Interior Designer · SE3, SE10
Interior design in Greenwich & Blackheath
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in Greenwich & Blackheath. 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 Greenwich & Blackheath
Greenwich and Blackheath hold some of south east London's most complete Georgian and Regency housing, set around Greenwich Park and the open heath. Blackheath straddles two boroughs, so the rules that shape an interior scheme, from listed building consent to window replacement, depend on which side of the boundary a house sits.
Most buildings in the Blackheath conservation area date from about 1790 to 1880, and Lewisham describes some Victorian houses as architectural set pieces built in pairs or formal terraces. On the Greenwich side the appraisal records the Paragon, a crescent of large villas linked by colonnades, Regency houses on Shooters Hill Road and St Germans Place, substantial Victorian villas on St John's Park and Kidbrooke Grove, and converted coach houses in Langton Way. Many larger Victorian houses have been divided into flats. Interior projects here typically involve restoring period joinery, fireplaces and plasterwork, reworking kitchens and bathrooms within an existing plan, and lighting rooms with tall sash windows and high ceilings.
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 SE3, SE10, including streets such as The Paragon, Shooters Hill Road, St Germans Place, St John's Park and Kidbrooke Grove.
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Before you start in Greenwich & Blackheath
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.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich states that internal alterations to a listed building, such as subdividing rooms or removing walls, need listed building consent. Altering or removing historic doors, fireplaces, panelling, staircases and decorative mouldings also needs consent, and changes to internal decoration may too. Like-for-like repairs usually do not, and the council charges no fee for a listed building consent application.Source: royalgreenwich.gov.uk
Lewisham describes Blackheath, designated jointly with Greenwich in 1968, as London's first conservation area and its own largest. It contains many listed and locally listed buildings, and the heath lies within the Greenwich World Heritage Site buffer zone.Source: lewisham.gov.uk
Lewisham lists four Article 4 directions within the Blackheath conservation area: Belmont, Collins Street, 52 Lee Terrace and Quentin Road. Under Article 4 directions, changes to windows, doors, chimneys and other material alterations to single-family houses need planning permission, and flats have no permitted development rights in the first place.Source: lewisham.gov.uk
A 1993 Article 4 direction covers 7 to 63 (odd) Randall Place and 2 to 18 (even) Churchfields in the West Greenwich conservation area. It removes permitted development rights for windows, doors, roofing materials and wall coatings on front or flank elevations visible from a public highway.Source: royalgreenwich.gov.uk
Royal Greenwich allows noisy building work from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. Noisy work is not allowed on Sundays or bank holidays.Source: royalgreenwich.gov.uk
Lewisham asks for suspension applications at least five working days before the start date, for uses including building works, removals and skips. It charges £62 per submission plus £56 per pay-to-park bay per day or £62 per resident permit bay, and a skip on a bay also needs a skip licence.Source: lewisham.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in Greenwich & Blackheath
Our Blackheath house is listed. Can we replace the fireplaces and take out a wall between the reception rooms?
Both need listed building consent. Royal Greenwich lists the removal of walls, the subdivision of rooms and the alteration or removal of fireplaces, panelling, staircases and mouldings among works that require consent; Lewisham operates under the same national regime. Repairs that match the original usually do not. We record the existing fabric first and design the scheme around what should stay, so the application explains clearly what changes and why.Source: royalgreenwich.gov.uk
Can we replace our sash windows as part of a refurbishment?
It depends on where the house is and what it is. In Blackheath, Lewisham has Article 4 directions on named streets that bring window and door changes under planning control, and flats need permission regardless. In West Greenwich, a 1993 direction covers parts of Randall Place and Churchfields. We check the address against the relevant borough's directions before specifying joinery, and repair rather than replace where that suits the house.Source: lewisham.gov.uk
How far ahead do we need to book parking for deliveries in Greenwich?
Royal Greenwich asks for parking bay reservations at least ten working days in advance, with a non-refundable £62 administration fee and a charge of £62 per bay per day. On the Lewisham side of Blackheath the minimum notice is five working days. We plan large deliveries, such as joinery and stone, around these lead times.Source: royalgreenwich.gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in Greenwich & Blackheath?
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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