Boudoir Studio No. 2: The Story Behind My New Studio

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be standing in my own second boudoir studio, surrounded by dark green walls, vintage furniture, gold mirrors, huge windows and one of the most ridiculous amounts of wallpaper I’ve ever seen in my life, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.

And yet… here we are. 🥹

Welcome to Boudoir Studio No. 2.

The new home of Boudoir with Jess, tucked away in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, inside an old brewery building that I genuinely think might have more character than I do.

But getting here was not quite as straightforward as finding a space, painting some walls and putting a bed in it.

Far from it.

This studio has been months in the making, and there have been a LOT of moments along the way where I wondered what on earth I had got myself into.

So I thought it was about time I told the full story…

From my first studio to studio number two

My first studio was something I was incredibly proud of.

After years of photographing weddings and boudoir, and building Boudoir with Jess from the ground up, I finally opened my own dedicated studio in Southend in August 2024.

It was a huge deal for me.

That little studio became the place where I welcomed more than 100 women in my first year, photographed countless incredible sessions, created albums, celebrated milestones, nervous first-timers, birthdays, weddings, body transformations and so many “I can't believe that's me” moments.

It was home.

But as the business grew, so did my vision.

And eventually, I knew I had outgrown it.

I didn't just want a bigger room.

I wanted a completely different experience.

I wanted somewhere that felt more like Boudoir with Jess. Somewhere that reflected how my work had evolved over the years and felt luxurious, private, feminine and comfortable, but also a little bit dark, moody and sexy.

Most importantly, I wanted somewhere I could continue creating a space where women could walk through the door and immediately feel safe to be themselves.

So the hunt for studio number two began.

And then I found it…

The new studio is in Great Baddow, Chelmsford, inside an old brewery building.

And honestly, the building itself was one of the things that sold it to me.

I didn't want a bland white box. I wanted character. I wanted texture. I wanted beams, old features, interesting little details and things that made the space feel like it had a history.

The building had all of that.

What it didn't have was… a finished boudoir studio.

😂

So began the transformation.

I knew exactly how I wanted it to feel

One of the biggest changes from my old studio was the aesthetic.

My first studio was much brighter and lighter. Over the years, though, my photography style had changed. I'd become much more drawn to deeper shadows, richer tones and that gorgeous sultry atmosphere you get when you play with light and darkness.

So I wanted the new studio to reflect that.

Dark. Moody. Warm. Luxurious. Comfortable.

But without losing the natural-light feel that is such a huge part of my photography.

I didn't want to turn it into a dark cave. The studio has these huge windows, and natural light is still absolutely at the heart of how I photograph. The idea was to use the darker surroundings to actually make that light feel even more dramatic.

I wanted women to walk in and think:

Oh my god. This is gorgeous.

But I also wanted them to think:

I could actually spend a whole day here.

Because that's important to me.

Boudoir doesn't have to feel intimidating. It doesn't have to feel overly sexual. It doesn't have to feel like you're walking onto a film set where you're expected to suddenly become someone completely different.

I wanted it to feel like a really beautiful space where you could relax, have a coffee, get your hair and makeup done, rummage through outfits, laugh, dance around, change your mind 14 times and eventually forget the camera is even there.

The colour palette

I knew pretty early on that I wanted green.

Not bright green. Not sage. Something deeper. Something earthy and expensive looking.

The overall palette became warm creams, deep greens, dark wood, muted neutrals and little touches of gold.

Basically, everything I love rolled into one room. 😂

I wanted the studio to feel sophisticated but not sterile. Luxury, but not showroom luxury.

I wanted warmth. Texture. Things you wanted to touch. Things you wanted to look at. And lots of little details that would make the space feel like mine.

Then came the wallpaper…

Ah.

The wallpaper.

😂

One of the biggest features of the new studio is the gorgeous deep green wallpaper.

And then there was the mural.

I had this very specific vision for one of the walls and eventually found a company in America who created exactly the kind of hazy, textured mural I had imagined.

Of course, it took around four weeks to arrive.

Because apparently when you decide you want something very specific from the other side of the Atlantic, patience becomes part of the interior design process.

But when it finally arrived, it was worth it.

That wall became such a huge part of the finished space. It added exactly the texture and atmosphere I'd been trying to create, and suddenly I could start seeing the studio in my head becoming a reality.

And then came the actual work…

This is the part you don't necessarily see on Instagram.

You see the finished room. You see the pretty photographs. You see the reels. You see me standing in front of a gorgeous wall saying, “I'M OBSESSED.”

What you don't see is everything that happened before that.

The planning. The deliveries. The waiting. The things that didn't arrive when they were supposed to. The things that needed changing. The endless trips back and forth. The building. The decorating. The cleaning. The assembling. The moving.

And then the realisation that something you'd carefully planned wasn't going to work quite how you'd imagined.

Then changing it.

Then changing something else.

Then wondering why you'd decided to open another studio in the first place.

😂

There were plenty of moments where it felt like there was still SO much to do and absolutely no time to do it.

And because this wasn't a little room makeover, everything felt like a bigger job.

Furniture had to be chosen. Walls had to be painted. The flooring needed to work with the whole aesthetic. Radiators needed disguising. Lighting and furniture positions had to work with the natural light. The changing area needed creating. The coffee station needed a home. The print area needed a home. The bed needed to work photographically as well as practically.

Everything had to have a purpose.

And somehow it all had to look effortless at the end.

I wanted every corner to photograph

One of the biggest things I thought about when designing the space was how I actually use a studio.

I'm not just sitting in one corner photographing the same setup all day.

Every session moves. We change outfits. We change poses. We change the lighting. We move around the room.

So I wanted as many different little environments as possible.

The bed, the sofa, the windows, the curtains, the mirrors, the darker corners, the textured walls, the floor and all of those old building features can now become part of a session.

I wanted a client to be able to come in with three or four outfits and feel like we'd created completely different sets of images by the end of the day.

And I wanted the studio to feel like a space I could continue evolving. Not something that was finished once and never touched again.

Then there were the stairs…

Because of course there had to be a catch.

😂

The building is Grade II listed, which is part of what gives it so much of its character. But it also means the studio is upstairs, with two flights of stairs and no lift.

So yes, there are some practical limitations to the building that I have to be upfront about.

It isn't wheelchair accessible, unfortunately, and that is something I wish were different.

But every building comes with compromises, and for me, the character and atmosphere of this space were worth it.

The little details are what make it mine

Once the big jobs were done, I became obsessed with the details.

Dark oak furniture. A vintage white sofa. Gold mirrors. Candles. Linen curtains. Throws. The coffee station. The changing room. The print area. All of those little touches around the studio that make it feel warm rather than clinical.

And, naturally, some slightly more boudoir-specific additions too. 😉

The studio now has a dedicated bodyscape setup, new props, a rope setup and an upgraded Ann Summers kit.

Because if we're going to do boudoir, we're going to do boudoir properly.

But even those things aren't there just because they look sexy.

They're there to give women options.

You might come in thinking you want nothing remotely “spicy” and leave having tried something you never imagined you'd feel comfortable doing.

Or you might know exactly what you want.

Either is completely fine.

The ceiling rope…

I also had the slightly unhinged idea of putting an enormous black rope across the ceiling.

We're talking roughly 6 metres of rope.

And not a cute little piece either. I wanted something chunky and dramatic, around 30-40mm, that could become part of the studio itself.

Because apparently one of the requirements for my dream boudoir studio is that there must be an unnecessarily enormous piece of rope somewhere.

😂

But that's actually part of what I love about the new space.

It's allowed me to be more creative. To experiment. To introduce things that I couldn't necessarily do before. To let the studio evolve alongside my photography.

Moving was its own adventure

Once everything was finally ready enough to move, we had to actually get everything from the old studio into the new one.

And when you've accumulated an entire boudoir studio's worth of furniture, props, equipment, styling pieces and random things you apparently cannot live without…

You realise you own A LOT.

The move happened towards the end of July, with the new lease officially starting in August.

It was exhausting.

Exciting.

Stressful.

Emotional.

And slightly surreal.

Because suddenly I was standing in this completely new space thinking:

This is actually mine.

And then I had the fun job of making it look finished

Of course, “moved in” and “finished” are two VERY different things.

😂

Even after the big move, there were still things to do.

Things to hang. Things to style. Things to photograph. Things to tweak. Things to order. Things that needed to be changed because they looked completely different in real life to how they had looked in my head.

And then there was the small matter of updating my website, my session guide, my social media, my images and basically everything else that still had photos of the old studio on it.

So if you've spotted the occasional old studio image hanging around during the transition…

No, you weren't imagining it.

I'm getting there. 😂

But eventually… it all clicked

There was a moment when I walked into the studio and it finally felt finished.

Not necessarily because every single thing was perfect.

But because I could finally see the vision I'd had in my head for months sitting in front of me.

The dark green. The warm cream. The wood. The gold. The vintage pieces. The huge windows. The shadows. The texture. The natural light. The little details. The character of the building.

It finally looked like Boudoir with Jess.

And I think that's what makes me so emotional about it.

This isn't just a new studio.

It's a physical representation of how much this business has changed.

From a little camera and a hotel room…

When I think about where this all started, it feels slightly ridiculous.

Back in 2020, I was doing boudoir model days with a little vlogging camera and a handheld light.

Then came hotel rooms.

Then my first proper studio.

And now…

Studio number two.

The business that started as something I was experimenting with has become something that has completely changed my life.

I've photographed hundreds of women.

I've watched women who walked in saying they hated photographs of themselves completely transform in front of my camera.

I've watched nervous women become confident.

I've watched women celebrate birthdays, marriages, divorces, weight loss, turning 40, turning 50, becoming mums, getting through difficult periods and sometimes just decide:

I want to do something for me.

And now I have a space that feels worthy of all of that.

So, welcome to the new home of Boudoir with Jess

Boudoir Studio No. 2 isn't perfect.

There are still things I want to change.

There will probably always be things I want to change, because apparently I am incapable of leaving anything alone. 😂

But that's the point.

It's mine.

It's a space that I have built around the experience I want every woman who walks through the door to have.

A space where you don't have to look a certain way.

You don't have to be a certain age.

You don't have to be confident.

You don't have to know how to pose.

You don't have to know what to do with your hands.

You don't have to arrive feeling like a “boudoir person”.

You just have to turn up.

I'll take care of the rest.

I'll hype you up.

I'll direct you.

I'll make you laugh.

I'll probably tell you to stick your bum out approximately 400 times.

And somewhere along the way, we'll create photographs that make you see yourself through slightly kinder eyes.

Because ultimately, that's what this studio was built for.

Not just to take beautiful photographs.

But to create a space where women can feel beautiful while we're taking them.

And after months of planning, building, decorating, moving, stressing, changing my mind, waiting for deliveries and wondering if I'd completely lost the plot…

I can finally say it.

Boudoir Studio No. 2 is open.

And I bloody love it. ❤️