Interior Designer · SW6
Interior design in Fulham
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in Fulham. 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 Fulham
Fulham is a riverside district of terraced streets, mansion flats and garden squares, built up mostly in the late Victorian and Edwardian decades. Hammersmith & Fulham has 44 conservation areas, so even a project that is mainly internal often has to take account of original windows, doors and other period features.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council describes terraced houses, mostly late Victorian and Edwardian, as the common form of housing in the borough, typically with a narrower and lower back addition to the rear. In Fulham that means long runs of two and three storey terraces around Parsons Green, Moore Park and the Peterborough Estate, alongside purpose-built mansion flats and houses that have been converted into flats. Interior projects usually involve reworking the back addition and rear rooms into a kitchen and family space, bringing the loft or lower floor into the plan, and restoring or reinstating joinery, fireplaces and plasterwork in the front rooms. Storage, lighting and stair design tend to carry a lot of the brief because the plots are narrow.
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 SW6, including streets such as Parsons Green, Peterborough Estate, Moore Park, Hurlingham and Bishop's Park.
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Before you start in Fulham
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.
Historic England states that listing covers a whole building, including the interior, and can extend to attached structures and fixtures. Owners need listed building consent for most types of work that affect the building's special architectural or historic interest. For a listed Fulham house, that can include changes to joinery, fireplaces, staircases and room layout, so the list entry should be checked with the council before any strip-out.Source: historicengland.org.uk
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has 44 conservation areas, plus two more in the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation area. The council says additional controls apply to development, significant demolition, advertisements and works to trees in conservation areas, and that some permitted development rights are restricted. Demolition of a building in a conservation area without consent remains a criminal offence.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
The council's Planning Guidance Supplementary Planning Document (February 2018, paragraph 4.31) says original architectural features such as timber sash windows, timber or metal casement windows and panelled doors should be maintained and repaired wherever possible. This matters for interior schemes that touch window joinery, shutters or front doors.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
Hammersmith & Fulham Council permits noisy construction work Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 8am to 1pm, and at no time on a Sunday or bank holiday.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
Bay suspensions are applied for online. Up to six bays for up to three days needs eight days' notice, longer or larger suspensions need two or four weeks, and the charge starts at £48 per 5 metre bay per day. Only skip companies and building contractors can apply where a skip or building materials will be placed in the bay.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in Fulham
Can we replace the original sash windows as part of our Fulham renovation?
Repair is the council's starting point. Hammersmith & Fulham's Planning Guidance SPD says original features such as timber sash windows, casements and panelled doors should be maintained and repaired wherever possible. We survey windows, shutters and doors at the start of a project, favour repair and draught-proofing where the joinery is sound, and confirm the planning position with the council before any replacement is specified, particularly in a conservation area.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
What hours can builders and fitters work on a house in Fulham?
Hammersmith & Fulham Council allows noisy construction work from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday, with none on Sundays or bank holidays. We programme demolition, cutting and other noisy trades inside those hours and keep quieter work, such as decorating or soft furnishing installation, for the edges of the day where the neighbours and the site allow.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
How do we keep a parking space free outside for deliveries and installers?
Apply to Hammersmith & Fulham Council for a parking bay suspension. The council asks for eight days' notice for up to six bays over up to three days, and two or four weeks for longer or larger suspensions; weekends count as notice days. Fees are charged per 5 metre bay per day, starting at £48. We plan furniture, stone and joinery deliveries around booked suspensions so vehicles are not left waiting in the street.Source: lbhf.gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in Fulham?
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
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