Led by the perceptive and instinctively talented Mariah Burton alongside co-founder and head of operations Chris Polain, Folk Studio carries a warmth and sensitivity rare in today’s fiercely image-led world.

Folk Studio is grounded in the belief that design should do more than dazzle – it should transform, uplift and quietly improve the rhythm of everyday life.

Burton’s relationship with interiors is not one of happenstance or opportunism but something innate. At age seven, she was offering impromptu design consultations to neighbours on her childhood street, drawn by an instinctive need to make people feel better in their homes.

“As a child, I wanted to help people feel good in their spaces,” she reflects. “I didn’t know what an architect [or designer] was; I didn’t even know it was a job. But I knew I wanted to be in that world.”

Folk Studio director Mariah Burton.

This clarity of purpose has become one of Burton’s defining strengths – a quality recognised last year with her inclusion in the Australian Design Review’s prestigious 30UNDER30 program. The accolade highlights her growing influence as both a designer and a quietly inspiring voice for greater inclusivity in the industry.

“It’s a little surreal,” she admits. “We’re still a small studio, and I tend to keep my head down and focus on the work, so this kind of recognition is unexpected but really meaningful.”

But Burton hadn’t always felt comfortable as a young designer in a discipline comprising an “older demographic”. In fact, suffering from impostor syndrome, she felt quite self-conscious for some time.

“When I started Folk, I was only 23,” she recalls. “I naively jumped into starting a business, expecting people to trust me with their life savings for a project. I would think, ‘Who’s going to hire a 23-year-old to build their multi-million dollar home?’”

Luckily, it did land, and it did work.

“Being recognised as a 30UNDER30 celebrates my journey from being self-conscious and concealing my age – always trying to push it under the rug – to looking at all the things we’ve achieved at Folk and embracing it.” 

Clovelly House.

Developing as a designer

Founded six years ago, Folk Studio has steadily built a reputation for its emotive, people-first approach to interiors. Burton’s work consistently marries a considered understanding of spatial flow with an expressive use of materiality. She says there’s a tactile quality to every project – stone, timber, linen and sculptural lighting are carefully layered to evoke intimacy and belonging.

“We work a lot with natural materials, textured finishes and custom pieces,” Burton explains. “It’s not about following trends. It’s about designing something that fits the person or the business and will still feel right in 10 years.”

The studio’s portfolio reveals a diverse and deeply personal design language. In Salon Her, a Sydney hair salon, Burton drew inspiration from the evocative lobby spaces of grand hotels, blending nostalgia with contemporary colour.

“Our client was fearless with colour and pattern, so we let that guide us,” Burton explains. The result is a space that feels as though one has stepped into a friend’s home, enveloped in warmth and layered texture.

Soft minimalism in Clovelly House.

One of Folk Studio’s recent standouts, Croydon House, is a post-war brick home reimagined with depth and soul. Working with a tight footprint, Burton layered rich textures – burnished plaster, oak veneer, handmade tiles – to create spaces that feel grounded yet luminous.

“We wanted to keep the spirit of the original home, but give it warmth and rhythm,” she says. The result is a home that holds its history while feeling quietly contemporary, each room unfolding with tactile nuance and natural light.

What separates Folk Studio is its refusal to follow the status quo. Burton’s work avoids the superficiality that can plague contemporary residential and commercial design, preferring instead to work from within, led by her clients’ personalities, habits and hopes. “We’re not interested in trends,” she says. “Everything is about longevity and the people who are going to live or work in a space. Our job is to pull back and ask, ‘What will this feel like in 10 years?’. The biggest compliment I receive is that every project has a distinct identity.”

Textures rooted in a distinct Australian identity

Burton’s material selections are guided by more than aesthetics. An advocate of ethical, local production, she works closely with Australian brands and artisans, drawn to pieces with longevity and stories worth telling. From the patina of natural stone to the organic imperfections of handmade tiles, her spaces feel textured with a human touch.

“We’re quite considered in everything,” Burton explains. “That doesn’t mean stripped back or minimalist. It just means everything has to make sense. We work a lot with natural materials, textured finishes and custom pieces that last.”

Folk Studio worked with ToniMay directors to design a warm and flowing feel to their boutique jewellery space.

The studio’s collaborations reflect this philosophy. A partnership with Lo & Co Interiors produced a range of hardware defined by elegant simplicity, while a lighting collaboration with McMullin, named after Burton’s late father, adds an understated emotional resonance to her portfolio.

As the broader industry moves towards a more sustainable future, Burton is already quietly invested in that conversation. She gravitates towards biodegradable and energy-efficient materials, values local manufacturing and uses specification as a way to support independent makers. 

AHIA Best Business Newcomer of the Year 2023, Salon HER was inspired by luxury hotels and the beauty of their lobbies.

Six years into Folk Studio’s story, Burton shows no sign of slowing. New residential projects in Castle Cove, Rozelle and Freshwater promise to continue the studio’s evolution, pairing Burton’s emotionally intelligent design approach with a sharpened sense of environmental responsibility.

Her 30UNDER30 recognition is both a reflection of past achievements and a marker of what’s to come. Burton’s influence lies not in grand statements, but in small, deliberate choices – in making design feel personal again, in placing people and their lives at the centre of every project and in gently guiding an industry towards a more thoughtful, inclusive future.

Folk Studio may be small in size, but its reach and resonance are growing with quiet conviction. Under Burton’s lead, it stands as proof that good design is not about spectacle but about creating spaces that feel lived-in, loved and unmistakably human.

“Design is such an emotional thing,” Burton says. “You’re creating spaces people live their lives in. There’s a responsibility in that.”

It’s this grounded sensibility that runs through Folk Studio’s work: calm, composed and deeply attuned to the people who inhabit it. “If it feels effortless,” she says, “then we’ve done our job.”

Photography by Jacqui Turk.

This article originally appeared in issue 121 of inside magazine. Grab a copy here.