by Decimus Burton, the 19th-century architect and landscape designer who, alongside his father James Burton, designed and developed much of St Leonards. Their working partnership began later, in 2021, when they launched Decimus Developments — specialising in the acquisition, renovation, and sale of distinctive properties across East Sussex.
Their work is guided by a deep appreciation for quality, integrity, and considered detail — transforming spaces both inside and out. Building on years of successful collaboration and aligned values, they established Decimus, a design studio rooted in the principles of good design. Whether working independently or together, their combined expertise creates a seamless synergy, delivering refined, enduring spaces with clarity and purpose.
Decimus was founded on a simple principle: to be driven by design rather than sales targets. By working with selected manufacturing partners instead of operating a large, sales-focused showroom, we are able to prioritise quality, flexibility, and true creative freedom.
Our approach is collaborative and client-led. We encourage clients to share their ideas and aspirations, while providing professional guidance on layout, balance, and technical detail. This ensures each project achieves a refined aesthetic without compromising on practicality — and without limiting design choice.
The designers
Two specialists. One practice.
Kitchen & Fitted Furniture Design
Siobhan· 22 Years
After leaving the corporate business world to study interior design in London, I began my design career at an independent and bespoke kitchen studio in Brighton. I have been a kitchen designer for over 20 years, and in that time have wandered into the world of bedroom, bathroom and fitted furniture design. I have worked with homeowners, house builders and property developers, successfully delivering design solutions across each.
Four years ago, I launched Decimus Design Studio offering both a design-only service and design-and-supply of carefully selected furniture. Being driven by design rather than sales targets, we recognise the value in carefully selected furniture manufacturers — and choose them deliberately, not commercially.
Garden & Landscape Design
Corinne· 30 Years
I began my design journey in the 1990s, buying and renovating properties in London and Brighton. After a period overseas, I returned to the UK and finally settled in Hastings, where I continued renovating homes and developing my design expertise.
Through renovating properties, I realised I was increasingly drawn to the relationship between a house and its garden — particularly how the outdoor space complemented (or sometimes failed to complement) a newly transformed interior. This growing passion led me to formally study garden design at One Garden, Plumpton College. I later founded Decimus Garden Design, combining my background in property renovation with how thoughtful garden design can complete and elevate a home.
What guides us
Four principles, every project.
01
Design-led, not sales-led
We work with selected manufacturing partners rather than a sales-focused showroom. Decisions are made for the project — not against a quota.
02
Quality, integrity, considered detail
Every decision interrogated for whether it earns its place. A refined aesthetic that never compromises on practicality.
03
Collaborative and client-led
Your ideas and aspirations shape the brief. Our professional guidance refines the execution. Together, throughout.
04
Inside and out, as one
Kitchen and garden design from a single practice. Spaces inside and out designed in dialogue — not in isolation.
How we work
Independent expertise.
Shared decisions.
On kitchen-only or garden-only projects, you work directly with the relevant designer — Siobhan for kitchen and fitted furniture, Corinne for garden and landscape. The other contributes to thinking when it's useful, and stays out of the way when it isn't.
On Outdoor Living projects — where the cooking, the terrace, the planting and the levels are designed as one composition — Siobhan and Corinne attend the first site visit together, share one brief, and produce a single integrated plan. No translation layer. No handover gaps.
We work with a limited number of clients at a time, by design. Honest conversations about scope, budget and timeline come before any drawings. If we're not the right fit for your project, we'll say so.
Get In Touch
Every project starts with
an honest conversation.
Tell us what you're thinking. We'll tell you honestly whether — and how — we can help. Always without obligation.
