Interior Designer · KT10, KT11, KT22
Interior design in Esher & Cobham
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in Esher & Cobham. A BIID Registered Interior Designer® studio based in Mayfair, London, it offers full interior design, technical design and bespoke joinery, FF&E procurement and a single design-and-build service, with Katherine personally involved in every project.
Homes in Esher & Cobham
Esher and Cobham combine historic village centres with private estates of large detached houses in mature grounds. Interior work ranges from period cottages and listed buildings near the old cores to substantial family houses at Fairmile, Burhill and the Crown Estate in Oxshott, where the scale of rooms and the relationship to the garden shape the scheme.
Elmbridge's companion guide describes Fairmile as mostly private estates with houses set well back in mature landscaped gardens, the Burhill Estate as large two-storey houses on very large plots, and the Crown Estate at Birds Hill and Bevendean as houses often hidden by beech hedges, with larger replacement houses changing the area. Esher's conservation area includes Victorian terraces on Park Road, late nineteenth-century villas with canted bays and sashes on Wolsey Road, and a 1920s and 1930s private estate on Clive Road with leaded casements and handmade clay tiles. Church Cobham has older, individually designed houses near the River Mole, some of them listed. Interior projects often involve whole-house schemes for large detached homes, kitchens and family rooms opening to gardens, and careful work within period and listed buildings.
How the studio works
Every project, from a single room to a whole house or a commercial space, follows the same five-stage, RIBA-aligned journey: Define, Develop, Resolve, Deliver and Complete. The studio works alongside your architect and contractor, or delivers a single design-and-build service from concept to completion.
- Full interior design, from a single room to a whole house
- Interior architecture and spatial planning
- Technical design and bespoke joinery
- Lighting design
- FF&E design, procurement and installation
- Commercial interiors
- Design and build, or alongside your architect and contractor
The studio takes on projects across KT10, KT11, KT22, including streets such as Clive Road, Wolsey Road, Park Road, Church Street and River Hill.
Enquire Now
Before you start in Esher & Cobham
The consents and local rules that most often shape an interior project here, each linked to its official source. The studio checks them for your property at the start, so they are planned into the design and the programme.
Elmbridge states that statutory listing covers internal features as well as external ones, so changes to interiors may need listed building consent, with a Heritage Statement. About 750 buildings in the borough are listed, 92% of them Grade II. Locally listed buildings on the Local Heritage Asset List, agreed on 5 July 2023, carry no additional legal protection.Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
Esher conservation area was designated on 31 July 1973 by Surrey County Council and extended by Elmbridge, most recently on 27 February 2008. Its character appraisal notes that many houses keep permitted development rights, so windows and doors can be replaced without permission, and that the council would consider Article 4(2) directions case by case. It asks for period shopfronts to be retained and points to the council's Shopfronts in conservation areas guidance (March 2002).Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
Cobham conservation area, also designated on 31 July 1973, centres on Church Cobham and the River Mole, including Mill Road, River Hill and Church Street. Listed buildings include the Grade I Church of St Andrew, Ham Manor, Cedar House and Church Stile House (Grade II*) and Cobham Mill (Grade II). A character appraisal and management proposals document was endorsed on 11 June 2019.Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
Elmbridge recommends noisy construction work only between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am and 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or bank holidays. These are voluntary guideline hours, and a site may open an hour either side to start machinery and accept deliveries.Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
Surrey County Council charges £90 per bay for a suspension of up to three days, plus £15 per extra day, and normally needs the application at least ten days ahead. Skips, building materials and cherry pickers on the highway need separate licences, and only skip companies registered with the county can apply for a skip licence.Source: surreycc.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in Esher & Cobham
Our Cobham house is listed. Does that affect the kitchen and bathrooms, or only the outside?
Listing covers the interior as well as the exterior. Elmbridge advises that changes to interiors may need listed building consent, supported by a Heritage Statement. Replacing fittings within an existing layout is treated differently from removing walls, historic joinery or features. We survey the house first, identify what contributes to its significance and plan kitchens and bathrooms so they work with it.Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
Can we replace the windows on our house in Esher conservation area?
Often yes. Esher's character appraisal notes that many houses there are single dwellings with permitted development rights, so windows and doors can be replaced without planning permission, though the council may consider Article 4(2) directions case by case. Listed buildings and flats are different. Where original sashes or leaded casements survive, we generally recommend repair and draught-proofing over replacement.Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
What hours can contractors work on our house in Elmbridge?
Elmbridge recommends noisy work between 8am and 6pm on weekdays and 8am and 1pm on Saturdays, with no noisy work on Sundays or bank holidays. These are voluntary guidelines rather than fixed rules. Private estates may set their own conditions, so we confirm both before agreeing a programme.Source: elmbridge.gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in Esher & Cobham?
Yes. Projects range from a single room, which can also be designed remotely through the Virtual Studio, to whole-house refurbishments, new builds and commercial spaces. Every project follows the same five-stage, RIBA-aligned process: Define, Develop, Resolve, Deliver and Complete.
Can you manage the build as well as the design?
Yes. The studio can work alongside your architect and contractor, providing contractor coordination and design oversight on site, or deliver a single design-and-build service that takes the project from concept to completion.
Will Katherine be involved personally?
Yes. Katherine Varnava, a BIID Registered Interior Designer®, leads every project herself. The studio takes on a deliberately limited number of projects each year so that she stays involved in every detail, from concept to completion.
Updated 17 October 2026
Nearby