Interior Designer · N6
Interior design in Highgate
Katherine Varnava Interiors is a luxury interior designer for homes and commercial spaces in Highgate. 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 Highgate
Highgate is a hilltop village of late 17th and 18th-century houses around The Grove, Pond Square and the High Street, with Victorian and Edwardian streets, mansion blocks and gated modern groups beyond. The conservation area is divided between Camden and Haringey, so which council handles consents depends on the address. Interior projects often involve listed fabric, sloping sites and tight access.
Camden's appraisal describes The Grove as reflecting the desirability of Highgate at the end of the 17th century, with eleven listed buildings in that street, and notes a terrace of red brick Georgian houses on Highgate High Street and a turn of the 20th century mansion block, Burlington Court, on South Grove. Off Fitzroy Park, Highfields Grove is a 1980s group of 24 houses set behind security gates. Haringey's appraisal adds small-scale terraces along the early High Street, planned Victorian and Edwardian terraces in the Cholmeleys, the Miltons and Shepherd's Hill, and large detached houses in generous plots. Interior work ranges from careful restoration of listed houses to full reconfiguration of later villas and flats.
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 N6, including streets such as The Grove, South Grove, Highgate High Street, Pond Square and Highgate West Hill.
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Before you start in Highgate
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.
Haringey's character appraisal states that the Highgate Conservation Area is divided between the London Boroughs of Camden and Haringey, with the Camden side including part of Highgate Village, Fitzroy Park, Waterlow Park and the Highgate Cemeteries. Planning and listed building applications go to the council for the side of the boundary the house is on.Source: minutes.haringey.gov.uk
The Highgate Neighbourhood Plan was made on 11 September 2017 after a referendum in which 88% of votes cast were in favour. Camden and Haringey both use it to help decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area, alongside their own policies.Source: camden.gov.uk
Historic England states that listing status covers the entire building and that works requiring listed building consent can include internal alterations. In Highgate's older houses, changes to plan form, staircases, panelling or fireplaces should be assumed to need consent from Camden or Haringey until checked.Source: historicengland.org.uk
Haringey's appraisal identifies incremental change, including the removal or alteration of timber sash windows and timber panelled front doors, as a primary cause of change in the conservation area. Interior schemes that involve windows or entrance joinery should start from repair and retention.Source: minutes.haringey.gov.uk
Camden allows noisy building works Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and Saturday from 8am to 1pm, and says they should not take place on Sundays or bank holidays without authorisation.Source: camden.gov.uk
Haringey states that loud noise from building sites and home improvements can happen Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and Saturday from 8am to 1pm, and that noise outside these hours can be the subject of a complaint.Source: haringey.gov.uk
Questions
Interior design in Highgate
Which council handles consents for a house in Highgate?
It depends on the address. Haringey's character appraisal states that the Highgate Conservation Area is divided between Camden and Haringey, with the Camden side including part of Highgate Village, Fitzroy Park, Waterlow Park and the Highgate Cemeteries. Each council deals with applications on its own side. We confirm the authority at the outset, because it decides which guidance, forms and timescales apply to the project.Source: minutes.haringey.gov.uk
Do I need consent to alter the interior of a listed house in Highgate?
Yes, if the work affects the building's special interest. Historic England states that listing covers the entire building and that works needing listed building consent can include internal alterations. Moving walls, altering staircases, removing panelling or replacing original fireplaces are typical examples. We survey and record the existing fabric first, then design the interior so that the case for any change is clear to the council.Source: historicengland.org.uk
How much notice is needed to suspend parking for deliveries?
On the Camden side, bookings should be made at least 17 days before the start date, with a short notice charge for later bookings and a minimum lead time of 3 days. A skip on suspended spaces also needs a skip licence. Haringey runs its own suspensions process for the eastern side. We plan deliveries of joinery, stone and furniture around these lead times and Highgate's narrow, sloping streets.Source: camden.gov.uk
Do you take on single rooms as well as whole houses in Highgate?
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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